Noise By Numbers
Encyclopedia
Noise By Numbers is pop punk
band featuring Dan Schafer
(Screeching Weasel
, the Queers
, the Methadones
, Sludgeworth
) and Jeff Dean (The Bomb, Four Star Alarm, The Story So Far). Their sound has been described as reminiscent of Husker Du
, the Replacements
, Dinosaur Jr., Naked Raygun
and the Effigies
.
(The Lawrence Arms
, Smoking Popes
) to complete the line up. They recorded their first album, Yeah, Whatever... with Matt Allison at Atlas Studios, which was released in November 2009 on Asian Man Records
(CD/Digital) and Solidarity Recordings (vinyl). Hennessy left the band after recording the album and was replaced by Jimmy Lucido (Light FM, The Strays, Bang Bang). The band's second album, Over Leavitt, was produced by Jon Drew
(Fucked Up
, Tokyo Police Club
) and is scheduled to be released in 2011. Mike Soucy, of The Methadones, has also played drums with the band live.
The band has performed with acts such as Rise Against
, Alkaline Trio
, Hey Mercedes
, Small Brown Bike
, Banner Pilot
and Bomb the Music Industry. They have also taken part in various festivals, including Insubordination Fest
, Windy City Sound Clash and Fest 9, and they toured the East Coast in August 2010.
Past Members:
Pop punk
Pop punk is a fusion music genre that combines elements of punk rock with pop music, to varying degrees. Allmusic describes the genre as a strand of alternative rock, which typically merges pop melodies with speedy punk tempos, chord changes and loud guitars...
band featuring Dan Schafer
Dan Vapid
Dan Schafer is a punk rock musician from Chicago, Illinois best known for his participation in Screeching Weasel, The Riverdales, The Methadones, and various other pop punk bands.-Generation Waste:...
(Screeching Weasel
Screeching Weasel
Screeching Weasel is an American punk rock band originally from Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1986 by Ben Weasel and John Jughead.Since their formation, Screeching Weasel have broken up and reformed numerous times with numerous line-up changes. Ben Weasel has been the only constant...
, the Queers
The Queers
The Queers are a punk band formed in 1981 by Portsmouth, New Hampshire native Joe King . The band originally broke up in 1984, but reformed with Joe Queer and a new line-up in 1986. In 1990, the band signed with Shakin' Street Records and released their first album Grow Up...
, the Methadones
The Methadones
The Methadones were a band formed in 1993 by guitarist/vocalist Dan Vapid. The Methadones initially lasted only a few shows before Dan put them to the side to focus on his main band Screeching Weasel. By 1999 Dan was no longer a member of Screeching Weasel or his other band The Riverdales, and...
, Sludgeworth
Sludgeworth
Sludgeworth is an American punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois consisting of Dan Schafer , Adam White , Dave McClean , Mike Hootenstrat , and Brian Vermin ....
) and Jeff Dean (The Bomb, Four Star Alarm, The Story So Far). Their sound has been described as reminiscent of Husker Du
Husker Du
Husker Du means "Do you remember" in Danish and Norwegian, and may refer to:*Hüsker Dü, American punk band*Hūsker Dū?, a Danish board game*Husker Du, a Danish documentary series about the 1970s...
, the Replacements
The Replacements
The Replacements were an American punk rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1979, and are considered pioneers of alternative rock. The band was composed of guitarist and vocalist Paul Westerberg, guitarist Bob Stinson, bassist Tommy Stinson, and drummer Chris Mars for most of their career...
, Dinosaur Jr., Naked Raygun
Naked Raygun
Naked Raygun is a Chicago-based punk rock group. Initially active from 1980 to about 1992, Naked Raygun had several short-lived reunions afterwards and a full-time reformation in 2006....
and the Effigies
The Effigies
The Effigies is an early post-hardcore group from Chicago. The band, first formed in 1980, was active for approximately a decade, undergoing multiple personnel changes, with frontman John Kezdy the only constant, before disbanding in 1990 . The band released 5 LPs and several EPs, most on...
.
History
The band formed in late 2008 when long-time friends Dan Schafer and Jeff Dean started writing songs together. They recruited bassist Rick Uncapher (Textbook, Woolworthy) and drummer Neil HennessyNeil Hennessy
Neil Kevin Hennessy is a musician and music producer/engineer from Chicago, Illinois.Hennessy currently plays in The Lawrence Arms, Colossal, The Falcon, The Smoking Popes and Demon Beach. He has also been a member of Noise By Numbers, Baxter, The Killing Tree, and Quattro.Hennessy works at Atlas...
(The Lawrence Arms
The Lawrence Arms
The Lawrence Arms are an American punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois, formed in 1999. They have released five full-length albums and toured extensively.-Pre-history:...
, Smoking Popes
Smoking Popes
The Smoking Popes are an American pop punk from the northwest suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, formed in 1991. They play punk-influenced pop music with crooning vocals...
) to complete the line up. They recorded their first album, Yeah, Whatever... with Matt Allison at Atlas Studios, which was released in November 2009 on Asian Man Records
Asian Man Records
Asian Man Records is a small, DIY record label run by Mike Park in Monte Sereno, California. Park started a record label and began releasing music in 1989 under the name Dill Records, with the Asian Man label established May 1996.-Artists:...
