"...like a flash flood, swooping in outta nowhere to rain down three minutes of utter anguish ...swelling every couple seconds, refusing to let up until everything's been washed clean. ...there's no end to the malevolence, from early Swans' back-basement seething to the dark triumphalism of stadium-goth. But-- Georgia boys that the Batehs and childhood friend/bassist William Brookshire are-- there's a thick streak of black-of-night country swirling around in the tempest, too: Reid Bateh's guitar chugs along like a runaway train, the occasional echo-drenched string-bend like a lonesome whistle howling through the stormy night."
- Paul Thompson, Pitchfork
- Paul Thompson, Pitchfork
BAMBARA is a storm. Recalling the brooding filth of early Swans and The Birthday Party, and the pummeling energy of Jesus Lizard or Iceage, BAMBARA uses their signature vocal-noise collages to create an unsettling, visceral experience.
Although BAMBARA only formed in Athens, GA in late 2008, the three boys have grown up together. Twin brothers Reid and Blaze Bateh (25) and childhood friend William Brookshire (25) have been consistently making music and playing shows together since they were in the 7th grade. Now the band is in Brooklyn, but spent the better part of last year touring in support of DREAMVIOLENCE.
DREAMVIOLENCE is BAMBARA’s long awaited full-length follow-up to their acclaimed debut EP Dog Ear Days (2010). After playing countless deafening shows in their hometown of Athens, touring the US in sweaty house shows and sharing bills with Grimes, Iceage, Liturgy, A Place to Bury Strangers, and Parts and Labor, BAMBARA decided to leave their beloved Athens and move to a basement apartment in Bushwick, Brooklyn for a change. Here they practiced, slept and recorded for the majority of 2012. Following the release of a Kate Bush cover and a 10 minute improv noise EP RINGS early in the year, BAMBARA began to work onDREAMVIOLENCE.
"It’s a relentless, beautiful thing, starting off like the orphaned bastard of The Jesus Lizard’s Goat or the more ponderous moments of A Place To Bury Strangers’ debut before descending into a wild nightmare that only Swans could trip on. The go-to adjective for the band’s sound is “noisegaze,” and that’s only true to a point. Bambara have a very distinct method: the guitars and drums elevate the high end and level the low-end, but it’s the bass and the vocals that provide all the mid-range parts of the spectrum, resulting in a full and toxic sound. Even more baffling is their off-stage temperament: when they're not maniacally fuming or getting fireworks shot at them, these dudes are fucking sweethearts, masking their desire to make hellacious music with the Southern trademark of being laid-back and easygoing."
- Brad Stabler, Ad Hoc
With a minimal recording set-up and little sunlight, the band was able to completely capture the dark, grimy, noisy sound they are known for while maintaining the lush beauty that glues it all together. Reid’s voice croons and snarls the fragmented images of the city. Blaze and William’s driving rhythm section plows and swings through the dirge of vocal noise with furious power.BAMBARA doesn’t want you to get comfortable in DREAMVIOLENCE. They prefer to send you through vortexes of haunting noise before you reach the dreamy euphoria waiting in the wreckage.
DREAMVIOLENCE was released on the band’s own tape label Emerald Weapon Records that they use to put out their music, video projects and Reid’s solo noise project FEVERER, and new imprint Arrowhawk Records, out of Athens, GA. The album art features a still from the 1999 Leos Carax film POLA X.
DREAMVIOLENCE is BAMBARA’s long awaited full-length follow-up to their acclaimed debut EP Dog Ear Days (2010). After playing countless deafening shows in their hometown of Athens, touring the US in sweaty house shows and sharing bills with Grimes, Iceage, Liturgy, A Place to Bury Strangers, and Parts and Labor, BAMBARA decided to leave their beloved Athens and move to a basement apartment in Bushwick, Brooklyn for a change. Here they practiced, slept and recorded for the majority of 2012. Following the release of a Kate Bush cover and a 10 minute improv noise EP RINGS early in the year, BAMBARA began to work onDREAMVIOLENCE.
DOWNLOAD / EMBED TRACKS
"Hawk Bones" via Pitchfork // "Nail Polish" via Noisey // "All the Same" via Impose
"Hawk Bones" via Pitchfork // "Nail Polish" via Noisey // "All the Same" via Impose
"It’s a relentless, beautiful thing, starting off like the orphaned bastard of The Jesus Lizard’s Goat or the more ponderous moments of A Place To Bury Strangers’ debut before descending into a wild nightmare that only Swans could trip on. The go-to adjective for the band’s sound is “noisegaze,” and that’s only true to a point. Bambara have a very distinct method: the guitars and drums elevate the high end and level the low-end, but it’s the bass and the vocals that provide all the mid-range parts of the spectrum, resulting in a full and toxic sound. Even more baffling is their off-stage temperament: when they're not maniacally fuming or getting fireworks shot at them, these dudes are fucking sweethearts, masking their desire to make hellacious music with the Southern trademark of being laid-back and easygoing."
- Brad Stabler, Ad Hoc
DREAMVIOLENCE was released on the band’s own tape label Emerald Weapon Records that they use to put out their music, video projects and Reid’s solo noise project FEVERER, and new imprint Arrowhawk Records, out of Athens, GA. The album art features a still from the 1999 Leos Carax film POLA X.
"Nail Polish' is an incredible blend of influences like Swans, early Nick Cave, and even Jesus Lizard into something that is truly their own. Beginning with a haunting drone to set the tone, an abrasive, distorted bass line eloquently drives the listener through ambient swirls, powerful punk breakdowns, and back again." - Noisey
"... the band, which could have easily traded on its deft knowledge of pop hooks and rock sensibility, chose instead to dive off the deep end into experimental murkiness and past-the-reef darkness. This is the soundtrack to the aftermath of an avalanche. Or a ship sunk long ago. The 13 tracks were recorded in the band's New York basement, but carry all the desolation of a rural Wisconsin snowdrift. Yes. It's that good." - Gordon Lamb, for Flagpole
"... the band, which could have easily traded on its deft knowledge of pop hooks and rock sensibility, chose instead to dive off the deep end into experimental murkiness and past-the-reef darkness. This is the soundtrack to the aftermath of an avalanche. Or a ship sunk long ago. The 13 tracks were recorded in the band's New York basement, but carry all the desolation of a rural Wisconsin snowdrift. Yes. It's that good." - Gordon Lamb, for Flagpole
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