These United States
These United States is an American rock band from Brooklyn, New York, and Carrboro, North Carolina,[1] made up of songwriter and bandleader Jesse Elliott, pedal steel and electric guitarist J. Tom Hnatow, guitarist and keyboardist Justin Craig, bassist and vocalist Anna Morsett, and drummer and percussionist Aaron Latos. The band has released 5 full-length albums since 2008 via Colorado-based record label United Interests.[2] In the five years since their formation, TUS has played 800 shows across the United States, United Kingdom, and northern Europe,[3] appearing at South by Southwest,[4] CMJ Music Marathon,[5] and Lollapalooza[6] in the U.S., and the UK's Glastonbury Festival.[7]
US' debut album, A Picture of the Three of Us at the Gate to the Garden of Eden, was recorded by Elliott and producer David Strackany (known as Paleo)[8] in Elgin, IL, Iowa City, IA, and Washington, D.C.. The album features musical cameos by a large supporting cast[9]—notably, Saadat Awan, Dan D'Avella, Dave Hahn, and early TUS collaborator Mark Charles, now of Vandaveer.[10] Picture was mixed and mastered by Chad Clark of Beauty Pill and T.J. Lipple of Aloha at Inner Ear Studios[11] in Arlington, VA, and released on March 4, 2008. Track 'First Sight' had its UK debut on BBC Radio 6 on July 14, 2008,[12] and the album as a whole enjoyed favorable reviews from The Austin Chronicle, Alternative Press, The Village Voice, and others.[13]
Crimes, the group's second album, was recorded in Lexington, KY at Shangri-La Studios, 6 weeks after the release of Picture. It was produced and mixed by Duane Lundy, with co-production by Rob Gordon and These United States (by then composed of Elliott and full-time band members Charles, Cosenza, Craig, and Hnatow), and released on September 23, 2008.[14] Paste Magazine,[15] Pitchfork Media,[16] National Public Radio,[17] and others praised the album despite (and in many cases because of) its sonic departure from the group's debut. These United States recorded live sessions and interviews for All Things Considered,[18] Daytrotter,[19] and WOXY.com,[20] as Crimes reached No. 30 on the College Music Journal Top 200 radio chart in late 2008.
In February 2009, TUS recorded its third album, Everything Touches Everything, at Inner Ear Studios, with T.J. Lipple this time taking on the role of producer. Released September 1 of that year, the album proved TUS' most energetic and upbeat to date. SPIN Magazine sang its praises ('captures the overwhelming jolt of simply being alive...swings between a sleazy leer and a dreamy purr...deftly blurring the line between carnal and cosmic'),[21] as Jon Pareles of The New York Times weighed in on the band's live show ('superb...equally at home with quiet, morose tales and galloping punky-tonk adventures...a rambunctious alt-country band with story-songs that are both tangled and aphoristic').[22] Influential DJ and music writer Bruce Warren, of public radio station WXPN, called These United States 'one of indie-rock's -- no, make that American rock's -- best kept secrets.'[23]
For its fourth full-length album, TUS worked at Sound Mine Recording in rural eastern Pennsylvania.[24] The resulting 10 tracks, produced by Dan Wise and TUS' Justin Craig, and featuring vocals by Dawn Landes, were released on July 20, 2010, as What Lasts.[25] The accompanying album tour included supporting dates with Fruit Bats, Deer Tick, Langhorne Slim, and Bonnie Prince Billy, and continuing acclaim from The New York Times,[26] Pop Matters,[27] and The Washington Post.[28] Among its 180 live performances of the year were stops at Seattle's KEXP;[29] Daytrotter's Barn On the 4th[30] with The Walkmen, Dawes, and Justin Townes Earle; La Blogotheque's Take-Away Show;[31] and NPR's World Cafe[32] and Mountain Stage.[33]
2011 saw These United States scale back its frenetic touring pace to just 100 shows and festivals, as the band spent more time writing and recording in studios in Kentucky, New York, North Carolina, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Ontario. In 2012, the group will release its 5th full-length album—the eponymously titled "These United States"—featuring contributions from Deer Tick, Phosphorescent, Langhorne Slim, Frontier Ruckus, The Mynabirds, Cotton Jones, Revival, Ben Sollee, Backwords, and Jukebox the Ghost, and co-produced at Shangri-La Studios by Duane Lundy, Justin Craig, and Jesse Elliott. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
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