the shapes

FALL '07 UPDATE - The Shapes have finished recording their debut full length LP at Boiler Room Studios in Williamsburg, Brooklyn with Producers Gus Van Go and Werner F. (The Stills, Priestess). Mastering was done at New York City's own Sterling Sound by Engineer Steve Fallone (The Strokes, Tv on the Radio, Yo La Tengo).
THE SHAPES ROUNDABOUT UK TOUR '07
Friday - 2 November ... Islington, London, England @ Hope and Anchor
Saturday – 3 November ... Birmingham, England @ The Flapper
Sunday – 4 November ... Manchester, England .day off.robbed.
Monday – 5 November ... Sunderland, England @ Oscar's / White Room
Wednesday - 6, 7 November ... Edinburgh, Scotland @ Whistle Binkies
Thursday – 8 November ... East London, England @ Rhythm Factory
Friday – 9 November ... Glasgow, Scotland @ ABC2
Saturday – 10 November ... Camden, London, England @ Barfly
Footage from the scene of the robbery in front of the Police Hub in Manchester. Joseph is filming and Dmitry is doing his clever "re-enactment" of the events :-) See our blog for more details of the events!
Tune in Every Week to A&E Television's reality series, "DALLAS SWAT", "DETROIT SWAT", & "KANSAS CITY SWAT" to hear our song "BEHIND THE BLUE", which is used as the theme song for all three shows. For more information about the SWAT series... Go to A&E
These four guys and a girl play an infectious breed of New York City garage pop that will keep you bouncing in your seat. Theirmusic is reminiscent of the CBGB's scene of the 70's, complete with fierce hooks and razor blade guitars, but with influencesranging from The Cure to Franz Ferdinand, The Shapes create a sound all their own. One listen to their contagious boy/girl banterand driving upbeat rhythms will send their disk straight onto your Ipod!
The band has played at many notable New York City venues including Mercury Lounge, Southpaw, Luna Lounge, Northsix, Knitting Factory, CBGB's, The Delancey, and Crash Mansion. They have toured through cities including Chicago, Indianapolis, San Francisco, Cincinnati, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C in their two years as a band. They have also been selected to play in several conferences including the CMJ Music Marathon in NYC, NEMO in Boston, NXNE in Toronto, The Midwest Music Conference in Indianapolis, The Baltimore Music Conference, and the Philadelphia City Paper Playoffs.
Their self-titled debut EP was released in the summer of 2005, recorded at Threshold Studios in New York City, and Mastered at Avatar Studios with Fred Kevorkian (White Stripes, Ryan Adams, Iggy Pop). The record was spun on over 150 college radio stations nationwide and charted on 16 of them. Two of The Shapes tracks, "Dreaming of an M16" and "How it Goes," appeared on the soundtrack of the Independent snowskating film "Adieu" by Switchfilm Productions. The movie was released in the fall of 2005. Their songs, "Bordeaux" and "Monochrome" were recently played on MTV's new reality show, "MADE".... "Birthday Song" aired on CW's "Gossip Girl", and "Overflow" aired on CBS TV's "The Unit". In early 2007, The Shapes were voted the runner up in MP3.com's "Get Exposed" national competition...and were flown out to San Francisco to play at the MP3 showcase at the Elbo Room.
The Shapes' "Dreaming of an M16" is selected SONG OF THE DAY on garageband.com for Friday October 21st.
"It’s exciting to find an unsigned band who are on the verge of making it... Musically, the duo’s writing contributions merge seamlessly into the group sound, which is heavily indebted to the catchy and unfettered pop/rock of the new wave era, such as the Pretenders, the Romantics, and the Plimsouls. Not merely a retro act, however, the tight and punchy sound of the shapes is also a product of today’s post-alt indie-rock grit. A good band like the Shapes will certainly get snatched up soon"
- Popmatters
"The Shapes started things off with a blazing set of catchy rock. I loved their blend of male/female vocals and thought their guitar work and rhythm section really stood out. Of the five bands that played the show last night, these guys are the most immediately ready for mass consumption."
- Earfarm (Live review at CMJ)
"If The Shapescan continue forth on the path they're on now, they'll be well on their way to success in notime.The opening track on the EP is the single, "Dreaming of an M16," which features bouncydrumming, complementary dual vocals,and an infectious bassline that will be stuck in your head all day long"
- Redefine Magazine Feature
"This Brooklyn-based five-piece has garnered comparisons to Blondie, X and the Strokes since appearing in their current form about two years ago. For all the shades of early new wave and '70s punk that fill out their music, though, there's very little that is "retro" sounding about them. The Shapes, instead, rely on male-female harmonies, stacks of riffage and large choruses to create something that's closer to the Killers than it is the Cars, and that isn't an insult. "Escape From New York," which is laid in place by a buoyant synth-line, attaches itself to a typewriter snare pattern before three down-stroked guitars jump on to provide the calculated clatter that is present in nearly every one of these songs. "Dreaming Of An M16," another hit, proves that the band can sound downright menacing when they want to, though never quite approaching discordance. They straddle this multi-genre-lization effortlessly, which essentially summarizes what this band does best: stand out."
