Singer - a new band from half of US Maple?

Posted on June 3rd, 2007 by Ramsey Tantawi.
Categories: Band News.

UPDATE:Â Battles and Singer have now played in Boston.Â I went to the show and have posted my thoughts over here.

—–
I’ve been a huge US Maple fan for years. When I first heard them sometime in the mid-90’s, I was absolutely floored; the music they made was so alien, yet amazingly compelling. The first time I saw them live my brain melted out of my ears. They were that great.

Battles is a more recent band that I’ve been really impressed with. Their initial EP’s melded instrumental rock with electronics in a very satisfying way. I’ve only heard a couple songs off their new album - I haven’t picked it up yet, but will soon - but the addition of (heavily effected) vocals merely raises the bar.

What’s the connection? I missed Battles when they played in Boston a month or two ago, so when I saw a listing for their upcoming show Wednesday July 18th at the Paradise, I was happy.

AND! I noticed one other thing! Opening up for them is a band called Singer. According to the listing, Singer features “Rob Lowe, Adam Vida, Ben Vida, and Todd Rittman”. Todd Rittman is one of the original members of US Maple; Adam Vida was brought in to play drums on their last album and tour.

Much googling insued, but there’s scant information about this new band available online. The best I could do is a post on the messageboard of Modern Radio, a small record label out of Minnesota. Someone who appears to be Adam Vida writes:

“AJV posted this on May 25th, 2007 at 02:01:41 pm
Speaking of polarizing bands… Here’s a new one.
SINGER:
Todd Rittmann (US Maple)
Adam Vida (US Maple)
Ben Vida (Town and Country, Bird Show)
Rob Lowe (90 Day Men, Lichens)

We’ve been invited to tour with Battles in July. We’ll be in MPLS (where Ben and I grew up) on July 11th, 2007 at Triple Rock. You gotta see Rittmann is bringing to this… that’s all I’ll say.

Best, Adam”

Follow this link and scroll all the way down to the bottom to see the post.

I couldn’t find a myspace page or any other info. If anyone knows anything, please leave a note in the comments; suffice it to say I’m quite excited to hear what these gentlemen have to offer!

13 comments.

New Dania Shapes CDR Now Available »« White Mice and… Skinny Puppy?

nanio

Comment on June 4th, 2007.

Rob Lowe! The TMZ side of me wants to go only to be disappointed that it’s not the celebritocracy one.

Martin

Comment on June 9th, 2007.

I’m terrified of the possibilities a lineup like that presents… good lord.

Sam

Comment on June 10th, 2007.

niice… I randomly google blogged U.S. Maple cuz I’ve been listening to them a bunch and I find this…sweet.

ryan

Comment on July 11th, 2007.

Saw them with Battles in KC tonight - GREAT bands, great show!

mike

Comment on July 12th, 2007.

well, here’s a myspace. no friends, no music. tourdates. it’s not looking very promising for information on Singer. just saw them tonight, it was intruiging.

http://www.myspace.com/singertheband

Ramsey Tantawi

Comment on July 12th, 2007.

Thanks for all the updates! The myspace is a nice find, hopefully they put clips up soon. The Boston show with Battles is next week, expect a full report afterwards.

Update on Singer, the New Band Featuring Members of US Maple - Inman Street Records

Pingback on July 12th, 2007.

[...] My post on Singer has been getting some notice, with a commenter named Mike mentioning that they now have a MySpace page up. No music or any other info besides tourdates, and it’s hard to read, but it’s a start. [...]

Nicolas

Comment on July 12th, 2007.

I saw them in Minneapolis last night. It was hilarious and terrifying.. definitely one of the best performances I’ve seen in years. Battles’ set was a bore in comparison.

Ian

Comment on July 12th, 2007.

i’m with nicolas. singer is my new favorite band. the only thing i can say is that it is “beautifully creepy controlled chaos” in a way that makes anything else you would call “beautifully creepy controlled chaos” sound like shit.

Ramsey Tantawi

Comment on July 13th, 2007.

OK, you guys are seriously raising my expectations. “hilarious and terrifying”? “beautifully creepy controlled chaos”? If it’s even remotely close to either of these, I’d say we have a winner. I’ll see soon enough!

Sal

Comment on July 19th, 2007.

I saw these guys in Milwaukee…. I must say I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face! Really great chemistry between the players, and lots of what seemed like delightful mayhem turning into surprisingly catchy tunes. SINGER TOTALLY SHREDS! These guys are brand new, so I can’t wait to see what their going to do in the near future. If anyone gets a chance to check them out while they’re on tour with Battles - do it!

shredder

Comment on December 6th, 2007.

the new singer record premiers on drag city in March! Stay Tuned.

A Record from Singer on Drag City in March? - Inman Street Records

Pingback on December 9th, 2007.

[...] in March? Posted on December 9th, 2007 by Ramsey Tantawi. Categories: Band News.In the comments to this post ”shredder” gives us a juicy rumor: Singer will put out a record on Drag City this [...]