Cleanup

Fort Worth, TX trio Cleanup are putting out their debut LP, Sun Life, today (6/3) via Holy Hell Records (order a copy), and a full stream of the album premieres in this post. Cleanup are math rock through and through, but they do it with vocals in the forefront and identifiable verses and choruses. Fans of Minus the Bear, Maps & Atlases or Tera Melos shouldn't sleep on this. Check it out below.
Cleanup are also going on an extensive tour of the US which kicks off in their hometown this weekend (6/7) and hits NYC on June 25 at Muchmore's and June 26 at The Bowery Electric with Sam Kogon, Terrible Terrible and Strange Kids. All dates are listed, with the new album stream, below... - Brooklyn Vegan

Last month Holy Hell Records released Cleanup’s debut album Sun Life. Originally released as a digital album, Holy Hell now has 500 physical copies of the LP available on vinyl. Cleanup is a three-piece experimental/indie-rock band from Fort Worth, TX.
Clocking in at 39 minutes between 8 tracks, Sun Life is math-rock ride that takes off on the first beat…
The album as a whole is strong musically and the songs are very well put together. Landon Cabarubio’s guitar work is technical, but without being overwhelming; and catchy, without being overwhelmingly poppy. The vocals are sparse but present; they bounce back and forth between soothing and exciting without overshadowing the music. Drummer Riley Pennock conducts and leads the band into rapid and seamless odd time signature shifts.
The album’s second track, “Save the Claras” is a perfect example how the band breaks away into catchy and memorable moments. It almost catches the listener off-guard with a rhythmic break. Its energy carries on over to the following track “Grey Lion”, which features some of the most powerful moments of the album. The guitar goes through a frantic frenzy while we notice a charging bass line for the first time, provided by Kyle Harding. The band builds up into howling-like vocals before ripping into another catchy guitar part.

“Jim, Son of Jim” serves as an instrumental interlude for the album, featuring layered horns before picking the energy up again in the next track. “Petrichor” is strong both musically and vocally, and features the album’s second catchiest rhythmic breaks.
It seems like Sun Life is a giant build up from start to finish with its transitions. The title-track is a more upbeat instrumental break before going into “Cub”. We hear Cleanup experimenting a little bit with a reverse effect that takes us into “Ghost of Duncan”, the closing and possibly the “heaviest” track of the album. It’s over before you realize it, which forces you to start the record over again.
Overall, Sun Life is a short and sweet burst of energy with a couple moments to breathe in between. Favorite tracks are “Save the Claras”, “Grey Lion”, “Petrichor”, and “Ghost of Duncan”. - Trio-Fi

Cleanup, ‘Sun Life’

Easily one of the most arresting records to burst out of Fort Worth this year, Cleanup’s Sun Life seizes your attention from the opening moments of lead-off track Cruiser, full of headlong, Afro-pop-tinged rhythms falling all over themselves, pierced by achingly melodic vocals and restless electric guitar figures. The trio of guitarist Landon Cabarubio, bassist Kyle Harding and drummer Riley Pennock, who produced the eight-track LP at Fort Worth Sound with Tanner Landry, keep the sonic pleasures coming throughout this too-short (25-minute) collection. The popular shorthand for Cleanup’s brand of music is “math rock,” but Sun Life is easily solved: This is a phenomenal debut. - DFW.com

The results are in, and we can finally reveal the top 20 math releases of 2014 so far. We received over 2000 votes from across the world, from Montreal to Taiwan to fecking Latvia! We hope, therefore, that the list before you represents a geographically un-biased sample set. Thank you to everyone who took the time to vote for their favourite releases; it’s been wicked start to 2014, and picking a solid 5 was bound to be hard.

