Inkwell (band)
Inkwell is an indie rock band from Winter Park, Florida. They have released three full length albums and one EP, as well as a collaboration with former techno artist Floorboard. They are currently signed with One Eleven Records. The band consists of two members, Travis Adams, former frontman from My Hotel Year and Davey Pierce who has worked with of Montreal. The band recently performed a small tour with of Montreal along the east coast. Their most recent album Rivers of Blood and Sadness, or Maybe Happy was released on iTunes music store April 21, 2009.
History
The band's sound features some standard alternative rock elements, but infuses indie, power pop, and even some ambient elements into their albums. The debut album, Chaos Reveals Rhyme was released June 7, 2005 through Amateur Records and received good listener reviews [1] despite not getting much attention. The lack of stardom did not deter the duo from continuing their work. After being pursued by "One Eleven Records" and eventually signing on they created their next release, These Stars are Monsters, just over a year later: June 25, 2006. This album was hosted on iTunes music store as well as being sold on the record labels site. This album greatly increased the band's exposure, to the point where EA Sports put the song "Ecuador is Lovely This Time of Year" into NHL 07's soundtrack.[2]
The album also received raving reviews from some smaller outlets such as Hybrid magazine and Emotional Punk.[3][4] However punknews.org was less receptive but was one of the uncommon negative reviews of the album.[5]
Post 2006
Due to Davey Pierce's commitments with "of Montreal" the band took a break between the release of These Stars are Monsters and their upcoming work. During this time, Travis did a "My Hotel Year" reunion tour.
Exactly one year after the release of These Stars are Monsters, the band posted an update on their Myspace page. They invited fans to help create clever song titles. One element of Inkwell's signature style is that none of their song titles reflect the actual lyrics. Shortly after this, it was announced that a few summer shows would be performed.
2008 works
December 30, 2008 marked the first release of standard Inkwell music since the second full length album. This EP, titled Flotsam, was made available through the iTunes Music Store. It was a collection of cast-off songs and a couple pieces of new material from the upcoming album. The first two songs appear on the latest album and are identical in production. The next three songs were songs that did not make the final cut from their three studio albums. One cut from each album was included. And finally, a remix of a Chaos Reveals Rhyme song was put on at the end.
The EP received positive reviews, but to a lesser extent than These Stars are Monsters. This was to be expected to a degree as half the CD consists of songs the band did not give a final cut to.[6][7]
Rivers of Blood and Sadness, or Maybe Happy
Inkwell released their third full length album on April 21, 2009. The album was made available via iTunes Music Store. The album so far has received entirely positive reviews from iTunes users. It was however negatively criticized by "TheLoud.com". The reviewer cited that it simply offered more of the same, and lacked the creativity of the group's previous two full length albums. The reviewer in fact encouraged that one listen to the first two just to see how lacking this one was.[8]
Members
- Travis Adams
- Davey Pierce
Discography
Studio albums
- Chaos Reveals Rhyme - June 7, 2005
- These Stars are Monsters - June 25, 2006
- Rivers of Blood and Sadness, or Maybe Happy - April 21, 2009
EPs
"Flotsam EP" - December 30, 2008
References
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2009-05-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/sports/nhl07/index.html?q=nhl%2007
- http://www.hybridmagazine.com/reviews/0906/inkwell.shtml
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-10-01. Retrieved 2009-05-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- http://www.punknews.org/review/5548
- http://thealbumproject.net/category/one-liners/page/2/
- http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=792682
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-07-23. Retrieved 2009-11-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)