Best Up and Coming Band, Westword's "Best of 2005"
On "Necrogeister":
"A long-gestating, compact three-song epic. The title track opens with a jazz-inflected bassline and tumbling percussion before taking a synth segue into dance-punk territory. Singer-guitarist Zak Brown negotiates quivering vocals while uttering phrases like "central-nervous logic unit" and "we've got a body inside of our body." The effect is at once unsettling and roiling." - John Wenzel, The Denver Post
"An adventurous three-song single that embraces everything from IDM to cabaret jazz to psychedelia" - The Onion A.V. Club
"Picking up where Autechre left off on 'Untilted', 'Necrogeister' provides a fascinating polyrhythmic and polyphonic listen." - Tom Murphy, Westword
"already a contender for 2007's best local single" - John Wenzel, The Denver Post
"Constellations has pushed itself out of the shadow of danceable post-punk... Necrogeister's ferociously catchy rhythms leave the average listener unprepared for the avant-noise of 'Love Level (Evolve)/Exit Shock' that comes next. 'Fettered While I Sleep,' meanwhile, sounds like a long-lost Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd song, with ghostly backing vocals echoing from inner space." - Tom Murphy, Westword
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"The first thing you notice about Constellations' live show is the band's single-mindedness. Its attention to details — the nuances of each tortured note, the snap of the snare — easily separates it from most post-punk poseurs.
But it's a detached single-mindedness, a borderline scientific attitude filtering passion through charts and graphs, software and hardware. Emotion? Yes, but a ragged hybrid, a soft buzz that threatens to turn dark and icy." - John Wenzel, The Denver Post (29 December 2006)
"As fitting at a basement show as it is under the disco ball, the music of Constellations is a protean thing. While clearly drawing from many of the same sources that fuel the current dance-punk lemming march, the group molds jarring guitars, pixilated noise and logarithmic beats into a much more slippery sound. Its stunning debut, Sistering, careens between laptop and agitprop, rattling vertebrae even as it leaks a chilly futurism; somewhere in the middle, singer Zak Brown warbles like Jello Biafra drunk-dialing Morrissey. Trying to calculate Constellations' arc through the cosmos would be a crapshoot, but one thing is certain: It's a band with a luminous future. " - Jason Heller, Westword
"When faced with the decision of either riding the wave of established genres or tearing down the walls and pioneering a sound of its own, Denver’s Constellations chose the latter. Combining unorthodox lyrical content with bizarre vocals and unpredictable song structures, the band inspires a blend of wide-eyed enthusiasm and outright hostility from its awe-struck audiences. On its debut album, Sistering, the group effectively captures the chaos and spastic energy prevalent in its live performances with a mixture of bittersweet commotion and curious beauty. Finding as much comfort in maniacal guitars and pounding drums as keyboards and rhythm machines, the band refuses to shy away from ingenious song writing and flawless execution. Without a doubt one of the best bands in Denver, Constellations deserves all the positive attention it has received this past year." - Brian Polk, The Yellow Rake
"Still the fucking sweetest band in the state. Violent, mean, party-positive tunes for your inner gothmod." - Brian Arnot, The Independent
"With Cory Brown (who joined the band early in fall 2005) it seems the band has achieved its wish to electronify its music. You might not notice it at first; the garage-band ferocity of the last two years is still insular to their show, but little by little the keyboard hooks Zak managed amidst singing and strumming are being transferred to Cory as he punches in a few laptop creations of his own. The result is a sound truer to the band's vision than was perhaps evident a year ago. As guitarist Dave Hart commented: “All of us are really into electronic music and that's been the way we've wanted to go without losing that simple line-up rock band feel.†Indeed, for the band maintains its small-stage rawness, but the freak-out has dimmed in light of a sharpening commitment to musicianship, melody, and perfection." - Stephen J. Brooks, Japan Implosion
"Smart post-punk for the hipster in all of us. Constellations have created an excellent debut effort, infectious rhythms and musical excursions that channel everything that's good about music right now." - Influx Magazine
"In under a year, Constellations' coupling of romance and menace has kicked up a considerable buzz, and Sistering (whose release will be celebrated on Friday, January 14, at Monkey Mania) is its digitized manifestation. But is it all a tease? Thirty seconds into "Animal Virtue," the disc's opener, you'll forget any doubts you ever had. Amid scalding splashes of guitar and chrome-throated coos, visions of violence and surrealist lust are thrown about with poltergeist-like force, touching on everything from Pere Ubu to Trail of Dead. Guarded, coded and trembling with treble, Sistering takes some elbow grease to unpeel. But lurking within layers of neon animus and razor-shorn melody is the potential for something leaner, creepier and even more consuming. And that's not a threat; it's a promise." - Jason Heller, Westword, "Sistering" Review
"Constellations are one of the more innovative and original bands in Denver, to the point where one is hard-pressed to cite a band they sound like without resorting to semi-obscure name-dropping like Wire or And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead. Their new EP is a treble-y attack on the ears, comprised of five scathing tracks. The dueling guitars hammer tight progressions while the bassist thumps along at a machine-gun pace. When Zak Brown isn’t playing guitar opposite Davey Hart he’s railing on the synthesizer, contributing significantly to the effects-filled sound Constellations has crafted so well.
Brown has excellent control of his voice and is not afraid to use multiple vocal styles in one song. On “Pony Chancers†he opens with a high-pitched nasal sound, but drops into a faux-operatic yowl for the bridge. This song also highlights Constellations’ ability to blend electronic, almost techno sounds with their peculiar brand of scripted noise, most noticeable with the Daft Punk synthesizer intro. Often the songs build, as on “Fancy Panthers,†eventually reaching a staccato crescendo. Constellations’ Sistering is astonishingly fresh and absolutely worth the whopping purchase price of eight bucks.
Rating: A" - Simon Frank, The Advocate
"(Constellations') music is a confident, even forceful flexing of indie-rock dexterity and
post-punk sinew. And while lots of groups today look like they're up there losing their shit, it's mostly larned behavior; with Constellations, such awkwardness comes across as genuine confusion, even joyous desperation. " - Jason Heller, Westword, Pick of the Week
"When Constellations are on stage, it's hard to turn away. (Zak) is a riveting presence, his wild eyed intensity the perfect face for the bands high-energy, odd-ball dancepunk. Complementing their sound is a seriously warped lyrical vision" - Corey Casciato, The Metropolitan
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Our maxi-single, "Necrogeister", was recorded at Opponent Processor (by the band) and mastered by Thomas Dimuzio (Matmos, From Monuments to Masses) at Gench Studios. Email [email protected] for purchasing information.
Our debut EP, "Sistering", was recorded by Stephen Till (of Black Black Ocean) at Bryne Deep Studios and is out now on CNP Records . Pick it up at any of our shows, at Wax Trax, Twist and Shout, or Independent Records.