You can find a full Youtube playlist of the Mid Year Report here. For now, this is how is went down…

*List of videos - Fecking Bahamas

Are you a fan of the charm from bands like RX Bandits? The underlying technicality of Tera Melos? The resonating reverb laden guitars you’ve come to love from post-rock? Well, you better check out our latest exclusive stream from Cleanup…
FFO: RX Bandits, Tera Melos, Maps & AtlasesFt. Worth, Texas’ experimental/math rock trio Cleanup have transcended genre roles and the mentality associated therein with their new LP from Holy Hell Records, Sun Life. The three masterminds behind this release must be bodhisattvas, because they have concocted a golden formula of complex playing, lush textures, and personally resonate song-writing that can enthral even the most casual of music fans.

Holy Hell Records – which is run by Ryan Slate of Look Mexico – is excited to announce that they will be releasing the new full-length release from Texas’ Cleanup. Holy Hell will be releasing Sun Life on Black vinyl on the 3rd of June, and you can currently Pre-Order the record from the Holy Hell Bandcamp page.
But in the meantime, feel free to listen to ‘Grey Lion’ on MM, and let us know what you think. - Musical Mathematics

Though Cleanup’s ranks have changed a little since the band’s debut recording, the EP Wherever Your Place May Be (2012), frontman Landon Cabarubio and company are still math-rock giants. And while singer-songwriter Keegan McInroe is bringing Fort Worth to Europe, the good folks behind Lo-Life Recordings and Dreamy Soundz are celebrating yon towne of cow here. –– Anthony Mariani



Cleanup’s Sun Life

It’s taken awhile, but the experimental rock trio Cleanup has finally put out a bona fide album. And it’s a gem.

Recorded at Fort Worth Sound and co-produced by the band and Tanner Landry (who’s produced works by Aden Bubeck, Joey Green, Hudson Moore), Sun Life is eight mercurial, reverb-dripping tracks of intricately interwoven guitars and synths, bright and pure vocals, and rhythms that are devilishly tricky to follow but easy to enjoy.

The opener, “Cruiser,” sets the tone. A short introductory anthem by guitarist Landon Cabarubio precedes a thunderous eruption by drummer Riley Pennock. Seemingly endless and blazingly fast riffs by Cabarubio and bassist Kyle Harding weave in and out, creating a frenzied feel that is partly soothed by ghostly two-part crooning by lead vocalist Cabarubio, who, apparently, is equally adept at dubbing guitar and vocal passages.

One of the midtempo tracks, “Jim, Son of Jim,” opens like a three-part fugue. A spacious arpeggiated six-string prelude is answered by another, descending guitar figure that is finally underlined by a warm, melodious bassline. Unlike in a standard classical fugue, though, the lines run in loops. The texture of the resulting hypnotic effect is varied only by frosty, meditative trumpet by guest performer Justin Barbee.

The group’s mellower side is encapsulated on “Ghost of Duncan.” Cabarubio’s languid, high-pitched wails are accompanied by heavy, distorted guitar phrases. But the reverie doesn’t last long. As soon as the gossamer mood appears to be taking hold for good, Cleanup kicks into high gear, pumping out high-velocity drum kicks and rolls, rampaging guitar solos, and beautifully ragged vocals.

Just beneath the surface of Cleanup’s avant garde time signatures, expansive sound, and virtuosic bravura is a relatable formula that all great bands adhere to: masterful timing, carefully layered textures, and a clear understanding of each band member’s strengths. –– Edward Brown - Fort Worth Weekly

You might hear talk of a fusion between jazz and rock when you hear people talking about Cleanup. My only problem with the verbiage is that there is something called Jazz Fusion and this is not that. The gentlemen are doing something that is both simpler and more complex than the fusion of jazz and rock ideas. Simpler because they are making rock and roll, yet made more complex by the route they take to get there. Ultimately, the only way I could describe them would be experimental; the methods implicit in the sound weave a map of outer limits. Foraging from rocks essence, they score an easy dialectic between form and function.

