pretendo

Here's what they said about the debut:
"Rather excellent" - Jack Rabid (The Big Takeover)
"Sounds like a noise an armadillo would make if it was really happy" - Sean Koepenick (Earcandy)
"You'll be floored" - Tyson Lynn (Splendid)
"Pretendo's greatest achievement is their ability to land the perfect vocal line." - Bishop (Hybrid Music)
Guitarist/singer Devon E. Levins and bassist/singer John Castro managed somehow to emerge from their time in the decidedly weird DaoSon For with their pop smarts intact, and thank heaven for that. Now playing as a trio with drummer Stephen Calhoon, Levins and Castro deal in sharp, tight guitar pop that jerks at times like Gang of Four and shudders at times like Mission of Burma, but always keeps its feet on the ground and its hooks in your head. Notice, for example, how the Andy Gill-style slash-and-kill guitar part at the beginning of "Samurai Sessions" gives way to a shout-along chorus before then giving way to Roger Miller-style tone clusters. Notice also how "Cherry Tomatoes" manages somehow to sound like both the early Cure and middle-period Wall of Voodoo. And how the bassline to "Scorpion" sounds like it was lifted directly from Joy Division, while the drum part sounds like it was lifted directly from a James Brown album. Yeah! Then there's the very last track, which is not listed on the program, but offers five minutes of pure (if twisted) pop pleasure. Country Club is a small label, but this album is well worth whatever effort it may take to find it. - Rick Anderson (All Music)
Devon e. Levins and John Castro were boyhood friends in Las Vegas. Their friendship, initially based on a mutual affection for carnation instant breakfast drink and KISS merchandise, would eventually take them to San Diego where they would learn the kinds of things you can only learn in a rock band...things like drink tickets are really important to some people and it’s never worth fighting with your friends over a smelly t-shirt. They learned that canned ostrich isn’t half bad if you just put a little wasabi paste on it. And they shared secrets. In fact, Devon was the only person in the world who knew precisely why it is that John is so deeply disturbed by green tomatoes- until one late night/early morning that is. Devon and John were enjoying an evening of programming paid for by the Psychic Friends Network. There was a caller, who had always sensed that something very wrong involving an iguana, a turntable and a naive showgirl had occurred one night backstage at a Tony Bennett show. That caller was Stephen Calhoon, a drummer from NYC, and Devon and John knew immediately that they had to meet him. Fatefully, John’s Aunt Eunice in Vegas knew Dionne Warwick’s pet ferret’s stylist and was able to arrange a meeting. The Gang of Three soon huddled together in a Queens basement and began making a neighbor rankling noise...
Three shows later they conspired with sonic wizard Wharton Tiers to record, mix, and master their self-titled CD in three days at his Fun City Studios...The result is an album that sounds like the band at it's live shows stripped down and yet full of angst and humor at the same time.
PRETENDO, an NYC trio of ex-/present members of Enon, Skeleton Key, Creedle, Rugburns and Morricone Youth, resembles a compilation of its counterparts. PRETENDO's second album simply entitled "][" was engineered in 2007 by the legendary Martin Bisi with artwork and lyrics contributed by genius subversive artist Ron English . ][ is scheduled for release on March 4, 2008 with distribution by Redeye...
Song