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WHO ARE THE MAIN DRAG?
THE MAIN DRAG use music production as an instrument in and of itself--cleverly stacking harmonies, synthesizers, guitars, strings, horns and drums within accessible songs. The Boston collective make self-recorded and self-released sophisticated and infectious indie-pop that sneaks its way into your heart and are have launched their third album, YOU ARE UNDERWATER, on their own RPL Audio label.
With synth-driven songs like “Don’t Let Me Down (Slowly)” and “Megatron” as well as guitar-focused tracks including as “Homosuperior” and “Take Them Down,” the new album showcases a more mature sound for the band but still features the fun pop hooks that filled their previous two albums. YOU ARE UNDERWATER was entirely self-produced and recorded across a variety of spaces, including bedrooms, living rooms, pro studios and kitchens, though the majority of sounds were tracked at High-n-Dry Studios in Somerville, MA, where bassist Dan Cardinal is a head engineer.
Passionate about including their work in new media, the band’s single “A Jagged Gorgeous Winter” from their 2007 album Yours As Fast As Mine was featured on the disc for the hugely popular video game Rock Band 2 and exposed THE MAIN DRAG to a rabid group of nationwide fans of the game. YOU ARE UNDERWATER and Yours As Fast As Mine are now set for an early 2010 release as playable tracks in the Rock Band Network--a new initiative that allows independent acts to sell their music to the Rock Band fanbase. The band additionally continues to make new and exciting music videos with leading indie directors, including a new video from VMA nominated Issac Ravishankara (director of THE MAIN DRAG’s “A Jagged Gorgeous Winter”) and French duo Ben & Julia.
THE MAIN DRAG first found solid footing with fans with the release of Yours As Fast As Mine, the first release on their RPL Audio label, which was started in 2007 with the reward money for winning Salon.com’s “Best Unsigned Artist Contest.” The end product of a two-year period of writing, recording and touring, the album began to take off when “A Jagged Gorgeous Winter” was featured on Rock Band 2. The album also received a significant push on air, taking the band to 78 on the CMJ Top 200 and garnering airplay and praise in key markets across the U.S. and in Europe.
THE MAIN DRAG has also been known to put on a solid live show and have traveled across the US and Canada sharing the stage with acts including The Arcade Fire, The Unicorns, Hot Chip and The Young Knives. The band has received rave reviews for their cover of LCD Soundsystem’s “All My Friends”--released exclusively to the Coke Machine Glow “Fantasy Covers” series--and had its track “Love During Wartime” featured in the February 2009 issue of Paste Magazine.
"Powerful and sustained."
-PASTE Magazine
"The attention to craft and the obvious time spent on production and decision-making is where the Main Drag excels: from the ascent from glitchy electronics to orchestral ballast in the aptly named 'Goodnight Technologist' to 'A Jagged Gorgeous Winter'’s stunning command of its tightly wrapped arrangements, everything happens for a reason. It helps that the songs are great, of course, and as abstract portraits of post-collegiate paranoia with hooks as sharp as diamonds, they’d stand just fine on their own. But rather than pile a few blocks -- or daisy-chain a few guitar pedals -- the band has built a monument." READ REVIEW
-CokeMachine Glow
“Eschewing the conservative approach of their first album, the Main Drag returns with an album that takes substantial risks for an impressive payoff . On 'Goodnight Technologist', atop glitch-rock noises and a wall of strings, Arrigo intones: 'These faded lines they’re a perfect fit / by the time it’s goodnight we’ll be over it.' There, he captures the tragedy of our fast-paced technologically-dependent society: that it never has time to stop and admire everything it has created. And yet, listening to Yours As Fast As Mine, one gets the impression that he has in fact managed to do just that. "
-Popmatters.com - READ REVIEW
"With this sophomore release, The Main Drag has risen significantly in the realm of indie pop music. As texturally charismatic as any album this year, Yours As Fast As Mine provides eclectic moments of self reflection, anthemic bursts of valor, and a pleasing ebb and flow of pop melodies woven throughout.
-Death + Taxes Magazine
“[The Main Drag’s] charming indie pop covers more territory than a vintage map of the Louisiana Purchase. From swirling folk-pop melodies to glitchy electronica, The Main Drag can do it all. More importantly though, they can do it all very very well. The confluence of different sounds on Yours As Fast As Mine and just how seamless and natural it sounds is pure musical genius, the workings of Pro Tools masters, or (perhaps) both.”
-Can You See The Sunset From The South Side?
"Love the piston-like drums and chorus-singalong vocals, plus the horns! So very good -- makes me want to party!”
-Music For Robots
MUSIC VIDEOS:
The Main Drag "Dove Nets" directed by Ben&Julia from Ben&Julia on Vimeo.
A Jagged Gorgeous Winter - The Main Drag from Main Drag on Vimeo.
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