Archive for the ‘Press’ Category

RVA Mag Show Preview: RIBS at Strange Matter in Richmond, VA 5/10/11

Monday, May 9th, 2011

On Tuesday May 10th, Strange Matter will host a show that will feature Historic, Ear Theory, RIBS, and Collen Applegate. I had the chance to catch up with three of the members of RIBS, a Boston-based band who is playing in Richmond for the very first time. Y’all make them feel welcome, ya hear?

RIBS is Keith Freund on vocals and guitar, Blake Fusilier on bass and vocals, Justin Tolan on guitar, and Chris Oquist on drums. Keith and Blake grew up in Atlanta, and then transferred to Boston for school at Boston University. They heard about a “shred guitar prodigy” by the name of Justin Tolan who was, incidentally, also from Atlanta. Talk about fate. Keith and Blake weren’t to meet Justin, however, until Keith responded to a “band wanted” ad that listed Radiohead, Muse, and Aphex Twin as influences. As it turns out, it was Justin’s ad, and the two became three. A little later, drummer Chris Oquist joined the band and they started making music together. Now they are a band on the move, nominated for The Boston Phoenix/WFNX Best Music Poll and named one of The Boston Phoenix’s Eleven Bands to Watch in 2011.

Enough bio stuff. Let’s get to the interview.

OK guys – what the heck does RIBS stand for? Why the mysterious capitalization?

It’s a well-kept secret.

Then you won’t mind if I make something up for all those curious Richmonders?

Have at it. [Note: I have a dirty mind, so none of the suggestions I have are safe for work, nor germane to the band’s style, so I shall refrain.]

I’ve read about how you guys met and how the band started, so I’ll skip those questions and go to my number one favorite question I love to ask musicians. What was your FIRST favorite album?

Keith: Beach Boys, Greatest Hits.

Keith, I’ve read that many of your musical influences haven’t made their way into your music thus far. Do you see the Beach Boys making into your repertoire somehow?

Keith: [chuckle] Not any time soon.

Blake: Outkast, ATLiens. I really didn’t start LISTENING to music until I was a teenager.

Keith: When I was a kid I listened to oldies with my parents. After that, radio rap and other stuff. I developed my own taste later.

[Justin enters the room. We had just been talking about whether the band had ever played RVA before (answer is NO, as mentioned earlier), and Justin chimes in that he has been in Richmond before – for a flood. He tells me he rode down the street in an innertube. I share with him the hope that he does not bring a flood with him this time. He echoes this sentiment, not commenting on the implication that he might have the power to control the weather. He then answers my favorite first album question.]

Justin: Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness by Smashing Pumpkins. I was seven years old and my sister had been listening to the album and didn’t want it anymore. I loved it, but my parents went through with a sharpie and marked out the eff words in the liner notes.

READ MORE: https://rvamag.com/music/tuesday-night-check-out-ribs-at-strange-matter.html

Ryan’s Smashing Life: Great Scott Review 5/5/11

Monday, May 9th, 2011

“With a bizarre and unique system of neon strip-lights, that stretched far from the stage and pulsed with each drum beat, RlBS demonstrated tonight that for a band to have a chance to really blow up they must go beyond simply addictive music. These days you must, like the light show, project so powerfully that your success seems inevitable. RIBS started their tour like this, this evening at Great Scott, and from here they’ll go far.”

Photo: Mark Jenko

LINK: http://www.rslblog.com/2011/05/ribs-at-great-scott.html

Weekly Dig RIBS Profile – May 2011

Thursday, May 5th, 2011

By Steve Church:

RIBS have never shied away from their comparisons. Likened by fans and critics to such hard line, atmospheric rock monsters as Nine Inch Nails, Deftones and Muse, the Boston quartet embraces these associations as both a testament to their established musicality and an indicator of form towards attracting new fans. And after earning Reddit.com’s topvoted music post of all time within a month of releasing 2010 EP British Brains, (amongst other accolades) it’s clear that RIBS is a band that can flourish beyond the similarities.

