PROM, featuring Reigning Sound, Floating Action, & DJ Rob Castillo
Reigning Sound
http://www.myspace.com/reigningsoundfans
Reigning Sound was formed in 2001 by Memphis, TN garage-punk legend Greg Cartwright (vocals/guitar), who is also known for his previous bands The Compulsive Gamblers and The Oblivians.
After Cartwright relocated his family to Asheville, N.C. in 2004, bassist David Wayne Gay, drummer Lance Wille and keyboardist Dave Amels joined him to complete the new line-up.
'Time Bomb High School' (In the Red) was released in August 2002, and is known for its polished sound, pop hooks and near-perfect balance of classic R&B and rock-n-roll. Aside from the many stand-out originals on the album, cover songs like "Stormy Weather" and "Brown Paper Sack" prove Cartwright has mastered the art of revamping old songs and making them seem like his own.
The band's third album 'Too Much Guitar' was released in May of 2004. With recording help from fellow Memphians Jay Reatard and Alicja Trout of the The Lost Sounds, it's by far Reigning Sound's loudest and noisiest album to date. Songs laced with psych-pop, garage and soul under a blanket of fuzz is the vibe heard throughout the entire album. The obnoxiously loud "We Repel" opens this record and from the first chord it's apparent that it's not a sequel to any of their earlier records. An opening slot on a huge American tour with the Swedish garage band The Hives helped to promote the album shortly after its release.
'Reigning Sound: Live at Maxwell's' was released in July of 2005, which was an interesting show to say the least. By the end of the gig Cartwright, with no back-up set, broke all but three guitar strings and still finishes the show for his usual rowdy crowd. This live album has a unique, rough-around-the-edges feel, not to mention it's also the only place to find the stand out track "I Need You Now" a soulful Sam Cooke cover song that allows Cartwright to pay homage to one of his favorite singers.
After spending a portion of 2005 recording a George Soule album with legends Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham, the band once again began recording as a backing band with another rock legend, Mary Weiss of the 60s band The Shangri-Las, who is widely know for the hit song "Leader of the Pack". Cartwright wrote nine of the 14 songs on the record, he also co-produced the album with Norton Records owner Billy Miller. The album 'Dangerous Game' was released in March 2007 and received rave reviews from the likes of Rolling Stone Magazine. Reigning Sound also performed the Cartwright tune "Stop & Think It Over" with Weiss on NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien.
Floating Action
http://www.myspace.com/floatingaction
Floating Action is the pseudonym of musician, songwriter, and producer Seth Kauffman. After releasing both a debut EP and his first full-length on Hightone Records in 2006, Kauffman returned in the Fall of 2007 with another homemade gem, 'Research' (Park the Van). On April 21, Park The Van will release Kauffman's most accomplished work to date - and his first under his new moniker - the self-titled Floating Action.
Mixed by Bill Moriarty at Dr. Dog's American Diamond Studio in Philadelphia, Floating Action displays Kauffman's marked growth as both a producer and songwriter: "A concept I like to integrate to give a more descriptive texture to a piece is attaching the wrong type of style-approach for a song...". This off-kilter approach manages to align seemingly disparate elements of bossa nova, dub, folk, blues, garage-rock, soul, gospel, and country into one cohesive, cross-cultural soiree. In the artist's own words, "It's definitely dance music".
Outside from the occasional backing vocal and a lone bass guitar take, every track on 'Floating Action' was written, performed, produced, and recorded by Kauffman himself. No small feat for some, but when you consider the complex arrangements and breadth of instrumentation involved -- vocals, guitar, bass, drums, violin, sitar, ethnic percussion, and keyboards -- you begin to see just how talented the guy really is. Even his website and the artwork and packaging of the albums are Seth's own designs. According to Kauffman, his D.I.Y. approach is as much a practical choice as it is an aesthetic one, "a lot of times, it's ideas, feelings that I can't really tell somebody. I would spend more time finding the right person to do it, so I just do it myself".
DJ Rob Castillo
8pm. $10 advance / $13 day of show.
Advance tickets available online and at our local outlets.
Standing room only.
