The Silent League
Encyclopedia
The Silent League is a post-rock
Post-rock
Post-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and "guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures" not traditionally found in rock...

, chamber pop band from Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 founded by Justin Russo
Justin Russo
Justin Russo is a singer-songwriter-guitarist-pianist from Upstate New York. Russo began his career as a musician at the age of 18 by joining his older brother's band Hopewell, which focused mainly on psychedelic rock balladry and lengthy "shoegazing" soundscapes...

, formerly of Mercury Rev
Mercury Rev
Mercury Rev is an American alternative rock group, that formed in the late 1980s in Buffalo, New York. Original personnel were David Baker , Jonathan Donahue , Sean Mackowiak, a.k.a...

. Their 2004 debut, The Orchestra, Sadly, Has Refused, (hailed by The Guardian, The Times Independent, NME (8/10), Q (4/5), Mojo (4/5), Uncut (4/5), Rolling Stone, Spin, The New York Times, Village Voice, Blender, Salon.com, etc) featuring Sam from Interpol
Interpol
Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...

, Grasshopper from the Rev and a cast of dozens, was released in the US on Chicago’s File-13 label and in the UK in late 2005 on Something In Construction.

The debut’s UK release (ushered in with universally high praise, touted in 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...

 as “a great hope of 2006"), led to quick success and sales, abetted by a number of high-profile shows with the likes of Interpol
Interpol
Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...

, Bloc Party
Bloc Party
Bloc Party are a British Indie rock band, composed of Kele Okereke , Russell Lissack , Gordon Moakes , and Matt Tong...

, Echo & The Bunnymen
Echo & the Bunnymen
Echo & the Bunnymen are an English post-punk band, formed in Liverpool in 1978. The original line-up consisted of vocalist Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant and bass player Les Pattinson, supplemented by a drum machine. By 1980, Pete de Freitas had joined as the band's drummer, and their debut...

, Keane, Brendan Benson
Brendan Benson
Brendan Benson is an American musician and songwriter. He sings and plays guitar, bass guitar, keyboard, and drums. He has released four solo albums and is a member of the band The Raconteurs....

, Rufus Wainwright
Rufus Wainwright
Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. He has recorded six albums of original music, EPs, and tracks on compilations and film soundtracks.-Early years:...

, Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens is an American singer-songwriter and musician born in Detroit, Michigan. Stevens first began releasing his music on Asthmatic Kitty, a label co-founded with his stepfather, beginning with the 1999 release, A Sun Came...

. The newly boosted profile of such an orchestral band led to members being “borrowed” to collaborate on records by (and play on tours with) Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...

, Arcade Fire, Bishop Allen
Bishop Allen
Bishop Allen is an American indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York. The band's core members are Justin Rice and Christian Rudder, who are supported both on stage and in the studio by a rotating cast of musical collaborators...

, Harlem Shakes
Harlem Shakes
Harlem Shakes were an American indie rock band from New York, formed in 2006 and signed to Gigantic Music. The band disbanded in September 2009 after a hiatus following the release of their first full length album, Technicolor Health, which received very positive reviews from critics.The group's...

, Stars Like Fleas
Stars Like Fleas
Stars Like Fleas is a Brooklyn-based band formed by multi-instrumentalist Shannon Fields and vocalist Montgomery Knott in the winter of 1998. Frequently compared to later Talk Talk and Robert Wyatt, their music blends avant-jazz and free improvisation with electronic textures and several...

, Antony & the Johnsons, Calexico. However, ill-judged rumours of the League's demise were greatly exaggerated.

Their follow up album entitled Of Stars And Other Somebodies was released in 2007. Tracks include Victim of Aeroplane, Kings & Queens and Let It Roll. The band (now touring as a 6-piece—a lither, synthier, explosive-er live band) embarked on their 4th UK tour, a 15+ date promo trip, performing across the UK and at festivals including Godiva (mainstage with Super Furry Animals
Super Furry Animals
Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band that lean towards psychedelic rock and electronic experimentation. Since their formation in Cardiff, Wales in 1993, the band has consisted of Gruff Rhys , Huw Bunford , Guto Pryce , Cian Ciaran and Dafydd Ieuan Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band...

, The Cribs
The Cribs
The Cribs are an English three-piece indie rock band from Wakefield, West Yorkshire. The band consists of twins Gary and Ryan Jarman and their younger brother Ross Jarman. They were subsequently joined by ex-The Smiths and Modest Mouse guitarist Johnny Marr who was made a formal member of the group...

, The Enemy
The Enemy (UK band)
The Enemy are an English rock band formed in Coventry in 2006, signed to Warner Music Group . In June 2007, The Enemy played twice at Glastonbury Festival, first in the 'Guardian Lounge' on Saturday and then the much larger 'Other Stage' on Sunday. They also headlined on the Saturday night of T in...

 ), Latitude Festival (with Arcade Fire, Jarvis Cocker
Jarvis Cocker
Jarvis Branson Cocker is an English musician and frontman for the band Pulp. Through his work with the band, Cocker became a figurehead of the Britpop movement of the mid-1990s. Following Pulp's hiatus Cocker has led a successful solo career...

, The National
The National (band)
The National is an indie rock band formed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1999 and currently based in Brooklyn, New York. The band's lyrics are written and sung by Matt Berninger, a baritone...

, and Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy
is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix . The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science-fantasy role-playing video games , but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise...

), the DrownedInSound and Truck Festivals, as well as doing BBC radio sessions and lots of press. Late 2007 saw Japanese release on Rallye/Klee label (Au Revoir Simone
Au Revoir Simone
Au Revoir Simone is an electronic dream pop band from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York, formed in late 2003. The group is composed of Erika Forster , Annie Hart , and Heather D'Angelo...

, Yacht
Yacht
A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...

, Klaxons
Klaxons
Klaxons are a British indie rock band, based in London. Following the release of numerous 7-inch singles on different independent record labels, as well as the success of previous singles "Magick" and "Golden Skans", the band released their debut album, Myths of the Near Future on 29 January 2007....

, Matt & Kim)

The band's 3rd album "But You've Always Been the Caretaker" is being released Jan 2010 on Something In Construction records.

May 2011 The Silent League released a new remix album - We Go Forward:
The Silent League returned with "We Go Forward", a collection of classic Silent League tracks remixed by some of their favourite indie and electronic artists. The compilation includes remixes by Neon Indian, Memory Tapes, ARMS, and also includes a live fan favourite – a cover of Broken Social Scene’s “Texico Bitches”.

Albums

  • The Orchestra, Sadly, Has Refused (File-13, Something in Construction, 2004)
  • Of Stars and Other Somebodies (Something in Construction, Rallye/Klee, 2007)
  • But You’ve Always Been The Caretaker (2010)
  • We Go Forward (2011)

EPs / Singles

  • The Catbird Seat w/How? (Desolation Records, 2004 Single)
  • The Catbird Seat w/69CORP Dubmix (Something in Construction, 2005 Single)
  • Goliath (Something in Construction, 2005 Single)
  • Live at the Seaside Lounge, Volume one (Tin Drum Records, 2006 EP)
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