Invisible Days

Brooklyn’s Invisible Days are a simple band, a trio whose two favorite things in life are “hamburgers and volume”. But over the course of just two releases, the Polaurora EP and the “Solitary Time” b/w “Stewards” single, vocalist-guitarist Sean Finnigan, bassist Alex Koch, and drummer Michael Petrucelly have taken that easygoing approach and forged a deceptively intricate blend of shoegaze. Inspired in part by ’90s pioneers like Ride and Stone Roses and contemporaries like Deerhunter and Kurt Vile, their sound is as assaultive and chaotic as it is poppy and alluring. For a taste, the band have unveiled the B-side single “Needles”.

While other entries in the catalog better display their affinity for dissonance, this latest number is firmly rooted in a pop tradition. The strummy guitar that slowly flows along, the dreamy, quasi-sexually ambivalent harmonies, and the overall breezy tone make for universal accessibility. But pervading that poppy core is an intensity and sense of restrain, as if any moment the dam could burst and out pours layers of righteous feedback. It’s that kind of subtlety and playfulness that makes their noise-rock more than mere bedlam. - Consequence Of Sound

Brooklyn trio Invisible Days have just dropped their new single Fortress/Needles – exploring the gazing guitars of the 90s aside themes of isolation and drifting from reality. We caught up with members Sean and Alex to talk about how Hurricane Sandy destroyed their music, the recent release from My Bloody Valentine and getting to grips with Social Networking.
Bowlegs: You’re currently working on recording your debut album. How has it been going? Will either Fortress or Needles feature on the tracklist?
Sean: In reality, our record has been recorded for some time now. We tracked it all ourselves through various home-grown means and worked with a few engineers we know to have the thing mixed and mastered. During that whole process, Hurricane Sandy happened and the studio we were working in was completely destroyed, delaying the process to an extensive degree. During that time, we continued to write and came up with songs like Fortress and others that were not part of the original body of work. Needles is technically part of it, but we’ve since had it remixed and obviously releasing it ahead of the record. We want to find the most organic and efficient means possible of releasing the material we’ve amassed which might take the form of multiple singles, a few EP’s, an LP… we aren’t sure yet.
Bowlegs: The two songs have got quite different production styles. Is that a one-off, or do you think about production aesthetics song-to-song?
Sean: We consider production aesthetics differently as our style and musical preferences evolve. Needles was written a year or two ago; Fortress was written a few months ago. That disparity in time points towards how our own tastes are tinged by what we are listening to and seeing WHAT IS happening around us at a song’s time of conception. At the same time, we like to think that our personal stamp is recognisable and pervades each song regardless of each one’s context.
Bowlegs: You’ve said in another interview that Fortress is about ‘mentally and physically drifting away from reality.’ Does that theme often pervade your songs, or does your lyrical content vary a lot?
Alex: It’s a theme that does come up occasionally in our songs, but not exclusively by any means. Sean and I both write songs, so themes can vary a lot between us. I wasn’t intentionally planning what Fortress was about when I wrote it (I usually don’t when writing), it just ended up that way. But the theme of isolation, both mentally and physically, is an interesting one to me. For most people, losing physical and mental capabilities with age is practically a guarantee. Just not one anyone wants to talk about. Or, if that’s too depressing people could also interpret it as a song about hanging out with your friends in a fort. Which is cool too.
Sean: Yea, for us the whole reason for playing in a band in the first place is to move beyond the reality we know and craft something that perhaps isn’t concrete at all. It could start with a snapshot of a moment in life, a deliberation on a conversation you had, a snippet from a vision you dreamt while sleeping on the bus- whatever it may be, it’s only real to the writer anyway. The listener turns it into whatever he or she may want.
Bowlegs: Needles – despite being the B-side to Fortress – is receiving the video treatment and press coverage. Why did you decide to do things this way round?

