“Modest and majestic… Guitar fuzz with actual emotional impact.” -Rolling Stone
“Homespun, 1990s-indebted indie pop… A uniquely vulnerable songwriting voice makes LVL UP distinct.” -Pitchfork
“Dirty guitar fuzz and labyrinthine lyrics.” -NPR
“LVL UP has a knack for making angsty and heartfelt guitar records with enigmatic, Built To Spill-style poetry.” -The FADER
“Jangly, propulsive blasts of brightly melancholic guitar-pop.” -Stereogum
“A gorgeously crunchy amalgam of everything right during ’90s heyday, channeling both the rock brawn and playful charm of Pavement, Built To Spill, and Weezer.” -Consequence of Sound
LVL UP — guitarists Mike Caridi and Dave Benton, bassist Nick Corbo, and drummer Greg Rutkin is a true collaboration, a band that takes the stylistically distinct ideas of four members and brings them togeth- er into something new. Caridi, Benton, and Corbo write and sing equally, bringing their work to the group to be fully realized, resulting in an album built on different perspectives but a common drive.
“We have very different inspirations across the board,” says Benton, noting his own admiration for the writer and documentarian Astra Taylor, Corbo’s interest in the mystical and the occult, and Caridi’s attention to personal storytelling. The music itself grows from a shared melodic and experimental sensibility, as well as a nod to iconic influences like Neutral Milk Hotel and Mount Eerie.
LVL UP was formed in 2011 at SUNY Purchase as a recording project between Caridi, Benton, and their friend Ben Smith, with the original intention of releasing a split cassette with Corbo’s then-solo material. They instead released that album, Space Brothers, as one band, and Rutkin joined shortly afterwards for the group’s first show. Smith left the band for personal reasons just before the release of second album Hoodwink’d, a joint release on Caridi and Benton’s label Double Double Whammy .
“Pain” track from the LVL UP album Return to Love
The Fat Angel Sings 