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Rademacher

MusicBlog

"Hubris. It is Greek."

Location: Fresno

Website: http://www.radradrad.com/

Bio: Who is Rademacher?

Rademacher is a band from Fresno, CA.

Currently the band consists of Malcolm, Bananus, Bhecky and the infamous Greer.

More Info

Fresno, CA ain't just the ... (more) birthplace of the Sun Maid Raisin girl and Kevin Federline. It also is home to Rademacher – a quartet of musicians who have spent the past three years living on a strict DIY, van-and-sofa based touring and recording diet, a band that has shared the stage with indie luminaries like John Vanderslice, David Dondero and the Silversun Pickups. Set to unleash Stunts on December 4, 2007, Rademacher is quickly redefining Fresno for a lot of folks.

"Being in Rademacher is like being in that show where that guy would warp from place to place and time to time…Quantum Leap!" exclaims the group's leader, Malcolm Sosa. "But it is like we're in a show where we're warping from show to show and hangover to hangover. Everyday you wake up in a new city where you don't recognize anyone, you have to play a show, and you're usually really hungover."

Since 2004, Rademacher has self-produced, self-recorded, and self distributed three EPs. The people who got a hold of the early records are an eclectic bunch: show going kids from across the country, mail order indie aficionados from abroad, and large contingents of friends and family. The tuneful and lo-fi EPs were well-received by taste making bloggers and college radio stations — but to the four members of Rademacher, their hometown of Fresno, California all too often seemed to define who they were: "Rademacher – the band from Fresno."

Just a few short years later and Sosa, Greer McGettrick (bass), Brad Basmajian (guitar) and Eli Reyes (drums) have made their presence in the West Coast indie scene a constant. Given these credentials it came as a minor shock when Rademacher announced that not only was there a new album in the works, but that it would be recorded in Eagle Rock, CA at a "real" studio with a "legit" engineer: Aaron Espinoza of Earlimart (Elliot Smith, Kim Deal, Lou Barlow.)

The freshly minted album, Stunts, is in fact, just as full of raw sounds and dashing sonics as their previous home recorded EPs. Jagged electric guitars are served alongside generous dollops of slapback-ed drums and spaced-out ivories — the biggest difference between Stunts and previous Rademacher releases is that Espinoza has managed to lift some of the noise to reveal more of Sosa's songcraft and highlight the group's effortless and relaxed musicianship. Turns out that Aaron was a good place for the group to turn to for inspiration — The question, "What can a band like Rademacher do with a guy like Espinoza there to guide them through the hurdles of songwriting and recording?" is answered in 36 minutes with a slick and simple answer…"Cool shit."

As a separate entity from Fresno, Rademacher's reputation as a sprawling, scrappy, lyrically driven, basement band precedes them. Unfettered by Brooklyn's hipsterism or LA's consumerism, the group has managed to transform the double-digit unemployment and third world pollution of their central valley home into music that is honest and even a little soulful. On the whole, Stunts sounds like a blend of cathartic cacophony, Espinoza's progressive yet nostalgic sounding production and a whole lot of late nights wrapped up in intense songs executed in a unique fashion. Sosa's compositions seem assembled from slack strings of melody. Nonthreatening hooks are introduced and established non-chalantly and then, two or three minutes later, those hooks fall into place and you find your ears are ensnared in a dangerous web of starry guitars, space pianos and daring harmonies. From the second track "Not My Home" on, Rademacher establishes an unusual tension, with rock songs that take surprising and bombastic turns.
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