Sean: We talked about how to go about this quite a bit internally before releasing the single. As I mentioned, Needles is an older tune for us and one we have really believed in as a ‘single’ for a long time. But when Fortress came together almost out of the blue, we knew that it would make an interesting pairing with Needles, and given its catchiness and pop-leanings decided to make it the A-side. The video treatment for Needles was in the works way before Fortress was ever written as a song so it just happens that we’ve spent more time overall treating it. We hope to put together a video for Fortress as well.
Bowlegs: As many others have pointed out, your sound is heavily indebted to ‘90s guitar records. Which of those would you say has influenced you the most? Which other albums have been particularly influential to you?
Sean: There are some pretty clear answers that may be obvious given their broad influence on so many groups. Certainly bands such as Ride, The Stone Roses, and Swirlies come to mind as ‘90s influences, particularly on our guitar-work, but we don’t really sound much like any of those bands overall. The tastes of our three band members don’t overlap completely either in this region; we all come from different backgrounds. As songwriters, Alex and I share a strong affection for Kurt Heasley of Lilys. His stuff just plain inspires.
Bowlegs: I saw you got quite excited on facebook when the new My Bloody Valentine record was released. What did you make of it?
Sean: At the time, all I really made of it was ‘Wow, this is an event.’ I, like so many people, ordered the record straight away just knowing I needed to own it, as something historic if not a masterpiece. Most artists of Kevin Shields’ legacy and talent level, while very high, don’t often produce more than one ‘masterpiece’ level record in their career. We all know that happened 20 years ago, but still it was hard not to expect something awesome. That being said, my own opinion of it was that it was pretty fucking impressive as a work of music, so full of depth and meandering but with a concise direction and feel. But the hype surrounding the whole thing probably was not so warranted. I think the fans simply wish he had never stopped doing this stuff in the first place.

Bowlegs: Your past touring has focused almost exclusively on your hometown of Brooklyn. Is there a degree of nervousness about venturing further afield, or is your schedule simply restrained because of other commitments?
Sean: I think our personal commitments are a factor, and we’ve visited a number of cities in our region like Philly, Baltimore, DC etc. We’ve also had some bad luck with booking agents in the past. Touring is a tricky thing and often a loser on the money end. I think some nervousness might be built into the fact that much of the world is unknown to us, and we unknown to it. Regardless, we want to get out further and further than we have as soon as we can make it happen.
Bowlegs: Is living in such an exciting musical environment always beneficial for your creativity, or can it be a hindrance trying to stand out from the crowd?
Sean: It was probably more a hindrance when we were younger and cared more about what other bands were doing. The level of saturation that has taken hold in our area has become so high that it’s tough to not become desensitized to it all. But standing out is not really an aim or goal, it’s more of just a result of putting work into being creative and positive in an environment ripe with both inspiration and frustration. If you don’t stay focused you just lose it.
Bowlegs: Between your website and Facebook page there’s very little info about the band and its background. Do you prefer to keep a low profile and let the music speak for itself? What is the band’s background?
Sean: We haven’t really thought a great deal about our profile until recently. We care mostly about the music we make and how best to get it out to peoples’ ears. But as a band we’ve all been playing together in a few different outfits for many years. Alex and I are from New York and Mike is from Boston, and we all pretty much found each other through the chaos of the NY music scene and have stuck together throughout. It’s pretty clear that we are the opposite of ‘over-sharers’ when it comes to online profile, Facebook, Twitter etc. While these are vital tools in today’s music landscape, we don’t dedicate a lot of energy to it. Maybe we need an intern to do all that stuff for us.
Bowlegs: Final question: when can we expect the new album to be out??
Sean: Whatever form our albums-worth-plus of material decides to take, you can expect to see more pieces of it to come out by late summer and in the fall. We have awesome people working with us helping bring the picture together so are going to keep doing what we always do and make sure you guys get to hear it soon.
-Interview by Tom Eves- - Bowlegs

Invisible Days is the NYC-based shoegaze trio of guitarists/vocalists Sean Finnigan and Alex Koch and drummer Michael Petrucelly. Finnigan and Koch have been sharing songwriting duties since they started playing together in 2009, but aside from a few seven-inches, the band hasn’t come out with a proper release until now. Their forthcoming, self-titled EP feels like something that’s arrived out of the blue fully formed, complete with chiseled, melancholy melodies and brittle but enveloping production. On Twitter, the band describes the release as “6 songs we spent WAY TOO MUCH TIME ON,” and it shows. Stream the EP below, and pre-order a copy via Manimal (US) or LOOSE (Canada), where it’ll be coming out on January 28th. - The Fader

