Member Since: 2/6/2007
Band Website: atlatlmusic.com
Band Members:
D. Kent Watson - Vocals, Synth, Guitars
Jeremy Rogers - Vocals, Guitars, Percussion, Synth
Dan Mahony - Vocals, Bass, Guitars
Kevin Christensen - Drums, Vocals
Other Members Include:
Ben Redlin
Barry Clark
Brian Vos
Ryan Alby
Influences: David Bowie, The Who, The Flaming Lips, The Talking Heads, Ugly Casanova, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Supertramp, Modest Mouse, Architecture In Helsinki, LCD Soundsystem, The Shins, The Beatles, The Zombies, The Beach Boys, The Velvet Underground and all that applies to Lou Reed, Wilco, Kings of Leon, Queens of the Stone Age, William Shatner, etc...
Sounds Like: Press:
Milwaukee's Atlatl is bound to make aging hipsters feel even more fogeyish than usual. The band's new EP, Atlanta Atlanta, shows a band with promising songwriting and instrumental chops, and while the influences are made plain, the instantly likeable "Smiling Circles" finds Atlatl building something fresh and exciting on old foundations.
- Steven Hyden of The Onion A.V. Club, March 2008
They've only been playing together for a little over a year, but the group has been able to amass so much material in such a short amount of time because most of their five members take turns singing and writing, a strategy that makes even their four-song EP sound fragmented. The opening track "Smiling Circles" relies on a chugging, stoner-rock riff, while the closer, "My Devil's Evangelical," is a wild-eyed dead ringer for one of Modest Mouse's latter-day romps, but omnipresent four-part harmonies lend a touch of unity to the whole affair.
- Evan Rytlewski of The Shepherd Express, March 2008
Forget any preconceptions you have involving Atlatl being a tool Native Americans used to throw darts, because this Milwaukee-based alternative rock band is not just playing games. With four of the five members creating explosive vocal harmonies, while manning an impressive line-up of guitar, bass, keyboards and incorporating it all into an intense live performance, Atlatl's music can easily be dubbed "organized chaos." These dudes sound like your everyday garage band, but escape all precursors that might be associated with your classic after-school rockers with a polished and well to-do sound. Atlatl's songs deliver backbeats followed by chugging rock bass-lines that balance under smooth, yet dingy guitar tones, while lead singer, well... all four lead-singers, sing level headed words about cross-legged men, sitting in circles, smiling at each other, and rocking out. The band recently released an EP entitled "Atlanta Atlanta" that features four catchy tracks reminiscent of semi-aged jingly rockers, The Unicorns, sans all that keyboard, and more a psychedelic side of early Modest Mouse.
- Kyle Frenette of Volume One Magazine, June 2008
In less than half a year, Milwaukee’s Atlatl has transformed itself from virtual unknowns to one of the city’s most likeable bands. Of course, they’ve had some help. Radio Milwaukee 88.9 has all but adopted the band, giving their day-dreamy single “Hey Man†the kind of airplay the station usually reserves for Atmosphere and Curtis Mayfield. The song deserves the exposure: Sweet and effortlessly hooky, it evokes one of Modest Mouse’s long drives with nothing to think about. With their tag-team vocalists and songwriters, Atlatl divides their time between riffy, jam-rock and squirrelly, breathlessly wordy indie-quirk. Although the latter makes more of an impression, the two styles play well off each other—the band mixes it up just enough to keep their guitar-driven sound fresh, but never goes overboard with the genre-hopping like many of the jam-leaning bands they’re exposed to on their college campus. Judging from their tireless networking, Atlatl seems to be looking to break beyond the Milwaukee market. Their eyes may be bigger than their stomach, given their relative greenness, but it’s hard to fault them for it: They have the spark to back up their ambitions.
- Evan Rytlewski of The Shepherd Express, July 2008
Record Label: unsigned
Type of Label: None