+E

Not to put too fine a point on it, but let's talk about Charlie Chaplin for a second. The speech that opens +E's self-titled EP comes from Chaplin's in-retrospect masterpiece, The Great Dictator; a speech that now contains some beautiful truisms, but at the time of its release was actually pretty badass. Chaplin's condemnation of Hitler came out in October 1940, a time when the US was still more or less at peace with Nazi Germany, and Britain still had a strict policy of appeasement. Though many American Jews knew about the atrocities under way in Germany, for most Americans at the time, Germany's expansion was treated as a European matter. Chaplin himself later confessed that if he had known the full extent of Hitler's crimes, he might not have made the film; or at least he wouldn't have made it a comedy. Prominent Americans like Henry Ford and Prescott Bush (yes, that Bush) openly had a financial stake in the German government. The US wouldn't join the war until a year after the film's release. Though every media on the planet now vilifies the Nazis as history's universal villains, in 1940, the jury was still out. The movie ended up being a critical and commercial success, but even on the eve of its release, the reception as far from certain. For a silent slapstick star to leverage his entire personal fortune to make a sound movie satirizing the Nazis was bold, for him to end it with a serious speech criticizing capitalism and calling for universal equality and direct democracy for people of all races and faiths was radical. So, all of that is to say, +E opens their EP boldly. A+, +E, A+.

After setting the bar high with their post-rock arrangement of Chaplin's speech, the band launches into a 5 song set of their signature blend of post-rock, dream pop, indie rock, and soul. “Woven” finds the band swimming underneath waves of reverb, frontman Andefenci Addi's voice barely rising above a hushed croon. Drummer Ayo Fabumi's dynamic presence balances against the soft beauty of Addi and bassist Don Lewis.
'3/11/2011' is a surprisingly beautiful love song about the Fukushima disaster. Probably the smallest song on the EP, which is fond of wide open spaces, and taking their time, “3/11/2011” is also it's most emotionally effecting moment. 'Time Machine' and closer 'Connections' focus more on melody than atmosphere in a way that's reminiscent of Clarity-era Jimmy Eat World. It's rare for a new band to emerge with such a well fleshed out and unique sound. +E are definitely a band to keep an eye on. - Afropunk.com

Spontaneous jam sessions. Altercations with crooked cops. Weird youth who "do things the bad way." Is that bad meaning bad, or bad meaning good? These are not merely snapshots of still life, but an ever-growing painting that depicts the experiences of a young D.C./Maryland-based band who introduce themselves as Baad Ingrish but unexpectedly announce a supposed name change to Greetings From Space right in the midst of our interview with them.

"As of now, the band is currently running polls to ask their fan base on which moniker they like best." - The Upstairs