There is certainly a Jazz sensibility heard in the incredible touch each member brings to their instrument and therefore the total sound. But I also heard rising builds that recalled Built to Spill, deconstructed with potent density; or moments where the tandem runs blend The Fucking Champs with something dreamier like Explosions in the Sky. Landon Cabrarubio plays guitar with an inventive dexterity, able to join in and add to the rhythmic intensity or to swim upstream with metallic alacrity. My ears first caught wind of his styles at the Jacob Furr and The Only Road debut show; he'll be a sometime member of that new group. He provided an array of intriguing textures, all of which pulled me further into the songs. Before catching him on his usual instrument I had seen him on Glockenspiel, Melodica and floor tom with Madras. This allowed for some impressive double duty back at that Basement Bar show.

After meeting him that night, I was curious to know more about his own band. Just as the 5-track "Wherever Your Place Might Be" is engaging and smart, so were Cabrubio and Kyle Harding when I met up with them last week. This was my first interview done seated at a Sushi bar. Sushi Q is a fine establishment and the Sapporo and Sake were delicious. The finely sliced ingredients were combined artfully resulting in a rich and satisfying experience, it seemed an appropriate location to meet these fellows. Dating back three years, the current lineup with Brad Cannon sharing lead guitars with Cabrubio and Riley Pennock on drums has been together for a year and a half.

The album was recorded out in Alvarado on a compound of sorts, “On the fourth of July, we shot Roman Candles into a fire pit we had filled with gasoline. You can still see the month-old excitement bending their faces into smiles. From what I understand, that would have been in the middle of the recording process. You can hear the energy of that explosion on the record, as you can hear the inspiration of that big rural sky, and throughout you can hear the cicadas. They recorded in a converted garage, described as architecturally rather than a measure of highmindedness. Harding adds, It has vaulted ceilings that we used to bounce stuff around.�

Friends Ben Hance (engineering) and Ben Napier (drums, pre-amps) helped greatly with the sessions. More recording will come, as they continue to enhance their space; but now they are looking forward to getting out on the road and bringing these songs to new crowds. Most recently they played my favorite record shop in Austin, Trailer Space, as well as a Sunday night gig at Red River Mohawk. Check out "Wherever Your Place Might Be", it buzzes with an expressive dynamism that can act as either entranced exploration or frenetic freak-out, and catch them live for an unforgettable display of technique and imagination. - www.fortlive.com

I’m not one for this pillar-of-salt take on each year, but it is not only expected but somewhat required, so I did my best to offer you a variety of views on well, ourselves. I asked a couple of other writers besides, in order to get appropriately closeup views on Denton and Fort Worth. I took Dallas for obvious reasons.

What follows is a very simple setup: two perspectives for each city or town filtered through the torturous punishment and reward parental threat that is often made this time of year. So, North Texans: Naughty or nice?

Nice

"Several impressive new artists popped up in the 817 this year. Some formed. Others have been active for a while but have only now appeared on the radar... Lola’s was the site of another dazzling performance, this one by the newish indie-prog quartet The Cleanup: super-tight, super-dynamic, super-moody." - D Magazine

