Posts Tagged ‘Popular Manipulations’

The DISTRICTS – ”  Popular Manipulations “

Posted: September 2, 2018 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Once from a small town called Lititz, proclaimed as “America’s coolest small town,” the home to Clair Brothers, a world renowned sound and production company, and Rock Lititz, a sprawling music industry complex where the biggest names go to rehearse, with full production for their tours.

Lititz can also lay claim to The Districts, a four-piece rock band fronted by the charismatic lead singer and guitarist Rob Grote. Grote, along with bassist Connor Jacobus, and drummer Braden Lawrence have known each other since attending grade school together in Lititz, and formed the band when they were at Warwick High school. After self-releasing their 2012 debut Telephone, they moved to Philadelphia, signed with Fat Possum and released 2015’s A Flourish And A Spoil. (Guitarist Pat Cassidy joined the band in the summer of 2014.).

The band have released their new album this week  Popular Manipulations. Its The Districts‘ third full-length, Popular Manipulations, and it’s a significant leap forward for the band. Across 11 songs, fans will notice changes (for the better) in songwriting, technique, production and arrangements. It’s a dense and intense collection of songs that stands tall, with a broad and far-reaching indie-rock lens attached.

Throughout the record, Grote singing in a low register and employing a series of vocal gymnastics. A swirl of heavy psychedelic rock sets the foundation for many of these songs, but the arrangements on “Airplane,” “Salt” and “Why Would I Wanna Be” demonstrate a level of craftsmanship that hasn’t always been there in the past.

The Districts worked with producer John Congleton on a few songs (he also produced their earlier EP A Flourish And A Spoil, and self-produced the balance of the record with engineer Keith Abrams.  Zoe Reynolds of Kississippi  adds vocals on two of the album’s best songs “Violet” and “Point” .

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Popular Manipulations is a powerful and punchy set of songs by a group of men whose talent has finally caught up to its ambition. It demands and commands your attention.

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Released August 11th, 2017

The DISTRICTS – ” Salt “

Posted: August 8, 2017 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Philadelphian quartet The Districts are preparing to return to the U.K along with their upcoming album, “Popular Manipulations”on August 11th through Fat Possum Records. So far, they’ve teased us with the full-length trio of new songs “Ordinary Day” , “If Before I Wake” and “Violet”. Today, the rock outfit has unveiled yet another new track, “Salt”.

Taking cues from “If Before I Wake”, the reverberating “Salt” has a glossy sound buoyed by sparkling synths, but with scaled back guitars this time around. Frontman Rob Grote’s soaring vocals rise above the fray with contemplative lyrics like, “Thought you were hopeful/ The last of the glow/ Until you burn out/ Until we burn out.”

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The DISTRICTS – ” Violet “

Posted: July 31, 2017 in MUSIC
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The Districts have graced us with another thunderous single off their upcoming album Popular Manipulations.

Rob Grote from the band says, “Lyrically, ‘Violet,’ deals with ideas of possessiveness, intimacy, sex, dependency, and how they’re used manipulatively. Kind of a look at how these things can be beautiful but are also used as devices, usually unconsciously which is the somewhat terrifying part. There is a pervasive thing throughout a lot of classic and modern popular music where ideas of ‘needing’ and referring to a romantic partner with a tone of ownership are normal and poignant lyrical topics. This song was using those same ideas but observing the strangeness in them, rather than celebrating them. Structurally the song reflects that strangeness by restraining and exploding somewhat irregularly.”

Next week, The Districts continue their world tour in support of Popular Manipulations, with a show supporting Ryan Adams and a stop at Lollapalooza. They follow that up with a string of Midwestern and Northeastern dates including a pair of shows with My Morning Jacket. After that, they kick off a European tour at Reading and Leeds Festivals.

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The DISTRICTS – ” Ordinary Day “

Posted: April 28, 2017 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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The Districts are a band that never stops moving. Popular Manipulations is an accurate representation of how much Robby, Braden, Connor, and Pat have grown, individually and as one solid unit. They’ve fallen in love and had their hearts broken and put back together again. They’re not the young underage band anymore, they’ve stepped out of their comfort zone and have come face to face with things that are so much bigger than them.

Popular Manipulations is life in the present. The way Robby belts from the depths of his chest compliments Pat’s crooning guitar while Braden and Connor lock in with a rhythm section so thick you could slice it with a knife. The songs are so visceral and compelling they make you like you’re experiencing every emotion at once. You can wade through the lyrical themes of manipulation, possessiveness, and anxiety or float among their dark and dreamy arrangements. Each song stands alone on its own but the synergy between them as a whole is explosive.

The DISTRICTS – ” Popular Manipulations “

Posted: April 25, 2017 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Philadelphia band The Districts have announced a new full-length album entitled, “Popular Manipulations”. The follow-up to their 2015 excellent breakthrough effort, “A Florish and A Spoil ” due out August 11th via Fat Possum Records. 

Four of the 11 tracks on the LP were recorded with producer John Congleton, who’d previously worked with the band on Flourish. The other songs were all self-recorded by The Districts themselves alongside Pine Barons member Keith Abrams. “Both sessions were great,” said frontman Robby Grote  “We just have fun working with John. There’s a dialogue between us when we are working with him where he has suggestions or we’ll just talk stuff out, but it was definitely refreshing recording just a neighborhood away from where we live and doing it all ourselves with Keith. We viewed it as more of a challenge.”

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In addition to the album announcement, the band released the single and video for lead single “Ordinary Day”, On Record Store Day 2017  7-inch vinyl. Directed by Out of Town Films, the clip is a brooding visual that Grote said “deals with ideas of loneliness, alienation and going through the motions in life.” It tackles those concepts by having the black-garbed band deliver a lifeless performance for a bunch of people in creepy white masks drinking milk.