 | True Womanhood Basement Membranes (CD) |
Bio:
Four-foot industrial blades hanging like chimes. A disassembled church organ rigged with wires running into a computer. As much art installation as rock concert, the most conventional things on True Womanhood's stage are the timpani drums.
[more]
Media Links & Downloads:
Hi-Res Photos:
 | 300 dpi JPG |
 | 300 dpi JPG |
 | 300 dpi JPG |
Hi-Res Cover Art:
 | 300dpi JPG |
On The Web:
www.truewomanhood.com
www.facebook.com/truewomanhoodmusic
www.myspace.com/truewomanhood
www.twitter.com/true_womanhood
www.easounds.com
www.myspace.com/environmentalaesthetics
Bio (Continued):
And these homemade instruments are not mere sonic curiosities but integral parts of the band's tightly crafted, inventive songwriting. Grounded on friendships going back to middle school, band members Thomas Redmond, Melissa Beattie and Noam Elsner play in an instinctual style that is sonically and emotionally loud.
The trio has emerged out of the doldrums of post-Dischord Washington, D.C. with a collection of haunting pop gems that are surprisingly mature given the band's youthful exuberance and predisposition towards experimental music. Their debut EP, Basement Membranes, on the Baltimore label Environmental Aesthetics, was recorded mainly at the DIY venue and effects pedal factory Death By Audio in Brooklyn, before the finishing touches were applied with the help of J. Robbins (Jawbox) at his studio in Baltimore.
In the short time they've been together, True Womanhood has had the opportunity to perform both in and outside of their home city with hip, national acts such as HEALTH; A Place to Bury Strangers; Times New Viking; Crystal Antlers; The Babies; Titus Andronicus; Beach Fossils; Indian Jewelry; The Mae Shi; AIDS Wolf; etc.
Press Quotes:
"'Magic Child' roars along wiry and claustrophobic, guitars unwinding like they've been wrapped up in rubber band cocoons, drums rolling on sixteenth notes to keep up. It's all very...frenzied.... Memo to bands: locking yourself in a confined space can result in wonderful things like this." - Sam Duke, RCRD LBL
"We're stoked by Basement Membranes, one of the first pieces of new music truly making an impact on our ears so far this year. This is the type of music that can soundtrack a quiet evening at home or turn you into a deafened fool in the live setting, and you have to like a band that can straddle that wide a divide so easily. We're expecting big things from this band so look out!" - Pat Duffy, Pop Tarts Suck Toasted
"True Womanhood is a trio from Washington DC that plays a type of avant-pop that's hard to pigeonhole. With a drummer who plays on an unorthodox kit, the rhythms can be challenging but are complimented by tenor-based harmonies and melodic guitar lines." - Dan Lynch, NYC Taper
"True Womanhood...is creating its own genre: double timpani space swirl. Drummer Noam Elsner's rumbling rhythms have become the band's defining feature, and they actually serve as a nice modern update of the percussion-heavy sound favored by old D.C." - David Malitz, Washington Post
"...an energetic young band that most definitely deserves an extended listen. True, beyond the easily spotted vocal inflection of a certain Mr. Yorke and underlying influence of Sonic Youth, it might have been the unexpected rough-edged ...Trail Of Dead guitar feed and jilting off-beats that turned our passive smile into an evil grin. All comparisons aside, True Womanhood is a band well worth following closely." - Casey Chisholm, Milk Milk Lemonade
"Thomas Redmond, Melissa Beattie, and Noam Elsner's melodic doomsday drones brought out the vampire in all of us, and by the end of their set, even the bartender was rocking out. Utilizing maudlin drum loops, beer-soaked, distorted basslines, and Doug Martsch-inspired vocals, the trio of psych rockers filled the space with a palpably hypnotic echo. The sound is a product of organic songwriting, never taking the obvious route back to a hook, barraging the ear with a pattern of recognizable basslines, and then shying away. Luckily for us, this gave way to the under-indulged timpani, whose deep and kettled voice brought new life to the roll of the kick drum in experimental indie rock. Elsner's drumming is a sight to behold, as is Beattie's childlike, Duff McKagan attitude toward her bass." - Drew Citron, Jezebel Music
"They have just released a new EP Basement Membranes... and holy crap is it good...The rhythmic intensity on the EP is simply breathtaking and powerful...Thomas Redmond's voice has blossomed into its own powerful entity within these songs. There's not much else to say but GET THIS EP..." - Laurent Hrybyk, Paste Primavera
"True Womanhood is quite the talented trio, garnering much praise from J. Robbins himself. Even from the frail and uneven sounds of their self-recorded demo, DC's True Womanhood have always conveyed a certain amount of mystique and intrigue... Their freshly J. Robbins-mixed & David Levin-produced EP sees them cashing in big on their promise...a wide gazing aural spectacle that could wow even the most jaded of ears. One of the fastest maturing and evolving groups in the area..." - Greg Szeto, Aural States
"Moreover, although all three members of True Womanhood are only 23 years old, they've known each other since middle school and it shows in the comfort with which they blend influences and support each others' crazy ideas.The chemistry is all there... an ethereal quality which is haunting in places. Lush reverb on innumerable guitars is offset by violent crashes on the 'prepared timpani.'" - Nate Greenberg, Ampeater Review
On The Web:
www.truewomanhood.com
www.facebook.com/truewomanhoodmusic
www.myspace.com/truewomanhood
www.twitter.com/true_womanhood
www.easounds.com
www.myspace.com/environmentalaesthetics