New Jersey-based indie rock trio QUIZ SHOW releases 'Flotsam' EP, upholding the spirit of 90s college rock
FOR FANS OF: Husker Du, Pixies, Ramones, Fugazi, Sonic Youth, Jawbox, Firehose, Girls Against Boys, Pavement, The Offspring
FCC clean
'Super Concrete' ISRC - QZW5A2400025
'Packing 'Em In' ISRC - QZW5A2400026
'China Glaze' ISRC - QZW5A2400027
'Flotsam' EP https://quizshow.bandcamp.com/album/flotsam
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/0WT14G96S6Pg6gjjnNIFTF
YouTube playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mlxPeTWanG-fzK5RXoPqm5TnyvYNF4TdI
Apple Music https://music.apple.com/gh/album/flotsam-single/1731020884
'Super Concrete' single https://youtu.be/qN2v6sphc3A
'Packing 'Em In' https://youtu.be/3TwHcctEdOU
'China Glaze' https://youtu.be/9xC5sjZhzVc
'Quiz Show' debut album (2023) https://quizshow.bandcamp.com/album/quiz-show
"Inescapable catchiness, rawness and youthful spunk – Quiz Show is extending an undeniably attractive invitation to superb punk-kilned indie rock" ~ The Spill Magazine
"Quiz Show is what pop music would have sounded like if punk had had a more significant and longer-lasting effect on modern music" ~ The Big Takeover
"A new sonic force to be reckoned with... That’s a bit unfair as Quiz Show, comprised of members of such luminaries as Shudder To Think, Guided By Voices and The Dambuilders, has been making music since 2017" ~ Second Scene Magazine
"Gloriously shambolic post punk/alt rock goodness" ~ The Ginger Quiff
"A sonic Trojan horse able to smuggle the forces of swagger, attitude, and outsiderness into the mainstream, hidden in a construct of melody and infectiousness" ~ Dancing About Architecture
New Jersey-based indie rock trio Quiz Show presents their 'Flotsam' EP, released via Montclair, NJ-based Magic Door Record Label, following up their eponymous debut album, an electrifying collection full of protest, friendship and frustration, released in 2023 to wide acclaim.
Quiz Show is made up of Shudder To Think's Chris Matthews and bassist Jesse Krakow, together with drummer Joe Billy, who replaces the original drummer Kevin March (Guided By Voices, The Dambuilders, Shudder To Think).
These songs are the first that the current Quiz Show lineup wrote together from scratch. Each adding their instrumental work and vocals, in the process, they discovered something new and unexpected – a whole that was far more than the sum of its parts. The EP is three original songs that tell stories about living – both now and in the past. There is something melancholy about the record, but also a resonant chord of joy and perseverance.
Recorded and produced by award-winning producer Ray Ketchem (Guided By Voices, Luna, Versus, Elk City, Gramercy Arms) at his Magic Door Recording Studio, this EP was engineered by Ketchem with Brian Robbins (Blondie, Bring Me The Horizon, Papa Roach).
Found floating or washed up by the sea, 'Flotsam' represents the shattered, lost stories of people’s lives. It’s easy to ignore, but perhaps there is value in treating flotsam as a mystery to solve, a story to tell, a lost connection between past and present waiting to be discovered.
"'Super Concrete' was the name of the company my brother worked for before he passed. He was a different sort of person, mostly a source of the unexpected, and usually trouble. Many wrote him off as poorly adjusted – as flotsam – but that’s not even close. So, while he may have lived a nontraditional life working at Super Concrete, living in DC’s gay community, and making a home with his boyfriend, he created a life of beauty and purpose," explains Chris Matthews.
"'Packing ‘em' In explores how flotsam gets organized in the chaos of the sea. When we feel adrift, it’s natural to seek refuge. But what can feel like a safe harbor may really be something that uses your struggle as fuel for its own desires. Be careful when it feels like ‘no one knows but everybody knows’ at the same time, the answers people have are probably not their own creations nor for their own benefit.
"'China Glaze' is a memorial to a good friend who had an exceptionally brilliant mind. Flotsam here is the way it feels when someone leaves you to continue living without them. Musically, the song tries to reflect the slipperiness and scattered experiences that come with loss. The lyrics include my fractured, precious memories of the man who left, and learning to live well in a world without him. Good luck tomorrow!"
The 'Flotsam' EP is out now, available everywhere digitally, including Apple Music, Spotify and Bandcamp.
CREDITS
Chris Matthews / guitars, vocals
Jesse Krakow / bass, backing vocals
Joe Billy III / drums, backing vocals
Produced by Ray Ketchem
Engineered by Brian Robbins and Ray Ketchem
Mixed and Mastered by Ray Ketchem
Recording at Magic Door Recording, Montclair NJ
Songs by Chris Matthews and Quiz Show
© 2024 Shake at the Thought (BMI)
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