Story: Music given time to grow, Miss Remember develops original sound the good ole fashion way; time, trial and error and a dedicated musical partnership resulting in CHICAGO’S GRUNGE-Y, POST-PUNK ALBUM FOR ALL THE SAD NINETIES KIDS.
Five years ago, a mournful internet stranger asked Yahoo! Answers, “Why is grunge dead and when did it die? It was so cool.” Miss Remember’s eponymous EP answers the question gladly, bringing hope to all the sad nineties kids who worried that their music—and, by extension, the youth—was slowly being forgotten.
The punchy 8-track album, releasing January 13th 2017 (Friday the 13th, by the way!) from ears&eyes Records, isn’t so much of a throwback as it is an interpretation: grunge filtered through the modern, Millennial, folk-inspired, jazz-loving aesthetic lenses of the band’s four members. Their sound draws inspiration from everything from the music of their youth (Nirvana, Soundgarden, Weezer, Silverchair et al.) to the “grunge jazz” of musicians like Ben Monder and Jim Black, to the nouveau grunge that’s working its way into the more recent stuff of artists like St. Vincent. The band’s vocals, alternatively nostalgic, haunting, and indie-folk-ish, are provided by both Leslie Beukelman (the Oh Yeahs, Hey Champ) and founder/songwriter/guitarist Jim Tashjian (District 97). On bass, you’ll find Martin Stonikas (Timetables, Luna), who’s been giving the band its heartbeat since his days as Jim’s roommate at Roosevelt University. On drums, Pete Tashjian (the Localvores, Goran Ivanovich Trio), who’s been jamming with his brother Jim for a decade or two by now.
Anyone can appreciate the slow pull of nostalgia, the quicksand of loss, the idea of crawling out of a hole . . not just the sad nineties kids. In a world of overproduced albums that go on for forever, this one—haunting and danceable, sad and wry, grunge-y and pop-y—is the perfect length: just long enough to accompany a strange, bittersweet drive around your old hometown, windows down, change in the air.
Leslie Beukelman - vocals
Jim Tashjian - guitars, piano/keyboards, vocals
Pete Tashjian - drums
Martin Stonikas- bass, percussion
released January 13, 2017
Released by Chicago-based indie label, ears&eyes Records.
“Miss Remember’s elegant melodies and deft harmony - through dirty guitars - delivers a fresh and deeply informed songcraft. Love and loss weave together compelling male-female vocal arrangements to make songs more like characters in their own right - the kinds we’d do well to know. These are real songs in dynamic presentation… wonderful integrations of form and content.”
- Marquis Hill (Marcus Miller, DeeDee Bridgewater, Thelonious Monk Competition winner)
“Miss Remember is for casual listeners of banal pop. It’s a master class in advanced harmony, skillful guitar work, exquisite vocals and deep poetics. But don’t get me wrong… it isn’t some brainy dweeb music. It’s rooted (miraculously, given its complex nature) in rock and roll. Think King Crimson meets the Door, Rush meets the velvet underground. I’m all about it.”
- Peter Himmelman (emmy and grammy nominated composer and author of bestseller “Let me Out”)
“Miss Remember is, without question, my favorite rock band in chicago. To experience them in concert is to be pushed around in a most satisfying manner… poetically, harmonically, sonically. Their brand new self titled record is a fulfilling representation of the songs i had already grown to love, thanks to inspired musical performances coupled with expert production, engineering and mixing.”
- Paul Mutzabaugh (Producer, Arranger, Composer, Musician)
credits
from Volume V Sampler,
released December 21, 2017
Recorded by Anthony Gravino at The Drake and Shirk Studio in Chicago, IL USA
Mixed/Mastered by Anthony Gravino at The Drake in Chicago, IL USA
Album artwork by Nikki Way and Leslie Beukelman
Focusing on deliberate efforts of sincere music/art, ears&eyes was born within a vibe of community and creativity in
Chicago, after its conception in New Orleans with branches spreading to New York, Bay Area and Buenos Aires (and world). We're a family, of sorts, releasing amazing creative jazz-type and rock
music, with hints of folk, noise, chamber, free and soul....more
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