About Me
Ancourage: noun, “the best thing to come out of Detroit all year.†(Punk Planet) Beginning as Anchorage Mike Derrick (guitar), Josh Machniak (bass), and Graham Pawluk (drums), three decade-long survivors of the Detroit music scene, stretched out their new musical legs on a 5-song self-released EP combining spacious, subtle soundscapes and raw, distorted rock rhythms. Not limiting themselves to mere physical strength and rearing the weight of the necessary mental preparation to survive in smoke-filled, but otherwise empty Motor City bars, the band latched onto a natural sense of self-awareness and streamlined their name to Ancourage, bringing two words together as one; citing that there are too many bands named for cities, as well as just too many bands in the world. Such facets of introspection and fusion are key elements in the dynamic of Ancourage’s sound, just as in their name: combining sweeping elements of space and beauty with precise noise and immediacy. With their name change firmly taken hold, Ancourage released the This Will Lead to Arguments LP on Down Peninsula Audio. Recorded at Key Club Studios with Bill Skibbe and Jessica Ruffins (who have worked with Shellac, The Kills, Fiery Furnaces, Wolf Eyes, and Tristeza), and later mastered by Dave Feeny at Tempermill Studios. This Could Lead to Arguments expands the focus and volume of the band’s heady rock melodies and their subtle, understated sounds brought together with passionate instrumentation and finely-arranged loops and samples. Real Detroit Weekly defines Ancourage’s sound on Arguments: “think loud, distorted guitars resonating and plodding along with the flavor of mid-‘90s slowcore records. It’s that sort of moody, post-rock-informed indie that takes the sonic claustrophobia of Drive Like Jehu and marries it to the mid-tempo cacophony of My Bloody Valentine.†Ancourage has played the circuit of bars and clubs across Michigan with bands such as From Monument to Masses (Dim Mak), The Holy Fire (The Militia Group), The Static Age (Primary), David Bazan (Jade Tree), Thunderbirds Are Now! (French Kiss), The Holy Ghost, Criteria (Saddle Creek), and Tristeza. Their finely-crafted sound has begun turning heads and rearing the praises of ‘zine music critics around the country. Inflame Media enthusiastically bolsters Ancourage as, “a compelling and captivating musical collage that is a welcome retreat from the usual bland fare that is clogging up the airwaves,†while likening their sound to the “swirling guitars and melodic desperation (of Husker Du and Mission to Burma) in a sound all their own.†Punk Planet hails Arguments as “… swelling assaults of distortion that cut to ringing emptiness, static-ridden interludes, and slashing, driving guitars above drowsy bass lines… the best of My Bloody Valentine, The Appleseed Cast, Codeine, and Seam… Nostalgic somehow, yet totally new… the best thing to come out of Detroit all year.†--+ Brandon M Corbett +--
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