With a cool, detached sound that keeps the hooks coming, Invisible Days play groovy tunes that navigate with ease through areas as diverse as shoegaze, indie pop, and even funk - this limited to the rhythm section. The band has recently resurfaced with a new 2 song single and a video for the song "Needles" - streaming below. Their smokey vocals are soothing and ecstatic, and their melodies - as British people say - are spot on. As the dog days of summer linger on, Invisible Days paradoxically provide the perfect soundtrack to that almost visible phenomenon that is the NYC heat. - Jack McGovern - thedelimagazine.com

By Alex Hudson
Dream pop-inclined Brooklynites Invisible Days have earned comparisons to turn-of-the-'90s bands like the Stone Roses and Ride, and those influences shine through on their new single "Needles" and its accompanying music video.

The hazy clip for this bleary, shoegazing track shows a dude in a monkey suit hanging out in a graveyard while the band play their instruments in an autumnal forest. The monkey reflects back on his friendship with an elephant and its grim conclusion, and the overall result mixes goofiness with gallows humour and Jesus and Mary Chain-style disaffected cool. - Exclaim.ca

Brooklyn’s Invisible Days are a simple band, a trio whose two favorite things in life are “hamburgers and volume”. But over the course of just two releases, the Polaurora EP and the “Solitary Time” b/w “Stewards” single, vocalist-guitarist Sean Finnigan, bassist Alex Koch, and drummer Michael Petrucelly have taken that easygoing approach and forged a deceptively intricate blend of shoegaze. Inspired in part by ’90s pioneers like Ride and Stone Roses and contemporaries like Deerhunter and Kurt Vile, their sound is as assaultive and chaotic as it is poppy and alluring. For a taste, the band have unveiled the B-side single “Needles”.

While other entries in the catalog better display their affinity for dissonance, this latest number is firmly rooted in a pop tradition. The strummy guitar that slowly flows along, the dreamy, quasi-sexually ambivalent harmonies, and the overall breezy tone make for universal accessibility. But pervading that poppy core is an intensity and sense of restrain, as if any moment the dam could burst and out pours layers of righteous feedback. It’s that kind of subtlety and playfulness that makes their noise-rock more than mere bedlam. - Consequence of Sound

Brooklyn trio Invisible Days draw from a host of late-'80s/early-'90s UK influences, most of them of the swirling miasma of guitars variety. While a few songs very towards JAMC scuzz, the band are much more successful when they go in a more shimmery/chiming/jangle direction that is closer to Lilys or Ride. You can definitely hear that side of the band on their new single "So Let it Be" which does the droney/beautiful thing pretty well. We've got the premiere of that cut which you can listen to in this post.
The band have a few NYC shows coming up. They're are currently in the midst of a three-show September residency at Cake Shop, having played the first one this week. You can catch them there on the next two Wednesdays (9/11 & 9/18, line-ups TBA). If you're really itching to see them, Invisible Days play Bushwick's Shorewave Haus on Saturday (9/7).
Single stream, plus a few other Invisible Days songs, are below. - Brooklyn Vegan

Invisible Days is the NYC-based shoegaze trio of guitarists/vocalists Sean Finnigan and Alex Koch and drummer Michael Petrucelly. Finnigan and Koch have been sharing songwriting duties since they started playing together in 2009, but aside from a few seven-inches, the band hasn’t come out with a proper release until now. Their forthcoming, self-titled EP feels like something that’s arrived out of the blue fully formed, complete with chiseled, melancholy melodies and brittle but enveloping production. On Twitter, the band describes the release as “6 songs we spent WAY TOO MUCH TIME ON,” and it shows. Stream the EP below, and pre-order a copy via Manimal (US) or LOOSE (Canada), where it’ll be coming out on January 28th. - The Fader

"Just heard the latest single from Brooklyn’s Invisible Days which is to be released as a 7? soon on Toilet Records. The track is called Solitary Time and is an echo chamber of psychedelic Shoegaze. The production is crisp and allows for the listener to hear each and every nook and cranny of sound within the song. Shimmering guitars ring out over a strong bass line and a steady solid drum backing. The vocal floats hazily along pausing for minor breakdown moments of sound and then sneaks its way back into the mix." - http://goodpopbadpop.wordpress.com

By Alex Hudson
Dream pop-inclined Brooklynites Invisible Days have earned comparisons to turn-of-the-'90s bands like the Stone Roses and Ride, and those influences shine through on their new single "Needles" and its accompanying music video.

