ORANGE GLASS: Underwater Underground

Orange Glass

Underwater Underground

© 2002 Brobdingnagian Records

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Quiet beauty erupts into frenzied crescendos, and fragile vocals lay back to back with guitar waves that hypnotize, then shake you from your reverie. "Slender Tongues" is My Bloody Valentine meets Pavement, while "Brazil" sounds like a Palace song played

tracks

1 How Fast Is Too Fast
2 Slender Tongues
3 What A Suprise
4 Britain
5 DZ5
6 Eclipso
7 Brazil
8 Completely Trapped
9 I'll Be Back
10 Escher

notes

Orange Glass arrived on the bustling East Coast music scene with the 1995 release of a 7" called Wait A Day on Julie Doiron's Sappy Records label. A solo project by Ron Bates, then keyboard player for fellow Monctonites Elevator to Hell, the single gained enough attention to warrant the forming of a full-fledged band-- Orange Glass became a three-piece featuring Elevator to Hell bandmate Tara White and Keith Moon disciple Chris Flanagan. After a slew of shows including a Canadian tour with Eric's Trip, two more 7"s were released in 1996 to college chart success, while Wabana Records in Massachusetts released Protography, a compilation of "bold, jangly pop, introspective, gentle ballads, and abrasive, sampled noise" (CMJ). The road was paved for a full cross Canada excursion as a part of the 1996 Sappy records tour, by which time Eric's Trip's Chris Thompson had taken over duties on the bass for live shows.

With White leaving the band for Hell and their stable of songs cleared out, the recording of the full length Interstellar Interstellar began with Bates and Flanagan proceeding largely from scratch. The result, released on Squirtgun Records, was a 13-song blast of blown-out power pop and soaring harmonies laced with "an undertone that is softer and almost heavenly" (Luna Cafe). The record cracked the top ten on the National Campus Radio chart and was called "a must own for all fans of the Canadian East Coast Pop Explosion" (Imprint). After moving to Halifax, Bates recorded and played bass on Take the Mountain for Thompson's Moon Socket project and continued playing live shows with both bands. 1998's limited edition concert CD Live at the Khyber saw Orange Glass indulging their improv/noise impulses, tossing grenades of sound into the audience with nary a pop hook to be heard. These more reckless leanings can be heard melding with compact catchy songwriting in the more mature and adventurous sounds of Underwater Underground.

Recorded in a windowless room in an urban self-storage facility over the first third of 2001, this new record sees Orange Glass once again as a one-man band, but with a sound that is fuller than ever. Quiet beauty erupts into frenzied crescendos, and fragile vocals lay back to back with guitar waves that hypnotize, then shake you from your reverie. "Slender Tongues" is My Bloody Valentine meets Pavement, while "Brazil" sounds like a Palace song played by Neil Young in 1969. The closing track "Escher" is something else altogether, as rock balladry becomes overtaken and overwhelmed by a rapturous wall of chiming guitars. Alternately subdued and sublime, Underwater Underground is, among other things: an epic in 30 minutes, best played at ear-shattering volumes, heartbreaking, hummable, too long in the making, and a great band's best record.

Reviews:

"Orange Glass may be a one-man band, but Nova Scotia's Eric Bates, formerly of Elevator To Hell, gets more mileage out of his multiple talents than most "proper" groups do. Underwater Underground is a fantastic 29-minute hybrid of everything that's been cool about pop music over the past 35 years or so. The ten songs here encompass a wide range of genres ranging from the buzzing Dinosaur, Jr.-like noise pop of "Slender Tongues," to the explosive power pop gem "Britain," to the downcast ballad "What A Surprise," to the dreamy "Eclipso," which brings to mind the likes of My Bloody Valentine and early Slowdive. What cements everything together is Bates' impeccable sense of melody, these are timeless pop songs regardless of how they're dressed up or down. "
Ben Vendetta - Vendetta Magazine

"This ten-song full-length release is the brainchild of multi-track artist Ron Bates, who performed and recorded the disc during a three-month period in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The result is a catchy collection of power pop tunes with punk pizzazz and lots of mid-tempo psychedelia. The melodic, mid-tempo "Britain" has the most radio allure; "DZ5" features in-your-face punk riffs; and "Eclipso" is an appealing psychedelic ballad. The last several tracks feature slower tempos and a case can be made for comparing Bates' work with both Pavement and the Beatles. Underwater Underground is compelling evidence that Bates doesn't need a supporting cast to churn out top-notch contemporary pop/rock."
Eric Sorensen - Amplifier Magazine

"Here's full - on sonic guitar attacks and solid strumming with an almost Dinosaur Jr. like frenzy of noise, with vocals slightly back in the mix, struggling against the beat and the energy of the melodic crush. Things move to the mellower side soon, keeping the noise crashing at a slow ocean wave rhythm, and the lyrics are a little more evident. Singer Ron Bates brings J. Mascis reference point more than once with his distorted vocal track, but there's also a little Neil Young feel to the sounds. At times the drone of the guitar moves into shoegaze territory, but with a very sharp indie rock feel, like Built To Spill jamming with Sonic Youth on some early Swervedriver riff."
Marcel Feldmar - The Big Takeover

"By 1996, when Orange Glass released their first full-length album, Sloan were no longer the next Nirvana, Eric's Trip were breaking up and it seemed any and all interest in the great East Coast Pop Explosion was dying. It's a shame, for had Orange Glass released that record two or three years earlier, who knows what could have been? With fuzzy, lo-fi pop sensibilities, the band would have turned the ear of any Pavement or Sonic Youth fan. Instead, they completely slipped under the radar. Five years later, Orange Glass main man, Ron Bates, is back with a more diverse collection of Velvet Underground - meet - My Bloody Valentine indie rock. From frenzied, Dinosaur Jr. - like guitar work ("Slender Tongues") to straight up power pop ("Britain"), Orange Glass prove that not all of the East Coast's best bands packed their bags and moved to Toronto."
BP - Chart Magazine

"After a slew of seven-inch singles and albums on various labels, coupled with Canadian tours supporting Eric's Trip and the Sappy Records camp, the one-man band knows as Orange Glass returns in triumphant style with this beautifully haunting collection of pop. The most amazing thing about this album is that most contemporary four-piece rock bands would struggle to sound this full, and on most of Underwater Underground, Ron Bates captures rich, multi-layered guitar and drum arrangements evoking the best of Loveless- era My Bloody Valentine. Never succumbing to one sound or formula, Orange Glass has the innate ability to envelop many styles and squeeze them into two-minute sonic gems which stick in your head for days. Fans of MBV, Sebadoh, Portastatic, Blonde Redhead and other noise pop are going to love this. Guest guitarist Heath Matheson shines on "I'll Be Back." According to its website (www.orangeglass.net), Orange Glass is now a "re-solidified" band with three new members. Heavenly!"
Reverb

"This band hasn't released an album since the days when people were still talking about a Halifax Pop Explosion, and it's safe to say there's absolutely no anticipation for a new Orange Glass album the way there is for, oh, I don't know -- Hayden. That's why it's refreshing to hear a band exceeding all expectations rather than coasting on past perceived glories. Ron Bates sets his flangers on stun, striking a pleasant balance between indie-rock psychedelia and fragile pop hooks. Although he's a musical cousin of Eric's Trip, Bates' home recordings sound bright and buoyant, and for a one-man band, he displays considerably more energy than the usual van full of shoegazers, with the songs to back it up."
Eye Magazine

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