NOVEMBER 13 / 8:00PM
21+ / $10 Advance

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Nectar Presents:

Army Navy

The Shys

• The Takeover UK

THE SHYS

The Shys' brash update of '60s British Invasion and garage rock and '70s punk had its roots in San Clemente, CA, where vocalist/guitarist Kyle Krone and keyboardist/harmonica player Alex Kweskin grew up as childhood friends. Kweskin learned to play piano and drums while still in grade school, and though the duo had aspirations of being in a band early on, they didn't really take shape until they befriended bassist Chris Wulff, a newcomer to town who taught Krone to play guitar. As a trio with Kweskin on drums, the band honed their sound throughout their high school years, at first as Hush Hush and then as the Gun Shys. After graduation, the band continued practicing and playing live, even when Wulff left the band temporarily for a six-month stay in Spain. After shortening their name to the Shys due to legal issues with another artist named Gun Shy, the group signed to Sire. After recruiting drummer Mike Walker so that Kweskin could return to his keyboards, the Shys were the opening act on the Subways' debut U.S. tour. When the tour wrapped, they began recording their first album with producer Dave Cobb. The result was Astoria, which was released in summer 2006. The album's lead single, "Call in the Cavalry," was featured on shows such as HBO's Entourage and MTV's Fast, Inc. The band toured the U.S. and the U.K that summer and fall.

ARMY NAVY

The music of Army Navy is best described as impeccably crafted melody over blankets of guitar fuzz that creates a delicate balance between melancholy and joyful resignation. The band looks to groups from the past like Teenage Fanclub, The Smiths, The Posies and The Libertines for inspiration, while keeping a firm eye on the future. Aided in the studio by producer Adam Lasus whose previous credits include Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Helium, and Yo La Tengo, the band is setting to eschew the major label process and release its eponymous debut in the US under its own label, The Fever Zone, October 14, 2008. Army Navy was born in the bedroom of frontman Justin Kennedy. After parting ways with Seattle band Pinwheel where he shared frontman duties with Ben Gibbard (who would later go on to form Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service), Kennedy moved to Los Angeles and focused all of his energies on his new project. His demos quickly spread through LA’s creative community and ended up in the hands of bassist Benjamin Gaffin. Gaffin, who was from the Oregon Coast and had played in a handful of indie rock bands before relocating to LA to focus on his music career, immediately fell in love with the music. He passed the songs on to composer and solo artist Louie Schultz. Schultz was instantly hooked, and with the addition of mutual friend and drummer Josh Zetumer, Army Navy left the bedroom and moved to the clubs of Los Angeles. When drummer Zetumer’s fledgling screenwriting career began to take off, he was forced to part ways with the group. Drummerless, but with producer Lasus on hold to record their first full length, the band asked the legendary Pete Thomas of Elvis Costello and The Attractions fame to drum on the record. Thomas, a friend and longtime supporter of the band, agreed to take on the project and the boys went to work on recording their debut. Knowing that Pete was a temporary replacement, the band continued to seek a permanent drummer. Enter Douglas Randall, a native of St. Louis who transplanted to LA after his former band Greenwheel parted ways with Island Def Jam and disbanded. Randall had just split from his latest project when he discovered that Army Navy was looking for a fourth member. It was love at first listen, and the current lineup of Army Navy was born. With a firm lineup, an explosive live show, and a fair smattering of internet and magazine press, the band is beginning to attract a steady following in their adopted hometown of Los Angeles. They’ve shared the stage with such acts as The Arctic Monkeys, Wolfmother, and Teenage Fanclub. The band has recorded an exclusive song to be on the soundtrack of the new Michael Cera movie, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, which will be released this fall. The band’s advice to fans of indie pop everywhere can be echoed by a review in Pitchfork, which urges people to “catch a whiff of Army Navy’s sweet jangle.”

THE TAKEOVER UK

There are not very many young bands that can tactfully borrow from the past and melt themselves across genres. But the Takeover UK successfully take the pop sensibility of the '60s and marry it with Class of '77 punk rock. Unabashedly pop, with a punk attitude shining through thick power chords and vocals that teeter between sugar and snarl...this IS exciting pop music. Huge hooks and smashing choruses flirt with one another in songs such as "Ah La La," while the band's inherent charm shines through in tracks, "Evelyn" and "The Lonely Ones." The Takeover UK are as charismatic on record as they are live, with an astonishing ability to craft scores of classic songs that make people move. Having two prolific singer/songwriters, a band like this doesn't come around that often. Out now, just in time for summer, is the EP It's All Happening, to be followed by the debut full-length, Running With The Wasters - both out on Rykodisc.

LINKS

• The Shys on Myspace
• Army Navy on Myspace
• The Takeover UK on Myspace

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