You’d think that in a town like Fort Worth, with so many outstanding bands, there’d be a bunch of super-groups, elite bands in which at least half the members play in other groups as well. But with minor exceptions, most of the guys (and girls) in Fort Worth’s elite bands don’t play in other projects. So to the short list that includes EPIC RUINS, The Longshots, and the much-ballyhooed-but-still-never-seen Grackles, we can now add Jacob Furr & The Only Road, a brand spankin’ new vehicle for the Americana Fort Worth singer-songwriter that features standouts from two other local bands: keyboardist Jordan Kline from Ice Eater and guitar wiz Landon Cabarubio from Cleanup. After coming together about three months ago with drummer Ken Jones and bassist Dusty Irving, the band recently played a couple of shows, one in Dallas and one in Austin, and will debut in the Fort next Wednesday, the 25th. The venue is The Basement Bar in the Stockyards (105 W Exchange Av, 817-740-0100 ), and the bill includes two spellbinding Fort Worth openers: the dreamy Madràs and elegantly riotous Jake Paleschic & Patriot. “I decided to start this project to give the songs I’ve been writing more room to breathe and expand outside the normal singer-songwriter thing,” Furr said. Some of his new material, he said, demands a full band. Furr’s existing tunes, captured on three recordings –– including January’s Farther Shores, a nominee for EP of the year in our 2012 Music Awards –– “found new ways to exist through the band,” Furr said. “It’s pretty cool to see them grow that way. They do not sound like the folky thing I’ve been doing for the past year.” Jacob Furr & The Only Road plan to tour this fall and do some recording –– like all of Furr’s material, the new stuff will be produced by Furr at his home studio. The Basement Bar show is free. “I’m pretty damn excited,” Furr said. … In addition to the Vorvon show hinted at in our Music feature, above, there’s another big “CD” release show happening this weekend. On Friday at The Grotto (517 University Dr, 817-882-9331 ), Austin’s Look Mexico and the indie-rocking Fort Worth outfit Mailman will open for knotty Fort Worth guitar-prog rockers Cleanup, who’ll be celebrating the release of their debut EP. Recorded at the quartet’s rehearsal space in Alvarado at the end of June, Wherever Your Place May Be is five tracks long and was co-produced by the band and Secret Ghost Champion frontman and Madràs drummer Ben Hance (with drums recorded by Ben Napier). With the exception of one track, a semi-improvised interlude, the material was written before the departure of the band’s former drummer and the arrival of his replacement, Riley Pennock, whose family owns the Alvarado rehearsal/recording space. “Each song is pretty much how we play it live,” Cabarubio said. In honor of the band’s time in Alvarado, audio clips of cicadas chirping and Pennock’s dog rustling around the backyard were added to the disc. “So the album is kind of like a night jamming at the Pennock house,” the guitarist said. Contributors include saxophonist Jeff Dazey (Josh Weathers & The True+Endeavors, Gunga Galunga, Dazey Chain) and guitarist Roby Scott (Secret Ghost Champion). - Fort Worth Weekly

Saturday night found me hanging out at the Grotto, one of the best and most underrated places to see a live band. It's small, so it can get a bit cramped at times, but the people are friendly, the sound is first-rate, and you can generally get a table to watch the band.

Coincidentally, I was there to see one of the best and most underrated bands in Funkytown -- the Cleanup.

Kyle Harding (bass), Brad Cannon (vocals, guitar), Riley Pennock (drums) and Landon Cabarubio (guitar, keyboard) are the band's members. They took the stage a little after midnight. Some bands I have to warm up to, but these guys won me over right off the bat with killer jazz/prog rock instrumental sound that woke up the room. Harding's bass work is phenomenal; and while I am most familiar with Landon's keyboard work with Get Well, his guitar leads were at once frantic, precise and tastefully done.

The lyrics, which, honestly, are kind of secondary in an act like this, are written by Cannon.

"Generally, they are about desires or regrets," Cannon said. "I write about how we take our greatest opportunities, and we blow them off because they're too much for us at the time, or maybe we feel like we're not up to it. "

My only real complaint was that the band finished around 1:30 a.m., and I could have used another half-hour of this stuff. There are a lot of musicians that can play fast, but it's rare to find a band so unbelievably tight and intricate. This isn't just one guy up there riff bashing, but everyone playing together as one.

At times the band seemed to suffer from lack of a charismatic frontman; Cabarubio and Cannon generally seemed engrossed in their performances. Cannon's animated and hyperactive stage presence balanced things out nicely. There was just enough of a jazz essence to their performance, tempered by more of an experimental, harder edge than most jazz acts (or even most prog rock, for that matter).

Their latest gig is Wednesday (July 13) at the Where House on Hemphill. It's part of the new hump day party that Jeff Dazey (of Dazey Chain and the Josh Weathers Band) puts on every Wednesday. With such a vibrant music scene in Funkytown, it's easy for bands like this, which appeal to more of a niche market, to get overlooked come booking time. So when you get a chance to check them out, take it. - www.dfw.com

A strange woman approached Brad Cannon not long ago after his band, The Cleanup, finished a set at a venue in Fort Worth. The woman, old enough to be the 21-year-old’s mother, nudged her way through a crowd to find him, determined to deliver her message.


