It is, and is not quite The Beach Boys meeting Daniel Johnston along with The Velvet Underground, bumping into Wilco, to all share a joint.  backwords release By The Neck on March 6, 2012 on Campers’ Rule Records.

 

 

The follow up to 2010's Quilt, By The Neck combines a straight pop-melodic thread with a warm experimental vintage rock-and-roll vibe.  There’s multi-harmonies mixing with layered guitar riffs, (everybody sings) and lyrics that speak of sprained necks, stretched spines, and exhausted hearts.

 

By the Neck was recorded and produced in the band's homespun basement studio, Campers' Rule Records in Brooklyn, NY.  With an array of tiny toy instruments, antique mics, quirky percussive pieces, synthy ipod apps and lovely artwork all over the walls, backwords experimented, took their time, fleshed everything out and really let this album come to life in the comfortable space where they live, breathe, and work.  Brian Russ (guitar, vocals) spent countless hours mixing, editing, cutting, and experimenting with each track.  Then he'd walk a few steps and crash into his bed.  He has since started recording other Brooklyn bands at Campers' Rule.

 

From the ethereal “Anywhere Now” to kaleidoscopic album closer “Magic Bike Ride,” backwords delivers gentle, lazy melodies that stick to the tongue and cannot be forgotten.  And like a vigilant  hawk nesting atop a New York City skyscraper, there is a fury — a swooping darker underside that the band does not hesitate to explore.  Pre-order By The Neck NOW.