(CD/Digital) and Solidarity Recordings (vinyl). Hennessy left the band after recording the album and was replaced by Jimmy Lucido (Light FM, The Strays, Bang Bang). The band's second album, Over Leavitt, was produced by Jon Drew
Jon Drew
Jon Drew is a Canadian music producer and recording engineer based in Toronto. He has produced the albums of Polaris Music Prize winning band Fucked Up and Juno Award nominated Tokyo Police Club. He has also worked on the albums of Canadian bands the Stars, Attack in Black, and the Arkells. ...
(Fucked Up
Fucked Up
Fucked Up is a hardcore punk band from Toronto, Canada. The band won the 2009 Polaris Music Prize for the album The Chemistry of Common Life.-History:The band formed and played their first shows in early 2001...
, Tokyo Police Club
Tokyo Police Club
Tokyo Police Club is an indie rock band from Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. It consists of vocalist and bassist David Monks , keyboardist Graham Wright, guitarist Josh Hook , and drummer Greg Alsop ....
) and is scheduled to be released in 2011. Mike Soucy, of The Methadones, has also played drums with the band live.
The band has performed with acts such as Rise Against
Rise Against
Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois, formed in 1999. The band currently consists of Tim McIlrath , Zach Blair , Joe Principe and Brandon Barnes .Rise Against spent its first five years signed to the independent record label Fat Wreck Chords, on which it...
, Alkaline Trio
Alkaline Trio
Alkaline Trio is an American punk rock band that formed in McHenry, Illinois, in 1996. The band's line-up consists of Matt Skiba , Dan Andriano , and Derek Grant...
, Hey Mercedes
Hey Mercedes
Hey Mercedes was an emo band from Milwaukee, WI/Chicago, IL, USA, that formed in 1999/2000 after the dissolution of Braid. The band consisted of Bob Nanna on guitar and vocals, Todd Bell on bass and vocals, Mark Dawursk on guitar and vocals and Damon Atkinson on drums.Hey Mercedes' first release...
, Small Brown Bike
Small Brown Bike
Small Brown Bike is a band from Marshall, Michigan, United States that started in 1996. The trademark of Small Brown Bike is their "double vocals" backed by melodies. Their sound is often identified as being similar to other post-hardcore bands, such as Avail, Hot Water Music and Dillinger Four...
, Banner Pilot
Banner Pilot
Banner Pilot is a punk band from Minneapolis, Minnesota.Their music is heavily influenced by acts such as Jawbreaker, The Lawrence Arms, Screeching Weasel, and Hot Water Music.-History:...
and Bomb the Music Industry. They have also taken part in various festivals, including Insubordination Fest
Insubordination Fest
Insubordination Fest is an annual message board nerd festival held in Baltimore, Maryland. The festival started in 2006 as a 10th anniversary showcase for Insubordination Records, and since then has been held every summer. In the past the festival has been headlined by bands such as Less Than...
, Windy City Sound Clash and Fest 9, and they toured the East Coast in August 2010.
Members
- Dan SchaferDan VapidDan Schafer is a punk rock musician from Chicago, Illinois best known for his participation in Screeching Weasel, The Riverdales, The Methadones, and various other pop punk bands.-Generation Waste:...
- vocals/guitar - Jeff Dean - guitar
- Rick Uncapher - bass
- Jimmy Lucido - drums
Past Members:
- Neil HennessyNeil HennessyNeil Kevin Hennessy is a musician and music producer/engineer from Chicago, Illinois.Hennessy currently plays in The Lawrence Arms, Colossal, The Falcon, The Smoking Popes and Demon Beach. He has also been a member of Noise By Numbers, Baxter, The Killing Tree, and Quattro.Hennessy works at Atlas...
- drums
Reception
- Jim DerogatisJim DeRogatisJames "Jim" DeRogatis is an American music critic and co-host of Sound Opinions. DeRogatis has written articles for magazines such as Spin, Guitar World and Modern Drummer, and for fifteen years was the pop music critic for the Chicago Sun-Times.He joined Columbia College Chicago as a full-time...
, of the Chicago Sun-TimesChicago Sun-TimesThe Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
, said the band "inject a heaping dose of sing-along melody into every propulsive and hard-hitting groove" - Byrne Yancey, of Punknews.orgPunknews.orgPunknews.org is a website founded by Aubin Paul which launched in 1999. The website publishes music news and album reviews relating to punk rock, hardcore punk, ska, indie rock and heavy metal...
, described the band as a "supergroupSupergroup (music)In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....
". - AMP Magazine said "Think early ALKALINE TRIO meets PINHEAD GUNPOWDER East Bay stuff.".
- Jordan Baker, of pastepunk.com, described the band as having "an unmistakable Chicago pop-punk sound" with "plenty of infectious melodies".
Albums
- Yeah, Whatever... (2009, Asian Man, Solidarity)
- Over Leavitt (2011, Jump Start Records)
Singles
- "So Quickly"/"Under The Milky Way" 7" (2009, Art of The Underground Records #43)
- "Between Planets" (w/ “My Wandering Days are Over” by Cheap Girls) 7" (2011, Suburban Home Records)
- Split 7" w/ The Magnificent (2011, Solidarity Recordings)
Compilation appearances
- Plea For Peace (2010, Solidarity) includes "Paris In September"
- Asian Man Records: Vol. 1 (2010, Asian Man) includes "Cold Embrace"