Death to Anders
Encyclopedia
Death to Anders are an American
indie rock
band formed in Los Angeles, California
in 2006. Their lineup consists of Rob Danson (vocals and guitar), Rob Hume (bass and background vocals, and Robert Smith (drums).
Death to Anders are active in the influential Echo Park
and Silver Lake
music scenes in Los Angeles and were founding members of the Central Second Collective, a group of up-and-coming rock musicians dedicated to promoting innovative, new music in Los Angeles.
Often compared to Pavement
, early Modest Mouse
and Sonic Youth
but defying hard classification, Death to Anders shift dramatically between hypnotic melodies and raging dissonance
as they mix intelligent, story-driven rock with quirky, Gothic Americana
.
or progressive rock
, the two bonded over their shared enthusiasm for Sonic Youth
, the Pixies, and Pavement
.
Death to Anders joined with several other young Los Angeles bands, including the Happy Hollows, the Transmissions, One Trick Pony, the Henry Clay People, Anchors for Architects, and DiE RoCKERS DiE, to form the Central Second Collective, a group dedicated to promoting innovative, independent music. The collective's name refers to the Cocaine, an indie club within 2nd Street Jazz, a venue located at Central and 2nd Avenues in the "Little Tokyo
" district of downtown Los Angeles
. Although the Central Second Collective no longer formally exists, member bands continue to play and record together, appearing regularly in the independent and underground clubs of the Silverlake and Echo Park music scenes, the birthplace of successful indie bands like Beck
, Elliott Smith
, Rilo Kiley
, Sea Wolf
, and Silversun Pickups
. Several of the Second Central Collective bands, including Death to Anders, will also be featured in the book Gooseberries, a collection of portraits by Los Angeles music photojournalist Sterling Andrews that will be released through Eenie Meenie Records
in the Spring of 2009.
Death to Anders self-produced their first album "Punctuate the Calamities" in the Fall of 2006, and after recording with British producer David Newton (formerly of the Mighty Lemon Drops) at Rollercoaster Recording in 2007, they released two albums in 2008, a full-length entitled "Fictitious Business" and an EP
entitled "Enigmatic Market". In 2010, Danson re-formed Death to Anders as a dynamic 3-piece featuring bassist Rob Hume and drummer Robert Smith.
In 2011, armed with new material, the trio released the E.P. "Don't Give Up," which was recorded at Infrasonic Sound (No Age, Wavves, Fools Gold) and mixed by Ali Nikou at BlasterMaster Productions
in Los Angeles. Death to Anders released their E.P. on October 25th 2011 during L.A blog Buzz Bands’ three year anniversary show at The Echo in Echo Park, California, where they shared the bill with Everest and Hands.
, Gothic Americana
, indie rock
, and alternative country
, and while their work has been compared to Pavement
, early Modest Mouse
, the Pixies, and Sonic Youth
, it is also described as difficult to classify, "radical", and "fresh".
Rob Hume's highly melodic bass work, inspired by Bruce Thomas
of the Attractions, is effortlessly integrated with Smith's energetic, Keith Moon
(The Who
) and Jimmy Chamberlain (Smashing Pumpkins) inspired drums. Danson's lead vocals, which range from the quietly sincere to squealing intensity betray the influence of Stephen Malkmus
, Nick Cave
and Isaac Brock
,
Death to Anders are also known for their intelligent, darkly humorous and often mysterious lyrics, which are written by Danson and Ceglio and inspired by the literary works of Henry Miller
, Albert Camus
, Fyodor Dostoevsky
, Tom Robbins
, and Chuck Palahniuk
. The title of the band's debut album, "Punctuate the Calamities", is even a reference to Miller's Tropic of Cancer.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
band formed in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
in 2006. Their lineup consists of Rob Danson (vocals and guitar), Rob Hume (bass and background vocals, and Robert Smith (drums).
Death to Anders are active in the influential Echo Park
Echo Park, Los Angeles, California
Echo Park is a hilly neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, northwest of Downtown Los Angeles and southeast of Hollywood.-History:At the end of the 19th century, when the hills were still covered with native vegetation, a horse-drawn streetcar line served the dirt road that is now Echo Park Avenue...
and Silver Lake
Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California
Silver Lake is a hilly neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California east of Hollywood and northwest of Downtown Los Angeles. Silver Lake is inhabited by a wide variety of ethnic and socioeconomic groups, but it is best known as an eclectic gathering of hipsters and the creative class.The...
music scenes in Los Angeles and were founding members of the Central Second Collective, a group of up-and-coming rock musicians dedicated to promoting innovative, new music in Los Angeles.