The hazy clip for this bleary, shoegazing track shows a dude in a monkey suit hanging out in a graveyard while the band play their instruments in an autumnal forest. The monkey reflects back on his friendship with an elephant and its grim conclusion, and the overall result mixes goofiness with gallows humour and Jesus and Mary Chain-style disaffected cool. - Exclaim

"I’m not sure if there’s a microgenre name for “super chill shoegazey dreampop vibes”, but I haven’t found it yet. I should really ask these Brooklyn guys, because they’d be the ones leading the charge. This track nearly shimmers in its lovely washes of pretty guitar sounds. " - http://yvynyl.tumblr.com

Brooklyn’s Invisible Days are a simple band, a trio whose two favorite things in life are “hamburgers and volume”. But over the course of just two releases, the Polaurora EP and the “Solitary Time” b/w “Stewards” single, vocalist-guitarist Sean Finnigan, bassist Alex Koch, and drummer Michael Petrucelly have taken that easygoing approach and forged a deceptively intricate blend of shoegaze. Inspired in part by ’90s pioneers like Ride and Stone Roses and contemporaries like Deerhunter and Kurt Vile, their sound is as assaultive and chaotic as it is poppy and alluring. For a taste, the band have unveiled the B-side single “Needles”.

While other entries in the catalog better display their affinity for dissonance, this latest number is firmly rooted in a pop tradition. The strummy guitar that slowly flows along, the dreamy, quasi-sexually ambivalent harmonies, and the overall breezy tone make for universal accessibility. But pervading that poppy core is an intensity and sense of restrain, as if any moment the dam could burst and out pours layers of righteous feedback. It’s that kind of subtlety and playfulness that makes their noise-rock more than mere bedlam. - Consequence of Sound

We stumbled upon this NYC trio Invisible Days this morning and... welikey! The group (formerly known as Beloved Rogue) just released this new single titled "Solitary Time" on Toilet Records. Recorded in Brooklyn at 282 North Henry Studios and co-produced by David Dill, Solitary Time marks the first release by the Brooklyn band since their debut EP Polaurora. Solitary Time is a moody, psych rock mid tempo gem featuring interesting guitar sonic texture involving a heavy use of delay, and a beautiful haunting vocal melody. Think something between Rain Parade or any of the mellower Paisley Underground bands of the psych rock renaissaince of the 80s. The 3 songs on their previously released EP showcase a heavier shoegazer influence. - http://nyc.thedelimagazine.com/

Here’s a nice track by the band Invisible Days of the beard-farming capital of the Northeast, Brooklyn, NY. This trio of delightful youngsters, none of whom are bearded, make a wonderfully spacey variety of guitar-driven rock. To this listener’s ears it comes off sounding like a softer version of The Catherine Wheel: more riffy, less heavy, more tender vocals, more harmony. (Pardon The Catherine Wheel reference. I’m old.) - Burncards

As you may have noticed, I added a Soundcloud widget over in the right-hand column of the blog a few weeks back. If you're not familiar with it, Soundcloud is a pretty cool service that allows artists to post songs and send them to other people on Soundcloud to stream and/or download. Essentially, it's a prettier, easier way of sending tracks to a blogger (or anyone else) than emailing a file or a link.

And while I've been getting a lot of notifications from Soundcloud that people have been sending me songs, I finally got a chance this afternoon to log in and start listening to what I've been getting. And that's how I discovered Beloved Rogue.

From what I can tell on their website the band is based in New York, and has recently released its debut EP entitled Polaurora (which you can download for free here).

I just finished listening to the EP, and it's fantastic. If you're a fan of 90's-style shoegaze/dream-pop (think Slowdive, Ride, Swervedriver, etc.), I strongly recommend that you check them out ASAP. And if you're in NYC, catch the band at Pete's Candy Shop on November 23rd. - http://www.babystew.com

So, here's the thing about Northside: Much as we'd like to take credit for the whole damn thing, we really only booked a small percentage of the 350-odd bands that are playing. The rest of the work is done by our wonderful showcase presenters. And it just goes to show you how wonderful and on top of their shit they truly are that some of them booked bands we'd never heard of. Turns out, to the surprise of no one at all, a lot of those bands are really, really good. Here's a sampling of some we're looking forward to checking out for the first time.

