“Shawn Fogel offers us a 13-minute power pop taster that comes off as effortless, uplifting, and easy-going…Like this whole thing. More, please.” –-Pop Matters
The 19th annual North by Northeast Music Festival will add a dose of melodic indie-pop to this year’s event. Golden Bloom has been welcomed to the NXNE 2013 lineup, which includes The National, Buke & Gase, Iceage and hundreds more bands that will fill Toronto Jun. 12 -16. Stay tuned for more information on Golden Bloom’s showcase.
Over the lifetime of the band, tastemakers like SPIN, Magnet and Blurt have praised Golden Bloom’s musical and songwriting prowess, with SPIN once claiming it “feels like a great b-side from the [Wilco] Summer Teeth era.” Once the solo project of Shawn Fogel, Golden Bloom will be playing their brand of melodic indie pop as a collaborative effort with band members, Josh Cohen, Jeff Patlingrao and Justin Hoffman who also co-wrote on their recent release, No Day Like Today. The band’s had the honor of sharing the stage with bands like Telekinesis, Ezra Furmanand Guster.
Golden Bloom Tour Dates
3/27 – Pianos – New York, NY
3/28 – Wilbert’s – Cleveland, OH
3/29 – Tonic Room – Chicago, IL
3/30 – Blackhawk Room – Moline, IL
4/1 – Off Broadway – St Louis, MO
4/2 – Bear’s Place – Bloomington, IN
4/3 – Melody Inn – Indianapolis, IN
4/4 – Garfield Artworks – Pittsburgh, PA
“[No Day Like Today is] five tracks of unrelenting awesomeness that I always suspected was lurking under the surface, but I didn’t expect it to all come out at once! This is as close to a perfect indie-pop record as is humanly possible.” -Music. Defined.
“Fogel’s music has always had a more contemporary pop sound than your standard indie artist, and I think it’s fared him well. No more is this apparent than on his new EP, No Day Like Today, which is a notable leap forward for the artist.” –Andy Fenstermaker – FensePost
” … the hooky, punchy, fantastic “Shadow of a Man” (one of Fogel’s best songs yet) while the moodier, darker “White Whale” adds a darker element to Fogel’s usual bright pop tunes.” –Dagger Magazine
“The plaintive piano melody sets the tone for Golden Bloom’s latest single Deliver It For Me, a peaceful lament of a life remembered.” -Mad Mackerel
“The five songs on [No Day Like Today] carry on the fine tradition that Fogel started as a solo act, so you are getting high quality musicianship, well-crafted melodies, and sharp lyrics that “explore thorny emotions with keen insight and understanding”.” -Now This ROCKS!
On the “No Day Like Today” EP: “Golden Bloom keeps the clutter at bay, vividly waking us from those pre-Holiday blues with a shining nugget of pop like nothing you’ll hear on the radio.” -Hear, Hear!
“…the three full tunes are so bursting with poptastic zest, that on one play the sale is made…he strikes gold on “You Go On (& On)”…It’s incredibly well recorded, with strident, Todd Rundgren piano bolstered by acoustic strumming, gathering synth, bright arrangement, and total vocal hooks (Fogel’s forte), that you fall into it like a well…”We Have Grown” is no slouch, either, with a similar buoyancy/urgency, given Fogel’s clear, pleasant, sincerity backed by more piano and chorus strings. Fabulous; if he’s got a sophomore LP as good, watch out.”–The Big Takeover
9 out of 10 stars “A pop record all the way with hooks that are both occasionally obvious yet totally effective.” –Tim Hinely, Blurt
“[Golden Bloom] delivered one of my favorite albums of the year. Endlessly enchanting, Fogel’s ear for power-pop melodies and eyebrow-raising lyrics stuffs this album with one good song after another.”–Jim Testa, Jersey Beat
Walter Sickert & The ARmy of BRoken TOys Joins NXNE 2013 Lineup
“This ‘steamcrunk’ ensemble incorporates visual performance art with a unique rock, classical, and blues sound that pairs perfectly with Sickert’s powerful raspy voice. And they sure as hell know how to host a party.”–Christina Lacoste – Weekly Dig
TORONTO, Ontario (Mar. 20, 2013)— The 19th annual North by Northeast Music Festival is adding a little spectacle to this year’s event. Walter Sickert & The ARmy of BRoken TOyshas been welcomed to the NXNE 2013 lineup, which includes The National, Buke & Gase,Iceage and hundreds more bands that will fill Toronto Jun. 12 -16. Stay tuned for more details on Walter Sickert & The ARmy of BRoken TOys‘ mind-altering showcase.
Walter Sickert & The ARmy of BRoken TOys are the spinners of a charming, demented fairy tale that gathers new characters all the time. At the heart of the colorful fantasy is Walter Sickert, the writer, ringleader and conjurer. Walter lives as a conduit for art of any kind. Music, illustration, video – his ideas are like Jack’s magic beans – fast-growing and irresistible. “Walter is one of the most prolific and easily flowing artists that I’ve ever worked with,” Rachel Jayson says of his astounding output. “Songs just kind of pour out of his face and his body.” The ARmy of BRoken TOys takes Walter’s handiwork and filters it, developing music that is influenced by everyone. The results have been described as a “Dada-esque circus carnival run amuck,” by Boston Survival Guide.
Whether live or in album form, Walter Sickert & the ARmy of BRoken TOys will transport you to a realm where imagination rules, and sound is alive. You may not sleep tight, but your dreams will be like none you’ve ever experienced.
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“Ringleaders Sickert and co-singer/accordionist Edrie come across like a pirate and an exotic marionette, respectively, and the music, hinged to Sickert’s remarkably grizzled voice, draws from the bloodthirsty side of folk and cabaret.”
–Brett Milano – Boston Phoenix
“This “steamcrunk” ensemble incorporates visual performance art with a unique rock, classical, and blues sound that pairs perfectly with Sickert’s powerful raspy voice. And they sure as hell know how to host a party”
–Christina Lacoste – Weekly Dig
On “Droog and Devotchka”: “The romantic drunkenness of Walter Sickert’s voice pushes against the meter, and moreover, I love this tasty arrangement from the Army, which includes the sweetest little fiddle/mandolin hooks I ever did hear.” –Jonathan Donaldson – Boston.com – Inbound Sounds
“Walter is a presence on the stage, commanding this troupe of performers through renditions of the classic Batman theme song, and an apocalyptic tune, and one written just for this show. It’s hard to fully process this band, with the dancers, singers, instruments, and general zaniness of the set. But trust me when I say this band cannot be absorbed via CD. You need to see them live.” –-Max Bowen – The Noise
“Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys isn’t a band as much as a collective of like minded outsiders frolicking in the band system. Or maybe they’re a cult, we don’t really know. What we do know is that their performances are marked with a barely constrained chaos, most times spilling from the stage into the crowd into some frenzied near orgy of steampunked bunny ears.” —Richard Bouchard – bostonbandcrush.org
