Listen/download: 1,2,3 – “Porch Swing Song”
“…a terrific new band whose 70s-tinged rock, sung with rasping intensity by white soul wonder Nic Snyder,reminds you of some of the best stuff from the pre-punk era…” – The Guardian
“…hints of that Girls-like ’60s revival, indistinct gestures of surf rock, and touches of grainy, lo-fi acoustics….” – Consequence of Sound
Pittsburgh’s genre-defying band 1,2,3 has returned after a two year hiatus, and will be releasing their sophomore double album Big Weather through their newly-founded label American Hermitage on May 27th. The band rolled out “Porch Swing Song” a few days ago, which is the third song they’ve shared from Big Weather (their first two singles “Big Weather Pt. 1” and “Leave Me In The Sky With The Lawnchair” are both still available to stream, see below). Combining classic rock with the best elements of lo-fi soul, punk, garage and even classical music sampling, this is the first new music 1,2,3 has released since their critically-acclaimed debut album New Heaven (2011).
1,2,3 had a turbulent few years since the release of New Heaven. Lead singer/guitarist/songwriter Nicolas Snyder quit the band at the end of 2012, burnt out after touring on the heels of their debut and writing/recording the follow-up for over a year. Several months later, after a few nights of drunken persuasion, he re-convened with the rest of the band and coaxed them back, wanting to finish what they had started. Snyder had been inspired by 70’s dystopian movies, combined with a pattern of strange weather and its resulting destruction (a tornado ripped through his aunt’s house in Pennsylvania… something that shouldn’t happen in PA), along with the tsunami that devastated Japan two weeks later.
The band began recording storms through a screen door in the house they were renting on the outskirts of Pittsburgh, which often flooded, halting production. While recording, the band listened to nothing but local oldies radio stations. Big Weather was recorded entirely on primitive gear, using nothing but creaky old guitars, a bass, and things to bang on. Eventually some classical vinyl sampling was brought in to conjure certain feelings, and add new textures to the short stories and spoken word interludes. The lyrics had all the usual lovelorn, loneliness and death-questioning the band had previously written about, but this time it was more vivid, usually recorded during or after storms.
In the words of Snyder, “it’s more interesting to be lonely in the eye of the hurricane than it is to be in a bedroom. This album is undoubtedly ridden with flaws, but so are its creators, and the circumstances under which it was created… and in that regard, this album feels very special to me.”
The band will be playing their album release show in Pittsburgh on May 30th at Brillobox!
Listen: 1,2,3 – “Big Weather Part 1”
Listen: 1,2,3 – “Leave Me in the Sky with the Lawnchair”
Big Weather Tracklisting:
1. Big Weather Pt. 1
2. Leave Me In The Sky With The Lawnchair
3. Pontoon Song
4. Waiting For The Horsemen
5. Mile High Grass
6. Bus To Babylon
7. Refusal Bop
8. Shapes of Wrath
9. Fear_Pure Elevation
10. Rebuilding
11. Stone Haus
12. Porch Swing Song
13. Big Black Car
14. Big Weather Pt. 2
15. In The House of The Locust
16. When The Levee Broke at The County Fair
17. Strawberry
18. Faith Hill
19. Where We Lived
20. Sick of the End
2. Leave Me In The Sky With The Lawnchair
3. Pontoon Song
4. Waiting For The Horsemen
5. Mile High Grass
6. Bus To Babylon
7. Refusal Bop
8. Shapes of Wrath
9. Fear_Pure Elevation
10. Rebuilding
11. Stone Haus
12. Porch Swing Song
13. Big Black Car
14. Big Weather Pt. 2
15. In The House of The Locust
16. When The Levee Broke at The County Fair
17. Strawberry
18. Faith Hill
19. Where We Lived
20. Sick of the End
Musically Amusing 