The Red Romance
Encyclopedia
History
The Red Romance is a critically lauded, independently released act, that has earned critical praise for their unique blend of Motown-oriented grooves and a literate and lyrical moodiness.Formerly of New York based indie-rock group Ambulance LTD
Ambulance LTD
Ambulance LTD is an indie rock group formed in Spanish Harlem, New York in 2000. The band was founded by singer and guitarist Michael Di Liberto and Dave Longstreth of Ohio. They were joined by Marcus Congleton, who brought in Andrew Haskell , Aaron Nevezie , and Darren Beckett...
, Matthew Dublin and Darren Beckett formed The Red Romance using a song catalog Dublin had assembled while on tour with their previous band. Soon after recording some demos, the band recruited Adam Chilenski and began playing shows at NYC clubs the Mercury Lounge
Mercury Lounge
The Mercury Lounge is a club/music venue, in the Lower East Side section, of New York City. The structure, at 217 East Houston Street, housed the servants to the Astor Mansion, connected to it by an underground labyrinth of tunnels...
and Piano's (where almost from their first live show they have earned a considerable amount of critical praise from the music press).
At an early show at NYC's downtown club Piano's, Spin.com
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
editor Peter Gaston wrote "I caught the band at Pianos on the Lower East Side last night, almost by accident, and was completely excited about the Red Romance's future. It's classic rock'n'roll, anchored by Beckett's rock steady, Motown-influenced backbeats... the sly chorus on "What You Wanted" shows [Dublin's] got a bit of attitude to share".
The band continued to gain notoriety later with an impromptu jam with Brandon Flowers
Brandon Flowers
Brandon Richard Flowers is an American musician, best known as the frontman of the Las Vegas-based rock band The Killers. He has also released a solo album titled Flamingo.-Early life:...
from The Killers at NYC's the Mercury Lounge, where they jammed some of their favorites, including David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
's "Heroes". Always avid supporters of The Red Romance, The Killers then asked the young band to accompany them as a support act through the fall of 2006 and then later in 2007 during the Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
stalwarts North American tour to promote their sophomore release Sam's Town. It was during this tour that The Red Romance became one of the first unsigned act to perform at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
's three times, two at Madison Square Theater and then in the arena proper. Some early live reviews described the then virtually unknown band's ability to rise to the challenge and break the ice in front of thousands of Killers fans: "The Red Romance proved to be a good compliment to The Killers with a slew of easy to digest songs with some hooks and melodies, but enough bite as well. And by the end of their set, the growing crowd apparently agreed giving Red Romance a good, well-deserved hand amidst potentially difficult circumstances".
They performed on September 9, 2007 in Toronto as part of the Virgin Festival
Virgin Festival
The Virgin Fest is a rock festival held in the United States and Canada, a spin-off from the V Festival held in the UK...
.
At CMJ 2007, Spin.com praised The Red Romance's performance at a showcase featuring several up-and-coming bands as "...the evening's tightest performance. Sporting a suit vest and button up, front man Matt Dublin and crew kicked into a solid set of back to back tracks from the newly minted quintet's self-titled debut. "Don’t Cry" and "Just One Kiss" illustrate Dublin's affinity for the finer things in life: pop hooks and all their trimmings. At a skin and bones level, the Red Romance's tunes embody cut and dry musical infection. And "Break Away" exemplifies its zenith; a thick frosting of synths and simple, hum-worthy lead guitars float atop a solid Motown bass and back beat spine—something other bands often refuse to do: accept simplicity. True, turning heads with a common mold is tough, but it's tried and true, and Red Romance showed us why." The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
music writer Dan Cairns also praised the band's departure from their former outfit, writing that "...The RR’s debut EP shares little with that band’s lilting dream-rock, instead owing debts to The Cure
The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
and The Strokes
The Strokes
The Strokes are an American indie rock band formed in 1999 in New York City. Consisting of Julian Casablancas , Nick Valensi , Albert Hammond, Jr. , Nikolai Fraiture and Fabrizio Moretti ....
, with nods, too, to classic Motown and Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
, all fed through a synth-pop filter. . .the RR will need all the friends they can get. Their EP suggests they won’t lack for them."
Critic's have described Dublin's songwriting style with a wide range of influences, including jangly guitar pop, Motown, and "...the kind of indie pop/rock outfit that makes you want to breakout in a nostalgic Molly Ringwald
Molly Ringwald
Molly Kathleen Ringwald is an American actress, singer and dancer. Having appeared in the John Hughes movies Sixteen Candles , The Breakfast Club , and Pretty in Pink , Ringwald has been frequently named the greatest teen star of all time...
dance a la The Breakfast Club
The Breakfast Club
The Breakfast Club is a 1985 American teen drama film written and directed by John Hughes. The storyline follows five teenagers as they spend a Saturday in detention together and come to realize that they are all deeper than their respective stereotypes.-Plot:The plot follows five students at...
”. This earned the band much critical praise during a brief tour of the UK in April of 2008 in support of another three-song self-titled EP released via digital download on May 26, 2008. Much interest was generated from The Red Romance in London both due to underground popularity of their five-song EP and their former membership in Ambulance LTD, which had toured extensively in the UK. The London Metro described the Dublin and Beckett's new group as a "far less arty, more dancey outfit-and they've managed it winningly if their debut EP is anything to go by..It features the chart-friendly "Kinda Feel Right"-a springy indie number coplin 1980s guitar pop with doom laden moodiness-and the rather synthy "Hesitate." No wonder The Killers chose the as support on tour". The Fly also took note of the band's material, "...it's a pleasure to welcome New York's The Red Romance to the UK. We're in bittersweet 80s pop territory here-'Hesitate' even brings to mind ABC and Haircut 100...daytime radio's their oyster at this rate."
The Red Romance have plans to digitally release their first full-length album in late March 2009.
Members
Matthew Dublin – vocals, guitar, songwriterDarren Beckett – drums
Adam Chilenski – bass, backing vocals