Nigel Dennis : All Todd Miller : All Mike Brown : All Aaron Vincel : Drums, Percussion Ashwin Deepankar : Drums, Percussion, Vocals Patrick Burnell : Trumpet, Percussion, Guitar Kate Myers : Vocals, Percussion
For over two years, A Lull was an idea that was being flushed out and tried and retried in basements, bedrooms and practice spaces all around Chicago. Then, in December of 2008, Nigel Evan Dennis, Todd Miller and Mike Brown decided to make their long, hard work public. They formed a live band to play a few of the more than fifty songs that they’d recorded over those two years of writing.
Since the beginning, the writing hasn’t changed much. It is and always has been a process that’s primarily based on trial and error. Nothing is off limits- throwing a pile of percussive instruments against a wall, churning a can full or garbage and beer bottles with a broom stick, hitting drums with microphones, recording unplugged electric guitars with extremely sensitive microphones- and many things don’t make it into the songs, but some do. Having recorded everything themselves, A Lull has the opportunity to try anything and everything and then keep what works.
In May of 2008, A Lull released its debut effort, Ice Cream Bones EP, an EP that is a sort of compilation of the four songs that were the closest to a finished state at the time and that made sense together. It was an introduction to the band, and is an EP that showcases the band’s range as well as its ability to write pop songs that are sonically interesting and imaginative while remaining catchy and accessible at the same time.
Since December of 2008, as an eight-piece band at its largest and a five-piece at its smallest, A Lull has played all over Chicago in venues such as Schubas, Empty Bottle, Bottom Lounge, Subterranean, Beat Kitchen and more, and has also taken it’s show on the road, to the east coast as well as to many other cites in the Midwest.
The balance of writing and touring continues. A Lull is currently writing and recording songs for its upcoming full-length album, Confetti. The band will also be touring significantly, with plans of making it back to the east coast at least two more times before the year is out.
What the Internet and others have been saying about A Lull, "Ice Cream Bones" EP, the "Skinny Fingers" video and everything else:
"...catchy, buoyant pop out of sometimes skewed or experimental ingredients, including dark electronic ambience and sputtering synthesized percussion." Jim DeRogatis, Chicago Sun-Times
"A Lull is like the current crop of Blitzen Trappers and Fleet Foxes all playing at once, making a monumental mellow mess of reverb and itchy harmonies. It might be too easy to compare them to hyper-textural groups such as Grizzly Bear, since A Lull aims for a feeling of unease instead of rapture, overloading their songs with squelchy textures, bummer hooks, and dark-hued studio rattles." Christopher Weingarten, The Village Voice
"A Lull creates a vast sound far more massive than the sum of its parts. Their beat-heavy brand of post-rock relies equally on instrumental rhythms as it does melodic vocal percussion...A Lull's songs inhale as much as they exhale—trading in swirling electronics and tribal beats for acoustic rhythms and harmonized vocal hooks as it breathes." www.XLR8R.com
"The track runs with the same promising tribal beats and glitchy foundations from "Our Age" on this past spring's Ice Cream Bones EP, but with greater energy and urgency. Everything here buzzes, from the underlying tones to the fuzzed, almost humming chorus and occasionally electronic-sounding vocals. If the rest of Confetti follows this track, A Lull will have crafted a brave, ambitious, and unconventional production that stands to surprise and impress." Jaime DeMedici, The Onion: A.V. Club
"When they take the stage, they TAKE the stage, I mean they own it... for each outrageously intense and bombastic climax in their music, there are moments of keenly beautiful vocals.www.loveshackbaby.net
“There was an ethereal quality to the songs reminiscent of atmospheric bands like Efterklang and Grizzly Bear. And when the songs fell into a percussive groove, it sounded pretty darn cool... I'm eager to hear more.” www.undergroundbee.com
“Ice Cream Bones EP is enough to have my watchful eye peeking at A Lull's future catalog for a long time.” www.praiseforwallflower.com
“The band creates dreamy, mesmerizing indie pop that's both unconventional and accessible, filled with just enough subtle hooks to draw you in and leave you wanting more.” www.windycityrock.net
“I saw A Lull perform at Bottom Lounge and I fell in love with the music. Not only was it the music, but the entire visual experience. That is, this cohesive unity you could see within the band and you could tell all of them were passionate about what they were producing.” www.themidwestwasteland.com
“... a lush, intricate, headphone-ready indie pop record that surprises, delights and frustrates...” www.westword.com
“A Lull provides us with a tranquil allotment of hooks that prove more memorable than anything most of their “colleagues” can conjure up.” www.consequenceofsound.net
“A Lull weaves with a light hand, gently placing layer after soft layer on top of subtle rhythms to create an airy and entirely carefree sound.” www.absolutepunk.net
“The music has an ethereal complexion and a trance-like effect on the listener which massages the senses and rubs away any spots of tension. It’s not music that motivates action, but is simply good listening music, something like a barcalounger for the ears.” www.ultimate-guitar.com
“I am digging this song.” www.soundsaslanguage.com
“A Lull is very interesting with their unique style of using different instruments and layering them together... For the obscure at heart, this is something worthwhile. To get the full effect, listen to it with headphones.” www.staticmultimedia.com
“The video and mp3 for “Skinny Fingers” popped up in my inbox a few days ago and I have had it on repeat ever since.” www.citizendick.org
“...a short and great record...” www.praiseforwallflower.com
“Great music, great design, great art. Everything just great.” www.changethethought.com
“It has a cool Fleet Foxes vocal vibe with some Yankee Hotel Foxtrot musicality mixed in. Very cool stuff.” www.themidnightcafe.org
“I’m really digging what I hear from these guys...” www.thefrontloader.com
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