Recent LA-transplants Spooky Mansion produce a soundscape of breezy, sultry surf-rock imbued with the passion of soul and the energy of rock-n-roll. Originally having their roots in the Bay Area and led by the rickety rasp of charismatic singer/songwriter Grayson Converse, their music is nestled in the vicinity of soulful garage-rock, propelled by energetic guitars, nimble drums, and sweeping and invitingly fuzzy vocals.
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Spooky Mansion is a band out of time. No single thing about the quartet is necessarily a dead ringer for the San Francisco of lore - no mandalas or hippie beads here - but their hilarious music videos, shirtless album cover and playful take on surf-rock all capture a breeziness and whimsy that suggest a time before the tech takeover, before constant worries of getting priced out, before luxury toast.
Yet that goofiness never comes at the expense of musicianship.
Their easy-flowing surf rock gives way to vocals strikingly similar to the approach/tone of Deerhunter's Bradford Cox: raspy, sweeping, and invitingly fuzzy. They create a sultry type of rock with all the traditional jangles, but with a layer of dark intricacy that makes their sound unique in an ocean of garage-rock groups.
Tino Drima
A singular emotional intensity runs through each of Suitin' Up's five songs, but not a single one sounds the same.
There is opening track "Lover," which draws its inspiration from old soul records and Captain Beefheart's "I'm Glad," and, says frontman Greg DiMartino, is a "hot, heavy, creamy tune for cruising in the car and night thinking about good times and sex." There is the weary resignation of "Do The Damn Thing," in which the song's protagonist feels like a disengaged character in his own life story, "throwing any kind of shit at the wall of the soul to see if anything sticks." And there is the surge of pride, of enhanced self-esteem and moral clarity to be had on "The Actress"--a pulsing, standout track about "getting yourself hyped up and saying 'I deserve this, I have earned it, I am good enough, get out of my way, motherfucker.'"
The versatility that marks Suitin' Up's every track has been a hallmark of Tino Drima's music since the San Franciscan band emerged close to five years ago. The band's core members--DiMartino (guitar, piano, vocals), Rob Mills (drums, backing vox), Scott Huerta (guitar, backing vox), Henry Baker (keyboards), and Mackenzie Bunch (who played bass, engineered and recorded and mixed it all)--share a passion and musical sophistication that makes Tino Drima's music something both powerful, and comforting at once. When it touches you, it will touch you deeply. And it will touch you very soon.
Recent LA-transplants Spooky Mansion produce a soundscape of breezy, sultry surf-rock imbued with the passion of soul and the energy of rock-n-roll. Originally having their roots in the Bay Area and led by the rickety rasp of charismatic singer/songwriter Grayson Converse, their music is nestled in the vicinity of soulful garage-rock, propelled by energetic guitars, nimble drums, and sweeping and invitingly fuzzy vocals.
~~~~~~~~
Spooky Mansion is a band out of time. No single thing about the quartet is necessarily a dead ringer for the San Francisco of lore - no mandalas or hippie beads here - but their hilarious music videos, shirtless album cover and playful take on surf-rock all capture a breeziness and whimsy that suggest a time before the tech takeover, before constant worries of getting priced out, before luxury toast.
Yet that goofiness never comes at the expense of musicianship.
Their easy-flowing surf rock gives way to vocals strikingly similar to the approach/tone of Deerhunter's Bradford Cox: raspy, sweeping, and invitingly fuzzy. They create a sultry type of rock with all the traditional jangles, but with a layer of dark intricacy that makes their sound unique in an ocean of garage-rock groups.
Tino Drima
A singular emotional intensity runs through each of Suitin' Up's five songs, but not a single one sounds the same.
There is opening track "Lover," which draws its inspiration from old soul records and Captain Beefheart's "I'm Glad," and, says frontman Greg DiMartino, is a "hot, heavy, creamy tune for cruising in the car and night thinking about good times and sex." There is the weary resignation of "Do The Damn Thing," in which the song's protagonist feels like a disengaged character in his own life story, "throwing any kind of shit at the wall of the soul to see if anything sticks." And there is the surge of pride, of enhanced self-esteem and moral clarity to be had on "The Actress"--a pulsing, standout track about "getting yourself hyped up and saying 'I deserve this, I have earned it, I am good enough, get out of my way, motherfucker.'"
The versatility that marks Suitin' Up's every track has been a hallmark of Tino Drima's music since the San Franciscan band emerged close to five years ago. The band's core members--DiMartino (guitar, piano, vocals), Rob Mills (drums, backing vox), Scott Huerta (guitar, backing vox), Henry Baker (keyboards), and Mackenzie Bunch (who played bass, engineered and recorded and mixed it all)--share a passion and musical sophistication that makes Tino Drima's music something both powerful, and comforting at once. When it touches you, it will touch you deeply. And it will touch you very soon.
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