Often compared to Pavement
Pavement (band)
Pavement is an American alternative rock band that formed in Stockton, California in 1989. In their career, they achieved a significant cult following, and they were called the best band of the 1990s by prominent music critics Robert Christgau and Stephen Thomas Erlewine...
, early Modest Mouse
Modest Mouse
Modest Mouse is an American indie rock band formed in 1993 in Issaquah, Washington, by singer/lyricist/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy. They are based in Portland, Oregon. Since their 1996 debut album, This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think...
and Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
but defying hard classification, Death to Anders shift dramatically between hypnotic melodies and raging dissonance
Dissonance
Dissonance has several meanings, all related to conflict or incongruity:*Consonance and dissonance in music are properties of an interval or chord*Cognitive dissonance is a state of mental conflict...
as they mix intelligent, story-driven rock with quirky, Gothic Americana
Gothic Americana
Gothic Americana is a style of alternative country that fuses Americana music with elements of gothic rock, gothabilly, psychobilly, deathcountry...
.
Formation and History: 2004-Present
Death to Anders was first formed as a duo in 2004, under the name of the "Thick Liquid Sucker Punch", by Danson and original guitarist Nick Ceglio while the two were students at the Musician's Institute in Hollywood, California. While most of their classmates were interested in heavy metalHeavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
or progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
, the two bonded over their shared enthusiasm for Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
, the Pixies, and Pavement
Pavement (band)
Pavement is an American alternative rock band that formed in Stockton, California in 1989. In their career, they achieved a significant cult following, and they were called the best band of the 1990s by prominent music critics Robert Christgau and Stephen Thomas Erlewine...
.
Death to Anders joined with several other young Los Angeles bands, including the Happy Hollows, the Transmissions, One Trick Pony, the Henry Clay People, Anchors for Architects, and DiE RoCKERS DiE, to form the Central Second Collective, a group dedicated to promoting innovative, independent music. The collective's name refers to the Cocaine, an indie club within 2nd Street Jazz, a venue located at Central and 2nd Avenues in the "Little Tokyo
Little Tokyo
Little Tokyo may refer to:* Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, California* Little Tokyo, Vancouver* Little Tokyo, U.S.A., a 1942 American film* Another term for a Japantown* Shigeri Akabane , Japanese professional wrestler...
" district of downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, United States, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area...
. Although the Central Second Collective no longer formally exists, member bands continue to play and record together, appearing regularly in the independent and underground clubs of the Silverlake and Echo Park music scenes, the birthplace of successful indie bands like Beck
Beck
Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...
, Elliott Smith
Elliott Smith
Steven Paul "Elliott" Smith was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and resided for a significant portion of his life in Portland, Oregon, where he first gained popularity...
, Rilo Kiley
Rilo Kiley
Rilo Kiley was an American indie rock band based in Los Angeles. Formed in 1998, the band consisted of Jenny Lewis, Blake Sennett, Pierre de Reeder, and Jason Boesel....
, Sea Wolf
Sea Wolf (band)
Sea Wolf is a band led by Alex Brown Church, an indie folk musician based in Los Angeles, California. Church attended film school at NYU and was a founding member of a group called Irving in 1998...
, and Silversun Pickups
Silversun Pickups
Silversun Pickups is an alternative rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2002. The band comprises Brian Aubert, Nikki Monninger, Christopher Guanlao, and Joe Lester....
. Several of the Second Central Collective bands, including Death to Anders, will also be featured in the book Gooseberries, a collection of portraits by Los Angeles music photojournalist Sterling Andrews that will be released through Eenie Meenie Records
Eenie Meenie Records
Eenie Meenie Records is an independent record label that specializes in signing indie pop, indie rock and electronica artists, such as The Faraway Places, From Bubblegum to Sky, Seksu Roba and Troubled Hubble...
in the Spring of 2009.
Death to Anders self-produced their first album "Punctuate the Calamities" in the Fall of 2006, and after recording with British producer David Newton (formerly of the Mighty Lemon Drops) at Rollercoaster Recording in 2007, they released two albums in 2008, a full-length entitled "Fictitious Business" and an EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
entitled "Enigmatic Market". In 2010, Danson re-formed Death to Anders as a dynamic 3-piece featuring bassist Rob Hume and drummer Robert Smith.
In 2011, armed with new material, the trio released the E.P. "Don't Give Up," which was recorded at Infrasonic Sound (No Age, Wavves, Fools Gold) and mixed by Ali Nikou at BlasterMaster Productions
in Los Angeles. Death to Anders released their E.P. on October 25th 2011 during L.A blog Buzz Bands’ three year anniversary show at The Echo in Echo Park, California, where they shared the bill with Everest and Hands.
