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Absinthe Junk

Absinthe Junk Radio

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FEATURED SONG
Devilish Grin
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Devilish Grin
Album:
Released: Jan 16, 2011
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General Info

  • Genre: Alternative / Experimental / Rock

    Location Nashville, Un

    Profile Views: 48450

    Last Login: 1/2/2012

    Member Since 7/11/2008

    Website http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3Lm15cGllY2VvZmp1bmsuY29t

    Record Label Unsigned

    Type of Label Unsigned

  • Bio

    Absinthe Junk's ethereal melodies are fused with eclectic musical influences and textures from around the world and darkened by an edgy army of harmonizing and melodic guitars—all of which forge a hard hitting progressive alliance. Absinthe Junk breaking out wide in 2010 after signing to Severe Records, has been the winner of ReverbNation's Playlist 7 contest, featured by Windows Media Weekly and distributed on a compilation disc at SXSW. Drawing on frontwoman Blair's wide ranging imagination as a trained jazz saxophonist, orchestral composer and—would you believe?— successful comic book visual artist, the band mixes everything from progressive to alt metal and goth rock. Their innovative approach to songwriting finds critics drawing comparisons to other female led rock units Evanescence and Garbage and also to genre-bending frontrunners Abney Park and Portishead. They're not for the timid listener or rock fan whose tastes are easily boxed in—each song sports unique instrumentation ranging from violin to Turkish saz all the way to a fully orchestrated symphony. All of that lays the foundation for a sharply crafted assault of metaphorical undertones which saturate the moment, leaving each tune as complex and unique as the instrumentation before it. The freewheeling spirit of the band completely parallels the unique era of French history that inspired their name. Absinthe became the world's most maligned beverage by 1916 with a near world-wide ban after claims were made based on junk science that the drink caused blindness and even insanity. Their debut album "crashes in with actual Living Substance" according Skope Entertainment (March 2010). Living Ghosts speaks of the ominous, yet unavoidable fits the world finds itself in. "You can't avoid it. Which is not to be misinterpreted as the extreme negative, either. The fact is we're all caught in this web. How we handle, reconcile and move through our lives is the real story." A few tracks key in perfectly on these themes, most specifically the fiery, percussive jam "Commercialized Waste" (a not so subtle knock on the cookie cutter mentality of the corporate side of the music industry which Blair calls "a tango-ized dance with the devil") and the hypnotic, Eastern flavored, heavily orchestrated "Assassin (Someday)," whose politically charged lyrics lament the demise of sanctity and civility in the world. "Living Ghosts" charted at 157 on radio charts the week of its release and tracks thereon have been licensed to MTV's Parental Control, Nitro Circus, Fantasy Factory, Warren the Ape, and Fox Sports. The band has achieved a fast and dedicated global fanbase thanks to lead singer, Blair's previous success as an award-winning comic book writer and illustrator. "I've had the chance to travel extensively with my comic book career, and I am looking forward to visiting these people and places again as part of a whole new artistic medium," says Blair. "As a unit, Absinthe Junk is dedicated to forging a path of original independent music featuring songs that listeners can apply to their own lives. The most amazing thing is walking offstage and having people come up and hug us and say they can see past our metaphors and fully connect with what we are singing about up there. It's a big sound, but there's an intimacy to these songs as well and we love the way they inspire empathy between us and those who get where we are coming from." ..

  • Members

    Matt Arseneau, Ben Bruno, Patrick Himes, Blair Verte

  • Influences

    Pink Floyd, Garbage, Rush, Deep Purple, Coheed and Cambria, Muse, Noise, Absinthe, Spoons

  • Sounds Like

    Abney Park, Evanescence, Pink Floyd, Garbage, Rush, Lacuna Coil, Coheed and Cambria, Deep Purple, Noise, Absinthe, Spoons

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Biography

Things have taken some dramatic turns for the alternative rock assault, Absinthe Junk.

Three years after forming, Absinthe Junk is taking ahold of its voice. After many career u-turns and a few fist fights, the eccentric group of musical misfits have thrown away the formula to pursue their own unique and ambitious sound. The band's unique instrumentation lays the foundation for a sharply crafted assault of metaphorical undertones which saturate the moment, leaving each tune as complex and unique as the instrumentation before it. The free-wheeling spirit of the band completely parallels the unique era of French history that inspired their name.

Absinthe was the drink of choice during the Bohemian Revolution and is still the most maligned drink in world history, with a near-worldwide ban in 1915. "Basically, it was banned on junk science," singer and multi-instrumentalist Blair explains. She adds about the reflection on her group's double entendre band name to their music. "The ideals of pushing boundaries, defying the mainstream commercialism, and just playing what we want, how we want, whether the world thinks it's trash or not, embodies what we're about."

After their first full-length release, 'Living Ghosts', Absinthe Junk found themselves boxed into mainstream idealism; a place where it was thought that keyboards and background vocals ruin records and the road since then has been nothing but a battle to break away from that chain of convention.

"I have no interest in sounding like all the bands down the street… if we don't test our limits as artists, what right do we have to call ourselves such?" asks Blair.

In their upcoming sophomore release, 'Death in the Afternoon,' Absinthe Junk has taken a careful approach to not lose the human element and the beautiful imperfections of real music. "We try to make the best records we can and stay on the road as much as possible, and get an audience the old fashion way." shares guitarist and vocalist, Patrick Himes.

Absinthe Junk took a 180 approach to Death in the Afternoon', versus their debut, self-engineering and producing every aspect of the record. At the same time, the lyrical and tonal approach has been equally rediscovered. "We're a group of goofballs who love to make noise together and that attitude has found its way into songs. The most piercing idea of a tune may be surrounded by peppy tones, making it almost comical," Blair shares. "Life's too short to be so damn serious. Adding an element of comedy to make the music a little more tongue-in-cheek has been one of my favorite changes that we've made as a band."

Still not for the timid listener of rock, Absinthe Junk's ethereal melodies are fused with eclectic musical influences, and held together with smart, relatable lyrics - all of which forge a hard hitting progressive alliance.

The new album may not be the hippest thing to hit the streets, and it definitely won't be perfect," added Blair. "It's built to last; to be timeless. It will be real, identifiable, and it will be epic."

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