NICE MONSTER

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PURCHASE 1ST FULL LENGTH CD, GOOD TIMES + SHARP KNIVES



: NICE MONSTER is a group of friends and a musical ensemble that composes, records, and performs rhythmically challenging, catchy/melodic music at home, at friends' studios, and in venues throughout northern California and beyond



: Chicago's Grayscale Records has issued the first full-length release from NICE MONSTER, "Good Times + Sharp Knives," produced/engineered by Christian Kiefer and art by Keri Smith



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: The record, like the band, is an excercise in contrast. Quiet,

shifting melodic passages abut noisy, dissonant instrumental

transitions. Unconventional use of time signatures and acoustic

instruments oriented around catchy melodies create music that is both

accessible and intellectually engaging. The band has been compared to

Simon and Garfunkel, Pinback, Rex, Wilco, June of 44, Beatles, Rob

Crow and Heavy Vegetable, Radiohead, Joan of Arc, and other groups to

whom the band is humbled and honored to be compared



For More Information (Grayscale Records)



For More Information (Official Web Site)



EUGENE WEEKLY (OR): "Nice Monster and their dense and noisy take on folk is more like a tree falling down than an iceberg idling by."



DAVIS AGGIE (CA): "The five-piece band's first full-length release is riddled with harmonized vocals reminiscent of Simon and Garfunkel and poetic lyrics with just enough carefully chosen ambiguity to make its listeners want more."



SACRAMENTO BEE (CA): "a hybrid of folk and indie rock with exquisite harmonies and cool instrumentation."



SACRAMENTO NEWS & REVIEW (CA): "reinventing local acoustic music while simultaneously staying close to its roots: a subtle melding of Rob Crow’s Pinback, Thingy and Heavy Vegetable with the quiet, shifting harmonies of Simon and Garfunkel’s 'Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme' and a dash of acoustic math rock (think June of ’44 or the changing time signatures of Yes or Emerson Lake & Palmer)."



SACRAMENTO NEWS & REVIEW (CA): "The third combo, Nice Monster, worked the crease between Jimmy Webb and Pat Metheny. Its.material delivered a Great Plains impressionism with the instrumental luminosity you hear in the better jam bands."



ALIVE N KICKING (CA): "so imaginative and beautiful, you can't believe you haven't found it beforeThe exquisite music this band is capable of making

is soft and light, using feather soft acoustic guitars and vocal harmonies similar Simon and Garfunkel's body of work, but at the same time utilizing interesting and unconventional song structures and time signatures prevalent in math rock and progressive bands, such as Pinback, June of 44, and Sacramento's Mister Metaphor. This already marvelous sound is only made better by a certain lushness in the swell of the sound that tends to remind one of the Moody Blues, and a hint of post-gunge and country in the vocals that allows the double and sometimes triple vocal harmonies.the individual instrumentations are wondetful as well. Lead guitarist Jason Roberts paints layered and accented guitar over the veritible Sistine chapel created by Matthew's intriate rhythm guitar and [the] mellow, beautiful bass rhythms

that manage to add immeasurably to the music without dominating it."



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