-CMJ Review
"The head-bobbing garage-rock style of Dreaming of an M16 is catchy and yet gritty, but what lends the song its real spark is this edgy synth line that warbles and spits at you from the background. The combination of male and female vocals both with a hint of sultry come-on style also shine on this highly professional-sounding track. Theres also some blazing guitar near the tracks end that I especially like."
- Delusions of Adequacy
"The Shapes got the night started with one of their best songs, the ultra-catchy "Monster," which uses a bouncy guitar riff and a synth line that sneaks up on you to great effect. Singers Mark Allen and Tonia Samman shared vocal duties and harmonized well throughout the set. Allen and Samman were at their best on "Dreaming of an M16," a track that would have fit perfectly in the annals of CBGB's before it closed. Behind a throbbing bass line and wailing guitars, the pair traded flirtatious banter, mixing grit with glee and sending the crowd into a pop-rock tizzy"
- MP3.com (Live Review)
"They often resemble the Pixies in their infectious melodies and surf music infatuation, but manage to rock a little harder in the process, verging on X’s Americana-punk while not stepping on any toes. Their frantic three guitar attack brings to mind early Dinosaur Jr and even hints of Daydream Nation-era Sonic Youth, except replacing the latter’s imposed dissonance with fuzzy hooks and blinding guitar solos reminiscent of a mid-seventies proto-punk band like Radio Birdman."
- Zig Zag Live
"Their music is catchy with rhythmic melodies and heartfelt lyrics. Listenting to The Shapes its hard not to get caught up in the catchy pop tunes."
- The Edge Underground
"Jagged garage pop akin to Be Your Own Pet and Art Brut, the Shapes' tight 3 to 4-minute blasts of fresh rock n' roll have earned the band opening spots with the Bravery and Jill from Lucious Jackson at NY venues such as Mercury Lounge, Knitting Factory and Southpaw. "I wanna watch you like a television" is one of several smarty lines from "Dreaming of an M16," which is one of many examples of the Shapes' dueling guy/girl vocals. The spot-on continous harmonies, monster bass lines and high energy keep this dance-rock party going."
- Advance Copy
"Consider this album an aural representation of the yin-yang shape; it's all about balance. In the tradition of the Brunettes and the Raveonettes, the Shapes throw male and female vocals back and forth atop candy-coated guitar riffs. But there's grit underneath the sugar, and the minor keys lend a sense of melancholy. So while "Tunnel Vision" will have you gleefully dancing around your room as the chorus builds to a yell, "Monochrome"'s plaintive chorus will have you recording your angst in your journal. Great stuff."
- 75 or Less
"On a self-titled and self released CD, local band The Shapes evokes the peppy sounds of years past - from Blondie through The Strokes."
- Time Out New York
"Churning guitars and hard-rocking vocal hooks"
- Boston Globe
"Many of today's "Alternative" music success stories (i.e. the bands actually getting radio play) fall into three categories: outside of the prevailing Emo Pop, there's pretentious grandeur (like The Killers) or jaded, hipster "whatever"-ness (like The Strokes). New York City's The Shapes share traits with the two latter categories, but there is such a wide-eyed Pop buoyancy to their music, any notion of pretentiousness falls by the wayside. On the band's debut, seven-song EP, The Shapes connect the dots between Blondie and The Strokes, propped up by infectious, jovial hooks, bubbly rhythms and chiming down-stroke guitars. The band, like an Indie Pop Skynyrd, has three guitarists, but the six-stringers forgo engulfing walls of noise in favor of a more direct, spiky approach. For the vocals, co-frontpersons Tonia Samman and Mark Allen switch off and harmonize like a New Wave version of X."
- City Beat Cincinnati
Dreaming Of An M16 is such a perfect pop song, I just don't know how it hasn't been discovered by radio somewhere. Combining pulsing synth and crunchy guitar with a dual male/female vocal that sits somewhere between Joss Stone and the Arctic Monkeys (but better than both).
-1 Hits from Another Planet
"After getting their debut self-titled EP, the verdicts in that this band really DOES need to be known, and given their talent, we hope its only a matter of time. With all of the recycled indie rock out there, The Shapes are a welcome change. Their infectious basslines, jumpy grooves, and captivating dual vocals will get into your feet and make you itching to dance despite your best attempts to refrain."
- Redefine Magazine