The Armoires: Octoberland

Californian power pop band The Armoires play games of light and shade on their new album Octoberland. Beneath the sunny side up baroque arrangements lies a wicked sense of humour: We Absolutely Mean It is their tongue-in-cheek ticket to long overdue fame - "this is where we go big". Well maybe in parts of Scandinavia (This One's For The Swedes). And there is always the comfort of Music & Animals.

All fun aside, they can dig deeper (and darker) with thought provoking concepts, most notably in Here Comes The Song, portraying a songwriter losing control about the contents and meaning of the lyrics he just wrote. Or did he? It gets a life of its own, with the musicians not exactly sure that they are happy about that, but not being able to grab the steering wheel and force it to another destination. The band's vocalists Christina Bulbenko and Rex Broome love to their ability to go for on-point call-and-response an harmonizing, which takes off a bit of the edge of the obvious putdown in You Oughta Be Cut In Half.

Being in the game for over a decade honing their craft, The Armoires seem quite content. Focusing on melody might have taken a backseat in popular music right now, but catering to a niche has its own perks, because that is where the people who actually listen hang out.

The Armoires:
Christina Bulbenko: vocals, keyboards
Rex Broome: vocals, guitar
Larysa Bulbenko: vocals, viola, first violin, second violin
Clifford Ulrich: bass, backing vocals
John Borack: drums
Guests:
Michael Simmons: vocals and other stuff
Jared Jenkins: cello on "Here Comes The Song"
Miranda Broome: bass on “Snake Island Thirteen"

Octoberland is released via Big Stir Records (vinyl, CD, digital). Release date: October 11.

Tracks:

1. We Absolutely Mean It
2. This One's For The Swedes
3. Ridley & Me After The Apocalypse
4. Ouroboros Blues (Crow Whisperer)
5. Green Hellfire At The 7-11
6. Here Comes The Song
7. You Oughta Be Cut In Half
8. Sickening Thud
9. Snake Island Thirteen
10. It's A Good Time To Come Back Down From The Cold
11. Music & Animals

» The Armoires on Facebook

HCTF review of Incognito