Even though New York based crunchy alt-rockers
A Brief Smile have been a solid mainstay of the city's music scene for the past few years, they haven't quite fully captured the shores (or lack of shores) of distant states. And we're saying; why not? We enjoyed their
R.E.S.T. EP and even preordered
Now We All Have Horns, only to have the band mail it to us personally. Now, after a summer of free music giveaways, we hope to see more of them in the headlines of the muso-blogosphere... so we'll be (one of) the first.
The band released three short EP's, each with a different title, all available for a week after release as a free download on the bands site. The trio, entitled
Be Mine,
Restaurant Airport, and
Sunshine State all continued to develop the kind of ambiance-driven subconscious alt-rock that A Brief Smile has played with for the last few years. Big, open sounds surround the voice of front man DL Tashjian, with a twinge of psychedelia infusing the dreamy tunage. The bitter-sweet tunes have a simultaneously calming and alarmed quality, like musical confusion, an edge-of-your-seat audible tension that compels and intrigues. Perhaps it will inspire an ironic, short, joyful exposure of your teeth (get it?).
The EP's are no longer free, but you can still download them for a pay-what-you-will price (don't say the 'R' word, please). All the tracks are still available for streaming. Pick up some of their new tracks and catch A Brief Smile in NYC next week. They play Pianos on Wednesday, 8/26. And if not, don't fear; we have a feeling A Brief Smile will be around for a long time.
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joe puglisi
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A Brief Smile on Myspace