NO KISS FOR NEW YEARS: We Go Through Phases
• Mellow and dreamy space pop• catchy melodies and heartfelt words
• acoustic/electronic sounds
• songs to help YOU think dream and wonder
• has hints of Elliot Smith, Death Cab for Cutie, Cure, Coldplay...
NO KISS FOR NEW YEARS - Biography
Dreamy space pop — three words that instantly come to mind when first hearing Milwaukee's No Kiss for New Years. This duo creates dreamy atmospheres that are cut apart and spliced together with interesting stuctures and pop sensabilities. Their songs whisper fragments of Kings of Convienience, Death Cab for Cutie, Coldplay, Elliot Smith, Idaho, Pedro the Lion, The Postal Service, Owen, Cure and New Order, charming and challenging listeners with thoughtful words and arrangements that embrace them as well.
An indie folk-pop sound with electronic flurishes, the pair utilize instruments from traditional to modern including: acoustic guitars, old organs, synths, midi instruments and digital effects. For percussion they use a plethora of channels from traditional drums and drum machines to foot taps, leg slaps, shakers and tambourines.
Originally intended as a solo project for Gregory Borden after his former band Menlo parted ways, No Kiss for New Years grew into a two-member project when he and former bandmate Nathanial Zuelzke kept crossing paths on Milwaukee's trendy East Side. Zuelzke left Borden's former band after a few short months due to his pusuit of an architecture degree and his demanding love life (i.e. lonely girlfriend), however he did stay around long enough to lay down three bass tracks on Menlo's only album, recorded by Chicago producer Keith Cleversely, the sonic scientist behind such indie icons as Hum and the Flaming Lips. The result was The Stars Are Held By Strings, a 10-song album of introspection and stunning swirling sounds. Its tracks, from the compelling "(Battlestar) Galactica" about a couple watching '70s reruns and wishing they could take everyone they love away on a spaceship to the ballad-esque "Slowdivecentury," were a testament to the band’s sound. Eclectic vocals and sincere delivery added a subtle charm throughout their songs.
After Menlo’s last show at Madison's Tornado Room (with Butch Vig and Duke of Garbage having a beer upstairs no less), Borden spent the summer of 2003 writing songs and collecting recording equipment from rummage sales, music stores and eBay. Putting together a small studio in his bedroom, and later his attic, he began writing demos and releasing them.
"Of Course I’d Write You" and the beautiful and haunting "How Sweet/Tedious" (a piano and vocal song from Menlo’s last album) were released on a compilation entitled "Milwaukee Volume 1" on Sparkler Records. "Christmas in My Car" (an energetic and clever song recorded with Menlo bandmates) was picked with 20 other independent artists from more than a thousand submissions for New Hampshire’s Mojo Music compilation Do You Hear What I Hear Too?
In spring of 2004, after numerous encounters and promises of getting a project together, Borden and Zuelzke began recording. Getting friends to guest on the album, it's a collection of deamy-spacey-organic material that suits these boys fine.
No Kiss for New Years' LP Everything Changes, was released in August 2004 and a few shows followed in New York, Boston and Milwaukee.
We Go Through Phases was released two years later in February 2006.
Check out the artist's website:
http://www.nokissfornewyears.com
Track List:
1. A Little Bit of Yellow
2. Laundromat
3. Hallmark Hollidays
4. Robots Are Square People
5. Barker's Lost Beauty
6. Dear Everybody Else
7. (dead Letter) Diaries
8. You're a Really Rotten, I'm a Scooby Doobie.
9. What We're Building
10. (blankets and Clouds)
Suggested CDs:Other Genres:
- POP: Folky Pop
- POP: British Pop
- MOOD: DREAMY