"Noisy yet wistful electro-indie pop group Small Black started with a name and worked backward: a housemate of singer/multi-instrumentalist Josh Kolenik came up with the moniker on a cold Portland, OR night. The name stuck when he returned to Long Island, NY and began collaborating with Ryan Heyner, an area musician who had mutual friends with Kolenik. The pair holed up in Kolenik’s uncle’s attic to record songs with vintage keyboards and samplers, spending the winter of 2008-2009 recording as Uncle Matt made surfboards underneath them. Small Black released their self-titled five-song EP on the duo's own CassClub label in October 2009, and released the U.K. single "Despicable Dogs," as well as a video for that song featuring Uncle Matt, soon after. The band played several dates at that year’s CMJ Music Marathon, adding Juan Pieczanski and Jeff Curtin from Kolenik’s previous band, Slowlands, to fill out its live lineup. Small Black signed to Jagjaguwar Records, who reissued the band’s debut EP with two bonus tracks in 2010. That year, the band also released a split single with the likeminded Washed Out, with whom Small Black also went on tour. Their first full-length album was expected later in 2010." - Heather Phares
Small Black on Facebook
“Brooklyn’s very own Madonna.” – New York Press
“Unabashedly slick electro-pop beats juxtaposed with coy, romantically depressed vocals courtesy of star-in-the-making Elizabeth Harper.” –New York Magazine (Cover Story) Brooklyn’s Sonic Boom – The 40 Songs That Define the Sound
“[Harper's] passion proves to be the same kind of compelling counterweight to frosty sonics that helped make the music of her influences so memorable.” – Pitchfork (“Rising Artist”)
Class Actress website
"It is often said that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. Despite the warm reception that Atlanta trio Living Rooms has received during its short 10 months together, fans and detractors alike have uttered the same criticism: They sound like Animal Collective; even they don't deny the allegation.
"They are our biggest influence," Seth Bolton says. "People hear similar things when we play and think Animal Collective because they've received so much notice. It's a compliment, actually."
Even their single-file, navel-gazing stage presence bares a resemblance to AC's lineup, which is just another hazard of the trade. "We have the same kind of setup that they use, and really there's no other way to do what we do," Bolton says. "Making music with samplers is like doing math when playing live," he adds. "You can't get into a groove like you can with a guitar, because you're thinking about procedures, and if you hit the wrong sample you can't play another note; you've ruined the whole song." Luce reiterates the need for concentration during their shows. "It's the fear of messing up that drives everything we do."
The group released its debut Family Taste 7-inch (Double Phantom) this month, which stands as a substantial document of the band's true identity and even dispels a bit of the Animal Collective chatter. On the A-side, the dark, meandering "Error" pits bubbling electronics over an aching voice that intentionally blends into a mélange of serene and abrasive textures. The brighter bounce of "How You Do It" builds on obtuse melodies that flow naturally into each other under a dull, nonintrusive hue of cottage production. It's a summery sound that's never quite as hippy-dippy as Animal Collective, but definitely cut from the same cloth." - Chad Radford
Living Rooms on Myspace
$8, 18+
Doors @ 9 pm
Advance tickets available @ Ticket Alternative, Criminal Records,
Decatur CD, Fantasyland Records and the following CD Warehouse locations: Buford, Duluth, Kennesaw, Lawrenceville and Roswell.
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