New York, NY (Top40 Charts) This Friday, November 11, the Nashville-based five-piece Blank Range will release their sophomore EP titled Vista Bent on Sturdy Girls Records distributed via Thirty Tigers. Today, the EP premieres in its entirety via Stereogum, who said:
"The four-track collection is a country-tinged drive down the highway with whiskey-soaked vocals and plenty of steel guitar. Blunted bell clangs and lively pop rock melodies of Vista Bent make for a happy compendium of '70s nostalgia, Nashville heartbreak, and subtle experimentation."
"It's a snapshot of transition, of worldview formation, of deciding which questions to try to answer, and which ones to leave alone," said singer and guitarist Grant Gustafson. "We had just returned from a very formative west coast tour as we headed in to start tracking. The scenery stuck in our heads as we sort of assimilated back into being home. Still filled with the romantic thoughts of something coming to an end, we were lucky to have such a direct outlet for those feelings in these recordings."
Blank Range formed in Nashville in 2012 and released their debut EP Phase II in 2013. The band was met with great acclaim early on in their career, with Rolling Stone stating "It's inventive rock & roll free of prefixes and modifiers...an imaginary Lou Reed-Mac Demarco punk band, packed with so many clever, catchy riffs and rip-rolling percussion." Consequence of Sound said, "No idea how they captured the whole Mitch Ryder vibe, but their soulful
Detroit scruff is uncanny, adding a little more fuzz to the base than, say, Merge darlings Reigning Sound...I haven't squeezed in a Big Star comparison yet, but the way Blank Range bounce off their scales is definitely akin to Alex Chilton's best work. Band rules."
Blank Range is comprised of Grant Gustafson (guitar & vocals), Jonathan Childers (guitar & vocals), Matt Novotny (drums & vocals), Will Brown (keyboards) and Taylor Zachry (bass & vocals). The band features a shared musical knowledge that draws from Gustafson's jazz improvisation during his time at North Central College in
Chicago and Novotny's study of Latin rhythms during his music studies major.
Their shared study of music gives Blank Range a wide sonic palette to draw from, and therefore, the ability to craft more refined portraits of feeling. The execution of communicating those feelings in a live setting has been crafted, in part, by members' performances on tours playing with
Jessica Lea Mayfield, Michael Nau (of Cotton Jones), Quiet Life, Jonny Fritz, and Rayland Baxter.
Blank Range spent the last three years touring North America, supporting national tours for
Benjamin Booker, The Mountain Goats, The Cave Singers, and
Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears.
Blank Range will be touring heavily throughout 2017 with tour dates to be announced shortly.
Tour Dates:
11/18: Birmingham, AL - Saturn
www.blankrange.com
www.blankrange.bandcamp.com
www.www.facebook.com/blankrangemusic
