Sunday, September 28, 2008

Bridge And Tunnel - East/West


I love No Idea Records. They sign solid bands and seem to be straight up good people, plus The Fest is regularly becoming the Fall punk rock mixer for the in-crowd. I wish I was going this year. Speaking totally out of my ass, Bridge and Tunnel mark the first No Idea signing North of the Mason-Dixon line. They are from Long Island, co-ed, and feature an ex-Latterman dude, although it seems a pretty egaltarian franchise. Musically, there's a mid 90s Midwestern vibe, with clean guitars and slow builds to roaring crescendos. Think Crank-era Cursive (without the shouting), or maybe Vitreous Humor, with maybe some Braid for good measure. If you shy away from such things, be forewarned that there are some populist, or at least humanist, politics here. Whether it be the Fugazi meets The Alarm message of Wartime Souvenirs or the somewhat heavy-handed Down For My People Like Joe Carroll, Bridge And Tunnel seem to have their hearts and minds in the right place. Even if you eschew such overtly political fare, when Bridge And Tunnel get all off-time and do the dual vocal thing, you will throw all caution to the wind and be shouting along just like everyone else.

They also seem to have females (and perhaps males) in the band who are bike people. This makes it hard for a band not to be awesome, although I have seen it done. It would appear that Rachel is a wrench and Tia has her own messenger bag company called Vaya Bags. Check out the appropriate links for their side gigs and pick up a copy of East/West here. They are also on tour currently , so look out for them. They play a homecoming date November 8th at ABC. Go see them.

No comments: