The Silver Tongue: 7inch Sunday: Line & Circle - Roman Ruins
Many thanks to vinyl enthusiasts The Silver Tongue for this thoughtful review. Check out an excerpt below, or see the post HERE:
“With their recently released debut single, Line & Circle genuinely comfort us without the easy-going plague of complacency.
The single’s cover juxtaposes outdoor serenity with a hint of distortion creeping up from below. With the image just blurry enough to illicit second glances, the songs behind the artwork convey a similar vibe. Neither side of the release is quick to reveal itself; rather, the songs are both slow-burning jams that last far longer than they sonically appear.
“Roman Ruins,” as vividly captured in the video below, embodies a playfully youthful spirit of blindly traveling. The song coasts through calming melodies without the need for straightforward answers or conclusions. Frontman Brian Cohen’s voice holds a familiarity that comforts and cohesively matches the reflective instrumentation.
The B-side, “Carelessness,” has an unexplainable complexity within its four minutes. Guitar progressions are often limited to a single chord, and the piano flirts quietly overtop the track, but the combination of these simplicities with the rest of the song creates an infectious energy that fluctuates with each member’s participation. To witness an outfit combine their skills with such precision is both a treat and pleasant surprise.”
“Roman Ruins” Video (Stereogum Premiere)
The video for our current A-side “Roman Ruins” is premiering today on STEREOGUM. It is directed by the incredibly talented Mr. Jordan Satmary.
Check out the post HERE, which also includes our new upcoming West Coast tour dates with RNDM:
11/21 – Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour
11/23 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
11/25 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
11/26 – Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret
11/27 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox at the Market
Thank You America
Deep love and thanks to all our new friends we met out there on our first ever U.S. tour. The shows were truly special because of all of you. Lots more exciting news coming, so stay tuned. See you again soon! x
KEXP at CMJ 2012, Day 3: Line & Circle
A million thanks to the incredible folks @kexp for making our live session @cmj last week so memorable. Check out a recap of the performance below, and read the whole article HERE.
Line & Circle have had a busy week! Touted as the next best thing from Los Angeles their infectious sound will definitely leave an impression. The vocals and lyrics of Brian J Cohen are rich and warbling. The combination of these two elements makes Line & Circle out to be an Americana post-punk mashup, like Modern English written for aimless drives through midwestern countryside. So far, they’ve got one single to their name, “Roman Ruins” and the b-side “Carelessness” both are available via White Iris (stream them here).
This year’s CMJ Music Marathon @ Union Square Ballroom during KEXP’s live broadcast is coming to a close but not slowing down-at least not if Line & Circle have anything to do with it. Eager to play for the audience that braved the rainy weather to get out early they ripped through a set of “Discontents”, “Roman Ruins” and introduced listeners to a new song,”Mine is Mine.” Lead singer Brian J Cohen originally hails from Akron, Ohio and his midwestern-hometown vibe radiates with a warmth that has gained them comparisons from everyone from Athen’s R.E.M to New York’s The National. The ease with which Brian Egan (keys), Eric Neujahr (guitar), Nathan Gammill (bass guitar) and Nick Cisik (drums) come together makes their songs even stronger. Make sure to catch them as they head out from their shows this week and continue on their takeover of North America and continue to attract new listeners with each unveiling of their upcoming debut release.
photos by Lauren Slusher and Ben Mobley
KCRW: LA Bands to Watch at CMJ 2012
KCRW included us in their article on LA bands to watch at CMJ 2012. Read an excerpt below, or check it out here!
“The great thing about music conferences like CMJ is that you start to notice the competing geographic music scenes on a national (and even international) level. There’s no doubt that Brooklyn, Austin, and the Seattle/Portland constituencies have always had great indie success. But there’s always been something unique about the diverse musical landscape of Los Angeles and it seems to be getting bigger and bigger by the year.
This year is no exception with the buzz behind the young pop diva Sky Ferreira, LA indie supergroup JJAMZ(amazingly pronounced Juh-Jamz), 80’s inspired college jangle pop act Line and Circle, Glassnotes 8-bit warrior Robert DeLong, electro pop dance rockers Capital Cities, dreamy shoegazers Tashaki Miyaki, Echo Park indie rockers NO, indie-tronic R&B trio Wildcat! Wildcat!, and Psychelectric blues rockers American Royalty.
Despite the obvious home court advantage of the conference taking place in NY, I believe LA may escape CMJ with a gutsy road victory thanks to some late game heroics from the aforementioned acts…”
FALL TOUR w/ ELECTRIC GUEST & NO
Our first U.S. tour begins next week! Who’s coming?
See you out there soon, America. xo
(Photo by Megan McIsaac)
Culture Collide After-Party @ ECHOPLEX 10/7
We are performing at the Echoplex this Sunday, 10/7 for the Culture Collide Festival After-Party!
