How Could You Ever Be The Same?
Release Date: July 13, 2018
Label: AntiFragile Music
TRACKLIST
1. Finally Unsure
2. Cracks Like a Window
3. The Danger of Belief
4. Same to Me
5. Find Me Every Morning
6. Play By The Rules
7. You Don’t Belong to Feelings
8. Honey with Tea
9. Everything Revolves Around Something
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BIO
For almost a decade, the Philadelphia quartet Oldermost has been answering the question, “Why does the world need another rock band?”
Lou Reed once said, “Music was what bothered me … it’s an obscure power that can change your life.” Oldermost’s music originates from this sincere albeit perhaps wide-eyed belief that rock & roll music can do this. As such, the songs have been carefully crafted to create a site for both listeners and the individuals behind the making of this art to face those mysterious cravings of the mind and not solve the what is so bothersome but to explore deeper questions of unknowing and uncertainty that present a perennial inch to scratch.
Their music gives you the impression that the band continually reaches their hand into some version of the American Songbook, some broad tradition of American music constantly subjected to recurrent revision. But whatever Americana means, or in whatever way that Oldermost is American, per se, it would be because of the where they call home: Philadelphia, a city rich in its resilience and home to some of the most exciting rock & roll bands in the modern musical landscape. Oldermost is proudly a product of its environment – FLOOD Magazine aptly called them “…the latest in the suddenly long line of hazy, phased-out Philadelphia folk groups.”
The music is both familiar, yet fresh. It hints at nostalgic without stumbling into kitsch. At some moments the music sounds urbane, almost high-brow and literary, and at others times, its wild and unrefined–a late night argument over cheap domestics. Even the name, an outdated modifier plucked from a ghost-town dialect of the American “Wild West,” is delightfully and intentionally ambiguous enough to be claimed as the handle for a band that tends to wiggle out of your hands if held too restrictively to one specific genre or influence. While listening, you may feel at home yet you quickly realize that is somewhere you have not been before. The landscape is familiar, but fresh—a warm place that draws you in, a beautiful and melancholic flame that attracts, comforts, heats, and burns.
Last year they teased their fourth release, How Could You Ever Be The Same?, with the premiere of two songs, “Honey With Tea” and “Finally Unsure.” “Honey With Tea” is “…a satisfying, Wilco-esque delivery against a cinematic backdrop,” writes WXPN’s The Key. On “Finally Unsure” The Line of Best Fit writes, “Chiming guitars reverberate across layers of organ-style synths and bright acoustics as singer Bradford Bucknum’s drawl extends far beyond the track’s sustained notes.” The song “…opens like a sunrise, steadily illuminating more and more of itself with each instrumental addition until what we have is nothing short of a spectacular, bright song,” writes WXPN’s The Key.
How Could You Ever Be The Same?, the band’s first record on AntiFragile Music, is self-produced by the band, mixed by Jeff Ziegler (Kurt Vile, The War on Drugs, Allison Crutchfield) and mastered by Ryan Schwabe (The Districts, Big Thief, Hop Along). This record highlights the paradoxical blend of neuroticism and mysticism of lead-singer Bradford Bucknum, whose vocal delivery oscillates between semi-theatrical energetic bursts to gentle, sugary crooning. At times, the songs’ despairing wit and questionable advice buoyantly tumble over a sea of lush strings. At other times, the songs dig their heels in the genre and the classic-rock enthusiasm of Mike Sobel’s guitar, the steady but experimental rhythms of Stephen Robbins’ focused and passionate drumming and Dan Wolgemuth’s unique and melodic bass playing.
On this record, Oldermost shows their ability to merge their penchant for era-blending rock and roll with a more chamber-pop, indie-rock sensibility. Initially recorded in a cabin in upstate New York and then finished in the band’s home studio in Philadelphia, How Could You Ever Be The Same? spotlights Oldermost’s evolution and movement into more complex sonic territory on the heels of the momentum built from the band’s previous releases.
How Could You Ever Be The Same? will be released in July 2018 and its marks both a new beginning for the band but also a moment to build on their success of releasing compelling recordings and providing dynamic live shows in their hometown and beyond.
“It’s rare to come across a brand-new song that already feels like a classic. Oldermost’s “Honey With Tea” is one of them.” – All Things Go
“…a soothing, spacey jam with rich guitar riffs, deep drum fills, and zoned-out synths.” – WXPN
“…the latest in the suddenly long line of hazy, phased-out Philadelphia folk groups.” – FLOOD Magazine
“Oldermost are Americana at their core, but they are not constrained by such simplicity of genre labels. They melt together southern-rock, pop, folk and soul into something dusty, jarring, tangled and sweet.” – Popdust
“…it’s got that strong, driving backbone that this kind of stuff tends to have, a floating atmosphere in the background, and a cool, post-Dylan drawl from singer Bradford Bucknum.” – BrooklynVegan
“…calls to mind the hazy glaze of M. Ward married to the purest strains of chamber pop and the dizzying, romantic turns of ’70s-style balladry.” – PopMatters
“…unapologetically a rock n’ roll band; classic rock forms the backbone of their sound, making it instantly accessible.” – Culture Collide
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