“I really like you guys,” the stranger reportedly said, “but you know what I like the most? That ass. Whatever you guys do, don’t ever stop shaking that ass.”

Her words caught him off guard, and he’s still not exactly sure what to make of her message, so he’s filed it away as just another anecdote born of the group’s ever-increasing visibility in Fort Worth.

The Cleanup’s brand of rock follows a fiercely progressive vein, its ever-mutating structure punctuated by occasional bursts of keyboard psychedelia. Drummer Riley Pennock, also 21, drops jazzy hints behind Cannon’s vocals, his pipes echoing the same grounded emo twang as Saosin and Thrice.

The result is two parts Mars Volta, one part Explosions in the Sky, and an occasional pinch of Dredg. Not that the band’s members are quick to claim any of the above as muses.

As individuals, the guys in The Cleanup draw on a wide spectrum of influences, from Pennock’s affinity for jazz to guitarist Landon Cabarubio’s enjoyment of socially “conscious” hip-hop to bassist Kyle Harding’s unabashed appreciation for pop (something his bandmates take every opportunity to rib him about).

The band traces its collective musical influences back several decades to the likes of Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, and Carlos Santana. The Cleanup’s sound, however, is too modern and rapidly evolving for easy definition.

“We don’t have any specific goals, other than something that’s interesting, something that reminds everybody of what they enjoy about music,” Cannon said. “It’s almost like we want to leave people not quite able to put their finger on what they like about it, other than the fact that all these different styles fit together.”

Among The Cleanup’s signature feats is musical parity. No single element hijacks the spotlight. Harding’s bellowing bass work shines just as prominently as Cabarubio’s sharp guitar chops ring and buzz or Pennock’s beats thunder and roil –– his flailing arms and shit-eating grin behind the kit make him look like an honest-to-goodness human doppelganger of Animal, the Muppet.

The band bears little resemblance to its original makeup from three years ago. Cabarubio, now 22, is the only original member remaining; he joined in 2008 after a couple of his friends ratcheted their jam sessions up to a more serious level. He’s the one who pitched the name one day, mostly in jest, as one of his then-bandmates mopped spilled food off the floor. Despite his protests, the name stuck as the band began playing shows in 2009.

Harding, a friend of one of the original members, joined early that year after the group fired its original bassist. Cannon’s predecessor had a myopic obsession with Metallica and the like that eventually got him fired; Cannon joined later that year after meeting Cabarubio at a local party.

Pennock became the group’s third drummer early last year after years of informal jam sessions with Cannon at the former’s family home in Alvarado. The original drummer quit when Cannon once brought beer to a rehearsal (the guy was straight-edge), and a second failed to grasp the musical direction agreed upon by Harding, Cannon, and Cabarubio.

Despite the band’s revolving-door history, all four men agreed the current group has finally found stability. Each member has his place in a creative process that begins with Cabarubio bringing the seeds of a song to his bandmates, particularly Cannon, who, according to the consensus, is the Paul McCartney to Cabarubio’s John Lennon.

“Landon is the sperm, and me and Riley and Brad are collectively like the egg –– the ovum, if you will,” Harding said. “Landon just kind of impregnates our egg. He’s the genesis of whatever song we’re doing.”

The Cleanup typically plays two or three shows per month at venues like The Grotto, The Where House, and Lola’s Saloon, but momentum is building. The quartet played five shows in October. They also recently recorded a two-song EP and are working on another five-song follow-up.

There’s little to say about long-term plans. All four disclaimed any hopes of mainstream success, because, they said, their music simply doesn’t attract wide audiences. They do hope to eventually hit the road to play shows outside Fort Worth. Beyond that, they want to avoid the burden of expectation and philosophically approach The Cleanup more like a side project than as a potential career.

“You just kind of have to mentally think of it as a secondary thing, even if it is our primary focus,” Harding said. “Nobody is tied to The Cleanup. Nobody is going to get pissy if somebody decides to play with somebody else.”

He paused. “We’re in an open relationship. It’s Facebook-official.” - Fort Worth Weekly