“We’re not one of those bands that are like, ‘Oh, you can’t compare us to anything,’”

says guitarist and lead vocalist Keith Freund. “I think that what we do is rock music that’s meant to give you chills—anything that goes from something soft to something loud in a short period of time. [With] bands like Deftones and NIN, I definitely see the comparison there.”

High school friends Freund and bassist Blake Fusilier formed the basis for RIBS, writing music in Atlanta together before attending college in Boston in 2005. The two spent their time shaping and experimenting with sound while actively searching out new members to round out the group, discovering drummer Chris Oquist and guitarist (and fellow Atlantian) Justin Tolan, in Boston’s metal scene. Freund and Fusilier found their potential bandmates’ interests extended far beyond those of your average metalheads:

“I met Justin, who was this shred guitar prodigy. I was hearing about him through a lot of rumors, and he was in Guitar Player magazine,” says Freund. “Then I found out that he was into a lot of the same stuff that I was in to—Muse, Radiohead, Aphex Twin. That piqued my interest.”

Oquist appealed to Freund and Fusilier in much the same way, telling them right off the bat that his favorite artists were Paul Simon and The Beatles. With influences ranging from metal to electronic to ‘60s pop and four incredibly talented musicians on board, RIBS had its final lineup by March 2009. The band set to work on their first EP, British Brains, a guitar-driven effort in industrial doom and gloom mixed and produced entirely by Freund. A year later, Freund posted the completed British Brains on Reddit.com, where its ratings skyrocketed and sold 600 copies in the first week. For their next record, RIBS tapered their mechanical appeal in place of a more dance-worthy post-punk on 2011’s Locrian Singles.

RIBS have now cracked the local rock scene, garnering praise across Boston for their complex songwriting and fiery live performances. They’re currently working on releasing their next EP, Russian Blood, expected later this year. In the meantime, it’s all about performing in new and innovative ways. Incorporating vibrant lighting displays with their music, RIBS have set a standard of performance for Boston acts, and they promise something special—though they’re keeping quiet—for their east coast tour kickoff before snaking their way south towards Atlanta. And they’re hoping to pick up some new fans along the way.

“Our live show makes use of a lot of different elements,” says Oquist. “It’s about trying to pull people out of the usual experience of a show and doing something that is more immersed in what the music is about. That’s sonically, lyrically and visually a lot in terms of a live performance.”

RIBS
WITH LIGHTS RESOLVE
AND ART DECADE

THURSDAY 5.5.11

GREAT SCOTT
1222 COMM. AVE.
ALLSTON

617.566.9014
9PM/18+/$9

GREATSCOTTBOSTON.COM
RIBSTHEBAND.COM

SOURCE: http://digboston.com/listen/2011/05/ribs/

The Deli Magazine: Spring 2011 Tour Write Up

Thursday, May 5th, 2011

Boston-based quartet RIBS are setting off on tour this week, taking their Failure-meets-My Bloody Valentine dreamscape down the East Coast for the first time. The tour currently has 10 scheduled stops, starting on May 5th in Boston and ending on May 14th in Athens, GA.

RIBS has built a reputation across New England for the creativity and clockwork of their light-flooded live shows, making them a go-to choice for local support on national tours including Helmet and Circa Survive.

Reviews described their latest release, the double A-side Locrian Singles as a “double-knockout” – comprised of two “futuristic, star-screaming” singles – showing an evolution from the sneaking post-gaze of the band’s debut EP, British Brains, released last June. RIBS rose to prominence after British Brains became one of Reddit’s top music posts of all time.

