Pre War

And finally, for many in New York the phrase "pre war" is code for "not many electric outlets and no sink in the bathroom" but maybe that will change with Pre War the rock band who have dusted themselves off from the recently defunct Conversion Party. Like that band, Pre War traffic in catchy, big-chorused indie rock. Check out "Out There" at the top of this post and you can listen to more at the band's Tumblr. - Brooklyn Vegan

"Indie rock with garage ferocity for fans of Pavement and LCD Soundsystem" - Paste Magazine

"They play rock music that sounds like rock music. But wait, dudes… birds as in chicks or birds like mistakes, like your brain is too small? We Cliffnoted Paradise Lost, do you mean birds like angels? Somebody is shouting like an actual bird-bird on there, is that correct? It’s a lot of mixed messages but the fall of man is some complicated shit, and maybe it’s everything and don’t let that obscure the fact that, hey, there’s a guy out there feeling awful. Feeling awfully like a some sweet post-rock. Bladow!" - The Fader Magazine

"As a collective, the members of this Brooklyn-via-New London, Conn., garage slop quintet have been playing together in one lineup or another for nearly nine years." - New York Press

"Somehow both light and heavy, Conversion Party possess an accessible garagey/alt sound. Like a good boxer, this band is quick on its feet- but also quick with the punch. Songs like "Island Dream" are a clear example of this, the vocals settling on top of driving instrumentals like oil on top of water. Other songs pick a side, like "Awake" (delightfully heavy, but still catchy) and "Ron", which is almost Beulah-esque in its lightness." - The Deli Magazine

"It’s refreshing to hear a band creating four distinctively unique sounds on an EP with as many tracks. Yet these songs all work very well together – despite changing vocalists, the backing instrumentation remains cohesive and consistent. Favors is a mere glimpse into a band four years in the making. Conversion Party has honed their sound, packed with beautiful noise, and it’s adept with intelligence, albeit beer-fueled and a bit feral. There’s pure genius here." - FensePost blog

"Favors" is the work of a band that has grown more assured since "More No More," Conversion Party's first release.

"The fivesome has shed the slightly tentative air of that first effort, treating restraint here as a hindrance to be joyously, noisily overcome — via chiming guitar on "In the Mountains," intricate instrumental interplay on "Birds of Paradise Lost" (with vocals by the other singer, Matt Potter) and murky atmospherics on the instrumental closer, "Let Us All." Really, all that's missing is more songs, and the only remedy is the patience to wait for whatever Conversion Party does next." - Hartford Courant

"Conversion Party's anthemic pop stylings should be more popular (seriously these guys are good)." - Brooklyn Vegan

Conversion Party sound like they’re from Canada. This brand of aim for the rafters, big tent indie rock has become the bread and butter of the land that brought you Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, and Wolf Parade. In fact I think this and Labbate’s Blue are Canada’s primary exports.

Conversion Party is brewed in Connecticut, evident in a slightly more cosmopolitan Eno by way of Pavement guitar lead on “False Teeth.” The chugging rhythm has a great sense of momentum as lead singer Matt Clark, in his post millennial indie yelp, sings about a strange relationship rife with internal dynamics (and some sort of strange daddy issues). Background vocals add a sense of off kilter chaos to the arrangement before it crests with crashing symbols and a triumphant return of that pesky catchy guitar lead. It’s all over surprisingly quickly, which is good. Sounding big doesn’t have to be tedious.

“False Teeth” is from an in progress album that Conversion Party promises by year’s end. If this track is any indicator big things could be afoot.

Converstion Party plays Pianos September 12th with Gross Relations.

- Pop Tarts Suck Toasted

"From what I've heard listening to their myspace, they're a mix of danceable indie pop with walls of crazy garage sound. They sound really similar to early Strokes or Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! That's a great thing to sound like."

--CTIndie - www.ctindie.blogspot.com

Conversion Party, "More No More" (self-released, conversionparty.com).

A New London indie rock supergroup of sorts, Conversion Party has the loose, garagey spirit of a band that practices loudly in some basement on your street — if you happen to live on a fairly exceptional street. Their debut album has rough edges galore and perhaps repeats some musical ideas. With their urgency, passion, sense of humor and fun, frequent tips of the hat to the fire of punk rock and the melodicism of early-'60s pop, and seemingly-caffeinated delivery, they speak to the soul of the unsatisfied everyman in a way so much indie rock (with its current too-frequent pallor, hip coldness and measured careerism) has forgotten how to do in the last decade. With three lead singers and a broad range of dynamics (it speaks to the players' smarts that this disc ultimately plays out as a focused album from one distinct band), there's a lot they're throwing at the wall. An atypically large amount sticks.

—Brian LaRue - The Advocate

"Have they set out to prove that music making is messy, or that it can work? Conversion Party, Fresh off a debut recording that has earned solid praise, is at work on a second record. There is no easy way to describe the sound of this New London/Brooklyn hybrid, which released that first album "More No More" in 2008. That's in part because any two of its songs could seemingly have come from different bands." --Ted Mann, New Loncon Day, March 27, 2009. - The Day, New London CT

“It’s refreshing to hear a rock group from the hipster borough who sound nothing like their Billysburg neighborhood brethren. [More No More] molds a healthy dose of genuine and sobering pop songs, each one bearing its own unique share of big hooks, vocal harmonies and catchy lyrics.”

- Popmatters.com

“It’s refreshing to hear a rock group from the hipster borough who sound nothing like their Billysburg neighborhood brethren. This record is really good, it's really free, and you should really tell other people about it.” – Lines Through Lines

- lines through lines

“Thoroughly good.” – Bows + Arrows - Bows + Arrows blog

“Super 90s.” – Ed Droste, Grizzly Bear - Ed Droste

"Obsessed with fuzz and falsetto, uplifting and epic at once, Pre War is reclaiming the spirit of stadium-shouting rock n' roll in debut LP 'My Friend, the Enemy.' Fans of Band of Horses should find common ground here, but there's also a big part of this group that's just as happy to paint landscapes of sound with mountains of reverb and harmony for several minutes. Check out 'Sing to Me' to hear just how massive these guys can make the world seem." Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets) - The Deli Mag