Bermuda Bonnie
Electro-pop duo Bermuda Bonnie picked up and left their native Philadelphia earlier this year, choosing instead to set up shop here in Brooklyn. Their peculiar, super-catchy brand of lighthearted electronic pop music should do just fine here: while their sense of style is impeccable, their sense of melody is even better. Chief songwriter Rebecca Houston posted a call for new bandmates on their MySpace blog a few months back. Here's hoping they got a good response. If they didn't, well, they should now.
Bermuda Bonnie plays the Brooklyn Based showcase at Bar Matchless on Friday night, and the Señors Music showcase at Cameo Gallery on Sunday night.

Slow Animal
The druggy haze that has taken over so much of Brooklyn's indie rock scene has largely been a total drag-not because there's anything inherently bad about drugged-out haziness or noise, but because there hasn't been nearly enough in terms of melody—or, for that matter, smart arrangements—for it to seem like much of anything. Cut to Slow Animal, a New Jersey-based duo that does blaring, psych-tinged noise-rock that's dreamy and hard-hitting.
Slow Animal play the We Listen For You showcase at Glasslands on Saturday night.

Boy Without God
Boy Without God is the solo recording project of Boston native, Queens-based Gabriel Birnbaum, a folk-minded singer-songwriter with apparent allegiances to Nick Drake and the vastly underrated Hayden-his songs are loose, floppy almost, but grounded by deep, commanding vocals. Acoustic guitar is ever-present, of course, but it's joined on record by saxophone, clarinet, trombone, and sporadic percussion, all to excellent effect. Don't let the singer-songwriter thing scare (bore) you away: Birnbaum will more than hold your attention.
Boy Without God plays the Ampeater Music and QRO Magazine showcae at Bar Matchless on Sunday night.

Woom
Oakland-based duo Woom are releasing their debut full-length via Ba Da Bing Records next week, and we're hoping the world won't sleep on it. Because the world, you see, can always use more smart, pleasantly disjointed pop music. The record is called Muu's Way, and it will appeal to fans of Micachu and the Shapes and High Places-it's playful, strange, and completely refreshing, the kind of record you'll want to play over and over again, all summer.
Woom play the Chocolate Bobka showcase at Shea Stadium on Saturday night.

Family Trees
Considering the likelihood that you will get very, very drunk multiple times (per day) during Northside, it's perfectly appropriate, convenient even, that Brooklyn's Family Trees make what is some of the most effective hangover music you've ever heard-it's sort of foggy and a little bit messed up, with traces of last night's carefree fun still popping up from time to time, forcing a reluctant smile and maybe, just maybe, another swig of whatever's closest.
Family Trees play the We Listen for You showcase at Glasslands on Saturday night.

Young Mammals
Ok, so we did actually book this one, but we seriously just found out about them: Young Mammals is a four-piece from Houston that plays tightly wound, almost 90s-style indie rock that's never exactly straightforward, with squiggly keyboard and "mmm-bop-boo" backing vocals that keep things interesting. The hooks are abundant, and if you're inclined to dance at rock shows, you could do much worse than this.
Young Mammals play Public Assembly on Sunday night.

Beloved Rogue
We are vibing on these guys something awful right now and it feels great. Beloved Rogue is a three-piece from Brooklyn, and they do this dark, meandering indie rock thing that is strangely, happily reminiscent of the mighty Seam. The vocals, though, are surprisingly airy and reverb-heavy, giving the whole thing a nice contrast in tones. One imagines their live show will be very loud. Or one hopes, anyway.
Beloved Rogue play the I Rock I Roll showcase at Bar Matchless on Saturday night.
- The L Magazine

http://www.blalocksirp.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=448&Itemid=59 - Blalocksirp.com

Here is the first of four posts about - you guessed it - my Northside showcase this Saturday. I'm super excited to have been included this year and urge you to get a badge and spend the weekend checking out all of the showcases that have been painstakingly put together.

The charming guys of the first band on my Northside Showcase and I go back - wayyyy back - to when they were the equally charming members of another Brooklyn-based favorite of mine known as The Walk-Up. Every now and then though, we all get a little older, a little wiser, a little better looking, and our directions and interests no doubt change (the lead singer of The Bravery used to front a ska band and have blonde dread locks, for a reference point here).

