The Inner Banks release "Wild" today; share new video & single!

Photo: Elizabeth Weinberg

 "The musical pastiche of The Inner Banks is an exercise in euphony, with each disparate sound complementing the piece as a whole. Epics from anthills, each track is grand in scope yet completely unassuming, a piece of a soundtrack that never swells but always delivers." - Spin Magazine

Brooklyn band The Inner Banks release Wild today, June 12, via their own DAG! Records.  They will be celebrating the release with a special show, July 2nd at theMercury Lounge in New York City.  Their good friends, Cardinal, will also be on the bill.  For guest list and/or interviews, please reach out to Bill Benson.

The Inner Banks is the musical alter ego of married couple Caroline Schutz and David Gould and their revolving cast of talented friends. Since forming in 2006, The Inner Banks has eluded easy categorization, and in its upcoming third release Wild, the band shows no sign of bucking that trend. The ensemble’s rich, cinematic orchestration skews the traditional country twang of instruments like the lap steel by integrating string sections, wurlitzer and layered female vocals. The Inner Banks draws inspiration from a wide variety of traditions — British folk, ‘60s pop, shoegaze, film music and Americana among them — but ultimately emerges with a sound that is grander and more unique than the sum of its parts.

NEW MP3: The Inner Banks - "Box and Crown"

MP3: The Inner Banks - "Ana Peru"

The band just premiered their new video for second single "Box and Crown" this morning.  The New Jersey blog, Striker Bill, handled the duties.  You can watch it by clicking here or the image below.

"It’s a seductive mix of the sinisterly sweet vocal harmonies and dark, angular style folk that just seems to come so easily  for the duo that it feels like a natural extension of their beings, all the while accented by an eclectic mix of stock footage that they mold for their storytelling purposes." - Striker Bill

A rich musical history gave rise to The Inner Banks’ eclectic sound. Caroline’s grandmother starred in Broadway musicals in the 1920s, and her mother sang regularly in New York and performed with the USO during the Korean War. Caroline also made her mark as the principal singer-songwriter for Folksongs For The Afterlife, whose 2003 full-length record Put Danger Back In Your Life earned a devoted following, as well as praise in Magnet, Time Out New York and Entertainment Weekly. David holds a Master’s degree in ethnomusicology and has a rich background in composing and producing, as well. A true multi-instrumentalist, he played banjo and upright bass in his previous band, The Bootleg Remedy, but has added lap steel guitar, acoustic finger-picking, sound collage and various analog synthesizers to his Inner Banks palette. David also founded DAG! Records in the early 2000s, which now serves as the vessel for his and Caroline’s music, as well as a few acclaimed outside projects.

Wild is The Inner Banks’ most substantial release yet, offering 13 new tracks. It is also the most hopeful. Whereas prior albums The Inner Banks and Songs from Disko Bay dealt with death and depression, Wild tackles brighter subjects such as transformation, destiny and individual identity. You can hear the contrast from the opening notes of the title track, “Wild,” a propulsive alt-country burst of energy that contemplates the road not taken. As the album progresses through the dark angular folk of “Box and Crown,” the cinematic swell of “Sketch” and the unexpected levity of “Found Holiday,” there are plenty of surprises and mood swings to go around. Like a good road-trip mixed tape, Wild is a soundtrack that ebbs and flow, but ultimately, one that leaves plenty of room for the listener to write their own story into it.

Artist -  The Inner Banks

Album - Wild
Release Date - June 12, 2012

Label - DAG! Records

Tracklist:

01. Wild
02. Box and Crown
03. Sketch
04. Found Holiday
05. Freaky
06. Ana Peru
07. Transform
08. Trees
09. Rockets
10. Nine
11. Unemployment
12. Pacemaker

13. Xils

"...There's a spirit of lush serenity, something that obviously nods to the endless late-'60s Beach Boys revival without sounding like it in full. It helps that singer Caroline Schutz has her own soft, swooning style, in the vein of the late Mary Hansen, that suits songs like 'Pyramids,' but on a song like 'Blame' her absence lets the lush, intricate style of the performance as a whole come forward all the more. Meanwhile, the arrangements from David Gould song for song refocus what the lead instrument is each time, ranging from the concluding textures that make the opening 'Lemon Tree' a striking beginning to the intricate acoustic guitars and prominent bass on 'Come Back' to the piano on 'Tournament of Wives,' weaving among the backwards feedback and slow, steady pace of the drums." -All Music Guide

“crammed with shimmering pop nuggets well worth discovering… the sound of Americana played by Air.” - Terrascope

"Never mind these attempts at finding musical touchstones for the Inner Banks. They have crafted a gorgeous, warm, gently winding debut worth returning to again and again." - Pop Matters

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