Elliott ‎– U.S. Songs (1998)

During their brief career, Louisville's Elliott released three albums of original material and a final, posthumously released, live studio album. Although talented and hardworking they never really achieved a huge amount of commercial success, possibly because they refused to fit neatly into any one genre. Their debut, U.S. Songs, is almost melodic emo, but it's also a little alt-rock, and maybe a few other things besides. They also lean toward a more abstract lyrical style, which suits the mature, pleasantly aloof feel of the music, but offers no easy or immediate focal points for the listener. It all fits together perfectly, though, creating a superblytextured sound which reaches from oh-so-easy drifts to crashing waves. Yes, it takes a little effort to fully delve into the record, but the surface alone is so considered, so obviously well arranged, that the process itself is warm and welcoming, new insight born in every repeat listen.

Above all, U.S. Songs is an album about the often ignored, deeply tangible border and relationship between melancholy and bliss. The clarity of Chris Higdon's voice provides an ethereal, introspective quality to the imagery of the words, as they quietly float above the sweetly dulled guitars which bring "The Conversation" to life, or the delicate, calm eye within "Alchemy as a Rhythm". In stark but beautiful contrast to these lulls, Higdon often presses his voice to the very edges of a shout, no more so than amongst the pounding, expansive chords of "Safety Pin Explanation", and it's this constant swell and recede which brilliantly evokes the complexity of human emotion – the secret, unspoken pleasure at the heart of sadness and regret, the taint of anger and frustration in the very fabric of joy. Like all esoteric, abstract art, U.S. Songs is about ideas that can't easily be explored, feelings that defy simple definition; but, crucially, Elliott provide an elegant, dreamily melodic backdrop to their thoughts, making them all the stronger and more meaningful. 

They may have failed to find an extensive audience, but in this way at least, they truly succeeded.

Melvin

sputnikmusic.com

Elliott ‎– U.S. Songs (1998) 320kbps

Texas Is The Reason – Do You Know Who You Are? (1996)

Commonly referred to as one of the standards for the emocore movement of the '90s, Texas Is the Reason's Do You Know Who You Are? — which was the last thing said to John Lennon before he died — is the bedrock to this New York City four-piece's short-lived career. Produced by the very talented J. Robbins, the vocal style of singer Garrett Klahn sounds something akin to Richard Marx doing indie rock. Whether that view is received with smiling nods or disapproving stares, the fact remains that Klahn's unique angle of nasally sung vocals was warm enough to draw one in, while not being overbearing to the point of annoyance. With a musical background in various hardcore acts, the guitars break between melodic beauty and low-end chugga-chugga while the drums drive along with blasting consistency and precision. Stark phrases about life's loneliness and the dissonance between friends and lovers create a lyrical atmosphere that invites tremendous one-liners and memorable songs. The title track shows Texas Is the Reason in an abyss of harmonic composure, providing a chance for the listener to catch his or her breath before plunging back into the melodic, enthusiastic rush of "Back and to the Left." While neither as harsh as many of their hardcore predecessors, nor as technical as their counterparts from Washington, D.C., nor as poppy as many of the emo bands to come after them, but instead taking a bit from each, Texas Is the Reason provided the indie rock scene with a combination of all the elements that it took to produce a quality indie rock record. For these reasons, Do You Know Who You Are? stands as one of the necessary albums for fans of emocore.

allmusic.com

Texas Is The Reason – Do You Know Who You Are? (1996) 320kbps

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Texas Is The Reason – If It's Here When We Get Back It's Ours (1995)

Texas Is the Reason is a musical group founded by former Shelter guitarist Norm Arenas and 108 drummer Chris Daly. A foundational quartet in the post-Sunny Day Real Estate movement of emo or emocore music, Texas Is the Reason played melodious but forceful rock music before disbanding in 1997.

Norm Arenas (guitar), guitarist for the hardcore Hare Krishna band Shelter, formed Texas Is the Reason with friend and then fellow Hare Krishna devotee Chris Daly (drums), formerly of the band 108, which played music of a similar kind to Shelter's, some time in the early 1990s in New York City. They both desired to leave the macho attitude and religious preaching of their former projects. With former Fountainhead bassist Scott Winegard (bass), the three recruited one-time bassist for Buffalo's Copper, Garret Klahn (guitar/vocals), to round out the quartet.

The name "Texas Is the Reason" is lifted from a Misfits song, entitled "Bullet". It also makes reference to a conspiracy theory about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, in which the president was killed in a plot arranged by Texas Democrats in order to give Lyndon B. Johnson control of the White House. Releasing three songs on an EP, Texas Is the Reason became an underground smash and helped rein in an era of similarly motivated and styled emo bands. They then released a split single with The Promise Ring through Jade Tree Records. The following year, 1995, they released another split single with Samuel, through British record label Simba.

What followed was their first and only full-length album, Do You Know Who You Are?, named after the last statement John Lennon supposedly heard. Produced by Jawbox's J.Robbins and released on Revelation Records , Do You Know Who You Are? brought a lot of major-label courtship to Texas Is the Reason, who were being hailed as the "next big thing" in the growing punk explosion on MTV. Song titles from this album, such as "The Magic Bullet Theory" and "Back and To the Left", continue the allusion to one of the Kennedy assassination theories.

On the eve of signing with one of the major labels in 1997, intra-band tensions arising from the major label attention caused the band to break up. The members headed to various different musical projects, with Garret Klahn to New Rising Sons and Daly to indie outfit Jets to Brazil. Winegard started putting out other bands' records through an imprint he co-owns called GrapeOS, while playing with other musicians in a band called the Americans. The only member to go inactive in the world of indie rock was guitarist Norm Arenas, living in Chicago and DJing for almost three years.

Winegard and Arenas joined Charlie Walker of Chamberlain and Jonah Matranga of Far and Onelinedrawing to form the band New End Original, which lasted from 2000 to 2003. Klahn's New Rising Sons released two EPs through GrapeOS, were dropped by Virgin Records, and then disbanded; he now plays in the band Solea. Daly left the now-defunct Jets to Brazil sometime after their 2002 release, Perfecting Loneliness.

punknews.org

This is their first EP. Listen and enjoy.

Texas Is The Reason – If It's Here When We Get Back It's Ours (1995) 320kbps

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