For The Walk-Up this shift involved scrapping their excellent gritty rock, turning everything inside out, and coming out on the other side embracing everything warm and fuzzy and gloriously shoegaze under the new moniker of Beloved Rogue.

And guess what - their music is still as wonderful as ever - maybe even better- and I want you all to know about it and feel the warm fuzzies. Their debut 3 track EP, Polaurora, can be downloaded for free on their website right now and they play at 8pm on Saturday. - I Rock I Roll

A trio of passionate, young fellows from NYC named Beloved Rogue have a new, free EP out, and you should hear it.

The sound isn't anything novel: A mix of 90s alt rock sensibilities with a wink to shoegaze's sweeter side. However, the songwriting is solid as a rock. The band knows how to flesh songs out, too. There's not one track under five minutes, and not a moment of boredom in sight. You can grab the new EP here, and check a track below:
- http://theneedledrop.blogspot.com/2009/12/free-ep-mp3-beloved-rogue.html

Beloved Rogue, a talented three-piece based in New York, make amazingly whimsical shoe-gaze, their songs bringing to mind a slightly poppier Deerhunter. Their debut, the Polaurora EP, showcases a dazed and dreamy band, although their songs sometimes build-up into more aggressive and distorted numbers (notably in 'Capital Sense'). It's that epic sort of music you can just close your eyes and get lost in, and even if you're only hearing it for the first time it already has a weirdly nostalgic feel about it. Considering that this is only the beginning, Beloved Rogue have crazy amounts of potential. The band are already getting to work on their second EP and so - hopefully - we'll hear more from them soon.

Until then, you should download the fantastic Polaurora EP for free from their website, or you could go one better and buy the 7" of 'Amber'/'Daysleeping' here. - http://the-music-journal.blogspot.com/2010/01/beloved-rogue.html

We opened a small break in the holiday period to tell you about a New York group called Beloved Rogue, that with just an EP of three songs, have already shown what they are capable of doing. With a dream-pop/shoegaze sound, they remind me of bands like Ride or Slowdive.

The group, composed of Sean Finnigan (vocals, guitar), Michael Pretucelli (drums) and Alex Koch (guitar, vocals) offer some intense songs with saturated, dense environments and sounds but without forgetting the melodies. they have an extremely pleasing result, and are certainly more than recommended.

The album is available in vinyl on the official website of the group, where you can also download at no cost, as shown, here are a couple of items included in it.
- http://www.litomusic.com/2009/12/beloved-rogue.html

A trio of passionate, young fellows from NYC named Beloved Rogue have a new, free EP out, and you should hear it.

The sound isn't anything novel: A mix of 90s alt rock sensibilities with a wink to shoegaze's sweeter side. However, the songwriting is solid as a rock. The band knows how to flesh songs out, too. There's not one track under five minutes, and not a moment of boredom in sight. You can grab the new EP here, and check a track below:
- http://theneedledrop.blogspot.com/2009/12/free-ep-mp3-beloved-rogue.html

Brooklyn three-piece Beloved Rogue finds beauty in the simple things. Last Wednesday at Matchless as part of Jezebel's Resonance, the band showcased their ability to compose minimal yet engaging songs. Contrasting raw vocal harmonies with experimental guitar solos that sometimes wandered through shoegaze and other times wailed in a psychedelic way, Beloved Rogue added an edge to their chilled-out pop tunes.

Splitting the vocals between guitarist Sean Finnegan’s higher-range and guitarist Alex Koch’s tenor voice served the band well. Oftentimes singing together but also switching lead, the dual voices offered a change of pace from other indie trios. Michael Petrucelly provided consistency with his drum lines, sometimes playing a sort of call-and-response with the vocals, but Finnegan’s solos are what carried the set. His tasteful use of echoes, delays and phase effects brought together various styles and influences, adding a dreamy quality to his guitar riffs. - http://www.knocksfromtheunderground.com/

Beloved Rogue are a trio from Brooklyn who seem to have a deep affection for vintage shoegazer bands like Ride and Swervedriver. If you've read this blog for more than a minute than you might know that I'm a sucker for this kind of sound. Last fall the band released the three track ep Polaurora and they have a 7" available now at Insound. "Daysleeping" video and live dates below. More on the band here. - http://www.theskyreport.com