The show is FREE 21+ and FREE for anyone with a Culutre Collide wristband. Tickets will be $7.00 for anyone 18 - 20.
Entrance for the Echoplex is at 1154 Glendale Blvd. Come on down. Here’s the lineup:
Doors 8pm
8:30pm - 9pm GARLAND
9:15pm - 9:45pm LINE & CIRCLE
10pm - 10:30pm VINYL WILLIAMS
10:45pm - 11:15pm OH BOY LES MECS
11:30pm - THE CIGARETTE BUMS
BROOKLYN VEGAN Previews Our Fall 2012 Tour
Big thanks to @brooklynvegan for this fine preview of our upcoming Fall tour with @ElectricGuest and @No! Check out all the dates in the scan below and see the post HERE.
KEXP Fall 2012 Music That Matters Podcast
The fine folks @kexp have included us in their Fall 2012 Music That Matters Podcast. Some great tunes in there. Download it HERE, and check out the tracklist below (released 09/07/12). Special thanks to @loserboy for the deeply kind words.
L&C in Australia’s “Sydney Morning Herald”
A little bit of intercontinental love for our single from The Sydney Morning Herald (@smh) all the way from Down Under. Thanks @sebth @EarsMcEvoy! See the excerpt below or check it out HERE!
L.A. Record Show Review
Many thanks to L.A. Record for their review of our show at Central SAPC this weekend:
“Opening the night was Line & Circle, who made quite an impression. Brian Cohen’s distinct and soothing vocals invoke the feeling of taking a long drive out in the Midwest around sunset, even though you are in a tiny dark bar. The band will be heading out on tour soon, but hopefully will be back to play some more local dates.”
Check it out here. Words and photos by Debi Del Grande.
Central SAPC Tonight 9/8
Tonight we play in Santa Monica @theCentralSAPC w @MiniMansions, @BlowKisses, and @HarrietMusic. What will you wear? http://t.co/Y687EUZm
Echo Park Rising Festival Tomorrow
Echo Park Rising is tomorrow! Come hang with us at this lovely free neighborhood festival. We play at Origami Vinyl @ 3pm! Full info here: http://echoparkrising.com/
“Roman Ruins” is KEXP’s Song of the Day
KEXP is featuring our single “Roman Ruins” as the Song of the Day today! Download FREE on the KEXP blog. Here is an excerpt:
“Line & Circle is an unlikely L.A. band, formed originally by Brian J. Cohen & Brian Egan, friends and bandmates who actually met at college in the Midwest before making the move out California. It seems the fresh air and cool waves are a good match with their throwback anthemic rock that harkens back to another time. Their early demos caught the ear of White Iris and Lewis Pesacov, who previously produced debut albums for Best Coast and Nikki Lane. They took to the studio, along with a newly formed band, including guitarist Eric Neujahr, bassist Nathan Gammill and drummer Nick Cisik. The result is their brand new 7-inch single “Roman Ruins”. Recorded live, “Roman Ruins” (side A) and “Carelessness” (side B) are nostalgic reminders of great music from our youth.”
Thank you deeply for these humbling words.
From TalkTalkQuiet :
Line & Circle – Roman Ruins
Do you have your summer jam yet? Not yet? May I put forward for your consideration, Roman Ruins, a song I’m utterly in love with, as of 10 hours ago. It’s the A-side to LA-based Line & Circle’s new 7-inch, which just came out July 10. The song came on during John Richard’s set this morning on KEXP and for me, prone to crushes, I’m gonna say it, instant love. I love how John summed it up–it’s a song that takes you back to your youth. The opening guitar riff has echoes of Joy Division’s “Ceremony”. On repeated listens, I feel like the song could have been lifted from one of my all-time favorite albums of B-sides by REM — Dead Letter Office — but not in a derivative or annoying way. I don’t dole out REM comparisons lightly, either. Brian Cohen, lead singer of Line & Circle has a buzzy, Michael Stipe-like sadness that at times ventures into into emotional territory occupied only by rare talents like Matt Berninger of The National. I guess Michael Stipe, Matt Berninger and Brian Cohen all have a mumbly thing going on at times, but there is nothing remotely feathery about this band, and I like that. I get somewhat fatigued by lo-fi and stripped-down music after a while. So if you’re into rock and roll sung by an emotionally vulnerable lead, I’m guessing you’ll be into Line & Circle. Check out Cohen’s wailing on the B-side, a song called “Carelessness”. I can’t help thinking of Morrissey’s vocal stylings on “Every Day is Like Sunday.” Did I already say I’m starting to fall in love a little bit? I just can’t get over how many influences I’m hearing. The band’s facebook says their influences include Erik Satie and Grace Kelley. Awesome. Going to be listening for the full-length from these guys. Read more about them on the cool music station blog of LA, KCRW.
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