The RIBS East Coast Tour will include the following stops:
05.05 – Boston, MA – Great Scott
05.06 – Danbury, CT – Heirloom Arts Theatre
05.07 – Albany, NY – Hudson River Coffee House
05.08 – Brooklyn, NY – The Charleston
05.09 – Baltimore, MD – Sidebar Tavern
05.10 – Richmond, VA – Strange Matter
05.11 – Greensboro, NC – Pin Ups
05.12 – Asheville, NC – The LAB
05.13 – Atlanta, GA – The Music Room
05.14 – Athens, GA – Rye Bar

–Chrissy Prisco

LINK: http://newengland.thedelimagazine.com/5476/ribs-embark-on-10-day-east-coast-tour-55-514

Ryan’s Smashing Life: RIBS Spring 2011 Tour Coverage

Wednesday, May 4th, 2011

From rslblog.com:

An East Coast Run for RIBS

RED ALERT TOUR:
Words by Nick Parker
Photos by Mark Jenko
New Tour Kickoffs
Thursday 5/5/11 at Great Scott

This Thursday night in Boston you can see a band that tick all these boxes; a band that knows the difference between performing and merely playing their songs, musicians that really commit to every beat of the drum and pluck of the string, and songs with hooks you’ll be singing after the set is over. Since their incendiary (and insanely loud) headline set at the RSL four-year anniversary party a few months ago, RIBS have been busy plotting their next musical take-over. It comes in the form of an East coast tour, and, since we can say they are ours here in Boston before they are anyone else’s, where better to kick that off than at Great Scott.

RIBS are an unashamedly heavy band. In a sea of indie, folk and Americana, they play music that shakes through your ribcage (no pun intended). I’ve read of various more or less strange comparisons (Joy Division?!) – perhaps Deftones is the best parallel with the operatic scale of their semi-metal sound. Either way though, the buzz about his band is worthy, and you can give them a great tour send off this week if you find yourself in the right place at the right time. The rest of the dates on the East Coast spin, follow…
CONTINUE READING: http://www.rslblog.com/2011/05/east-coast-run-for-ribs.html

WFNX 101.7FM Talks RIBS On The Breakfast Show

Monday, May 2nd, 2011

Fletcher of Boston’s WFNX and Boston Phoenix music editor Michael Marotta talk RIBS, give away a bunch of stuff on-air, and preview our upcoming 5/5 show at Great Scott. They also promise to buy you all screwdrivers.

SOURCE: WFNX.com

Hype NC Show Preview: Asheville @ the LAB 5-12-11

Sunday, May 1st, 2011

RIBS Nominated For Best New Act In Boston Phoenix’s Best Music Poll

Monday, March 28th, 2011

Someone upstairs must really love us. And by upstairs we mean the Boston Phoenix headquarters. (We live on the first floor, they’re on the 3rd. Awkward, I know…) Anyway, we’re nominated for this thing, and you can vote once per day for the next six weeks. Which is good because we’re not known for our performances on odd-numbered days. Just sayin.

http://thephoenix.com/BMP/Boston/Vote/NewAct/

Note: you’ve also gotta click “cast your ballot” after hitting “submit vote.”

P.S. Speaking of awkward, thanks for pitting us against our friends the Dirty Dishes Phoenix. Way to facilitate lasting friendships…

Editor’s Pick: Upcoming RIBS Show In The Boston Phoenix

Sunday, March 27th, 2011

From the Boston Phoenix Spring Preview this week:

RIBS + Lights Resolve + Art Decade

May 5
1222 Commonwealth Ave, Allston, MA

Editors Pick

You remember how worked up your mother used to get before your first day of school? Well, that’s how we feel about RIBS as they prepare to unleash their experimental metal all along the East Coast. We ironed their clothes, packed their lunch, and named them one of the 11 bands to watch in 2011. Now, we’ll be there to wish them luck when they launch their tour at Great Scott.

LINK: http://thephoenix.com/Boston/Concerts/100686-Ribs-Light-Resolve/

FB event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=198267473524838

Ticketweb: http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=3603985

Soundblab: Locrian Singles Review

Wednesday, March 9th, 2011

With all the weight of HEALTH’s feedback drenched echo and the black-hearted sounds of The Jesus & Mary Chain its showtime for Boston quartet RIBS (that’s all capital letters to you and I) and their double A side single ‘Locrian Singles’…

READ MORE: http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/3430