Saturday, October 17, 2009

Mean Creek- Under the Radar Premieres Light Into Dark video, The Sky (or the Underground) out NOW!

Boston faves Mean Creek release second album The Sky (or the Underground)
OUT NOW on Old Flame Records
To celebrate, our good friends over at Under the Radar, who just premiered their single
“Light into Dark,” premiere the video HERE!



Under the Radar:
“Last month we debuted the first single from Boston indie rock quintet Mean Creek. Now the upstart group have an official video to share with you all for the '90s-esque "Light Into Dark." In the slick montage, shots of the band playing live are interspersed alongside meticulous birthday cake making from vocalist/guitarist Chris Keene. I won't spoil the ending but I'll say this: it gets a tad messy. Baking has never been cooler.”

Press Hearts Mean Creek:
Popmatters:
“Mean Creek shows an awful lot of poise on its second album, The Sky (or the Underground).... Let’s hope the rest of the country discovers what those crowds in Boston already know: Mean Creek is the genuine article.”

The Racket:
The quartet, known as Mean Creek aren’t exactly pussies....Then again, most bands don’t put out an album like this.”

The Chicagoist:
And it's when the group is in "epic" mode that they are most successful.... It's nice to hear a band reaching upward without resorting to overwrought clichés.”

Live4Ever:
“An amalgamation of genres spanning from New Wave to 60s Americana to Stoner Rock all in the space of 10 tracks... An understated, lyrically complex, genre filled triumph”

Amie Street
“After garnering some attention at this year's SXSW for their inspiring sound and pleasing harmonies, Boston folk-rockers Mean Creek bring us their second release for Old Flame Records. On The Sky (Or The Underground) the quartet tempers their hard rock with an earnest folk sensibility, harnessing that familiar American musicality to say something meaningful while making you want to bang your head at the same time”

The Boston Globe raves:
“The Sky (or the Underground)’’ is destined to be one of the best local releases of the year. It’s an album of pathos and heartbreak, of big questions about life and mortality that go largely unanswered and unresolved. The title track, for instance, can be heard as a meditation on the order of things both natural and cosmic; hope and futility bundled into a four-minute format.

Ryan's Smashing Life chimes in:
The very definition of a great cross-over band, Mean Creek are capable of rocking you to a restful sleep and rocking the ever loving hell of out you. Easily one of the most talented bands we have come across in the last few years...one of our favorite acts right now!

Spin.com
"Mean Creek commence a sharp blend of country-core"

The Boston Globe
"And with a clutch of splendid, heart-tugging melodies, Mean Creek, a striking foursome from Boston that opened the night, had a touch of the epic."

Boston Phoenix
“a local folksy, roots-leaning rock four-piece named after the award-winning indie film —
meld sartorially as well as musically...”

Improper Bostonian
"One of the top 10 bands you must hear right now!"

The Boston Herald
"A melodic tour de force"

The Boston Globe
Mean Creek's folksy Simon & Garfunkel harmonies anchor a sound that alternates between jangling and overdriven guitars. This could be the best lineup in Boston."

Check out In Studio Outtakes on their You Tube HERE!

Mean Creek have recently played shows with Mew, Cotton Jones, Buffalo Tom, and the Everyday Visuals.

MORE TOUR DATES! Many More To Come Soon!
Oct 28- Middle East (Downstairs) w/ The Whigs, The Features, Dead Trees Cambridge, Massachusetts

Mean Creek's new release,The Sky (Or The Underground), is a valiant, dynamic effort to resurrect Boston's relevance back to a time when bands like the Pixies, Throwing Muses, the Lemonheads, and Buffalo Tom reigned supreme. Founded in May 2006 by singers/guitarists Chris Keene and Aurore Ounjian, who'd been preforming as a folk duo for a few years, Mean Creek's debut album Around The Bend earned them critical praise throughout Boston and New England, and landed them on a UK tour with the Ting Tings and Straylight Run. When ex-Tulsa (Park the Van) members Mikey Holland and Erik Wormwood joined in the fall of 2008, the revolving rhythm section was laid to rest. "When Mikey & Erik joined, it felt like the band was finally complete. The four of us see eye to eye on the important things. We also have enough divergent musical tastes to each bring our own thing to the table, and in the process, make the band better and more interesting." says Keene.

Over the course of the past three years, Mean Creek have shared stages with diverse national and international recording artists including Mew, Buffalo Tom, Margot & The Nuclear So & So's, Bishop Allen, Dead Confederate, Black Lips, and they made their first trip to South By Southwest this past spring.

On October 13, 2009, Mean Creek will release their second album, The Sky (Or The Underground), on Old Flame Records. Recorded by Chris McLaughlin (Aberdeen City) at 1867 Recording Studio in Chelsea, Massachusetts, the album combines the gritty, blue collar-rock of bands like The Replacements and Husker Du, the sonically adventurous aspects of the Pixies and Mission Of Burma, with boy-girl harmonies reminiscent of the Arcade Fire and New Pornographers. "We're very proud of the new album. We put 100% of ourselves into it, exhausting ourselves physically, emotionally, and monetarily. We think that desperate sort of struggle shows through in the songs and makes them more powerful, and we hope people will feel the same way." says Keene. Mean Creek are ready to make you notice Boston once again. Catch them on tour this Fall.

www.myspace.com/meancreek

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