Musical Style and Influences
The dissonant tones, dynamic melodies and complex song structures that shape the Death to Anders sound reveal a broad array of influences and reflect the diversity of its members. Hailing from different areas of the United States -- Boulder, Colorado (Danson) Eindhoven, The Netherlands (Hume), and Detroit Michigan (Smith) -- the band integrate genres as varied as punk rockPunk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, Gothic Americana
Gothic Americana
Gothic Americana is a style of alternative country that fuses Americana music with elements of gothic rock, gothabilly, psychobilly, deathcountry...
, indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
, and alternative country
Alternative country
Alternative country is a loosely defined sub-genre of country music, which includes acts that differ significantly in style from mainstream or pop country music...
, and while their work has been compared to Pavement
Pavement (band)
Pavement is an American alternative rock band that formed in Stockton, California in 1989. In their career, they achieved a significant cult following, and they were called the best band of the 1990s by prominent music critics Robert Christgau and Stephen Thomas Erlewine...
, early Modest Mouse
Modest Mouse
Modest Mouse is an American indie rock band formed in 1993 in Issaquah, Washington, by singer/lyricist/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy. They are based in Portland, Oregon. Since their 1996 debut album, This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think...
, the Pixies, and Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
, it is also described as difficult to classify, "radical", and "fresh".
Rob Hume's highly melodic bass work, inspired by Bruce Thomas
Bruce Thomas
Bruce Thomas is best known as bassist for The Attractions; the band formed in 1977 to back Elvis Costello in concert and on record....
of the Attractions, is effortlessly integrated with Smith's energetic, Keith Moon
Keith Moon
Keith John Moon was an English musician, best known for being the drummer of the English rock group The Who. He gained acclaim for his exuberant and innovative drumming style, and notoriety for his eccentric and often self-destructive behaviour, earning him the nickname "Moon the Loon". Moon...
(The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
) and Jimmy Chamberlain (Smashing Pumpkins) inspired drums. Danson's lead vocals, which range from the quietly sincere to squealing intensity betray the influence of Stephen Malkmus
Stephen Malkmus
Stephen Joseph Malkmus is an indie rock musician and icon, and a member of the band Pavement. He currently performs with Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks.-Early years:...
, Nick Cave
Nick Cave
Nicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...
and Isaac Brock
Isaac Brock
Major-General Sir Isaac Brock KB was a British Army officer and administrator. Brock was assigned to Canada in 1802. Despite facing desertions and near-mutinies, he commanded his regiment in Upper Canada successfully for many years...
,
Death to Anders are also known for their intelligent, darkly humorous and often mysterious lyrics, which are written by Danson and Ceglio and inspired by the literary works of Henry Miller
Henry Miller
Henry Valentine Miller was an American novelist and painter. He was known for breaking with existing literary forms and developing a new sort of 'novel' that is a mixture of novel, autobiography, social criticism, philosophical reflection, surrealist free association, and mysticism, one that is...
, Albert Camus
Albert Camus
Albert Camus was a French author, journalist, and key philosopher of the 20th century. In 1949, Camus founded the Group for International Liaisons within the Revolutionary Union Movement, which was opposed to some tendencies of the Surrealist movement of André Breton.Camus was awarded the 1957...
, Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky was a Russian writer of novels, short stories and essays. He is best known for his novels Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov....
, Tom Robbins
Tom Robbins
Thomas Eugene "Tom" Robbins Thomas Eugene "Tom" Robbins Thomas Eugene "Tom" Robbins (born July 22, 1936 is an American author. His best-selling novels are serio-comic, often wildly poetic stories with a strong social and philosophical undercurrent, an irreverent bent, and scenes extrapolated from...
, and Chuck Palahniuk
Chuck Palahniuk
Charles Michael "Chuck" Palahniuk is an American transgressional fiction novelist and freelance journalist. He is best known for the award-winning novel Fight Club, which was later made into a film directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter...
. The title of the band's debut album, "Punctuate the Calamities", is even a reference to Miller's Tropic of Cancer.
Albums
- Punctuate the Calamities (self-released, 2006)
- Fictitious Business (self-released, produced by David Newton, 2008)
EPs and Singles
- "Punctuate The Calamities" (self-released, produced by Death to Anders, 2006)
- "Fictitious Business" (self released, produced by David Newton, 2008)
- “Enigmatic Market EP” (self-released, produced by David Newton, 2008)
- "Don't Give Up" (self-released, produced by Eric Palmquist and Death to Anders, 2011)