Charlie Looker: guitar, male voice
Travis Laplante: keyboards, tenor sax, EWI
Caley Monahon-Ward: violin
Tony Gedrich: bass
Nick Podgurski: drums, percussion
Influences
Swans, Arthur Russell, Guillame de Machaut, John Coltrane, Luigi Nono, Steeleye Span, Louis Andriessen, Cocteau Twins, gregorian chant, Georgian polyphony, Morton Feldman, Morrissey, Justin Broadrick, Steely Dan, Bach, Shudder to Think, Depeche Mode
"Every so often there's a record so accomplished that it makes most albums of its type sound ridiculous, and Secular Works is one of those … Remarkable for its scope, depth and technical accomplishment, Secular Works is a devastating record that has the power to change minds, if only people hear it. Don't miss out.” - Dusted Magazine
“In Extra Life, Looker taps into a mesmerizing form of avant-rock raga, repeating words, and shifting into a windswept, entrancing post-punk throat singing … The first song to catch our attenton is opener "Blackmail Blues," which hit us like a darker, heavier take on Dirty Projectors (backed by Torch Of The Mystics Sun City Girls) … these are master works. The album itself is called Secular Works, but this stuff feels somehow religious in its fervor." - Stereogum
“ ... scarily focused and ruthlessly complex in a post-prog sort of way, but it also flirts with a dark, sumptuous art-pop vibe. The end product is relentless, enveloping and frequently gorgeous." - Time Out New York
"Tension and restraint. Adornment and shedding. These are the balances that define Extra Life’s fantastic full-length debut, Secular Works … Looker’s sense of arrangement and composition melds each sound into a gripping work where fear and urgency loom within each track … It creates an aesthetic so grave and completely realized that it’s with the best sense of anxiety that I anticipate where Extra Life goes next.” - Tiny Mixtapes
“Precision bone-crushing … I realize this may sound like hyperbole, but have you seen this band? Go, then decide if I’m exaggerating.” - Impose Magazine
"... a deep, dark, tremendous record... nihilistic, destructive, but utterly captivating. Highly recommended." - Rave Magazine
"Wildly ambitious and utterly unique, Secular Works is a challenging but compulsive listen, as utterly incomprehensible as it is undeniably immediate. It offers an extraordinarily multi-faceted experience, perfectly pitched between welcoming, ancestrally familiar communal song and alienating, willfully abstruse constructions.” - The Quietus
A little late, but thanks for the show in Riga. It was great! Those of us who heard you, are big fans of your music now (they shouldn't have scheduled you that late, that's for sure :) Greetings to everybody!
hey... fantastic set at manchester! seriously the best gig I've ever seen. me and my brother spoke to charlie for a second after the gig too which was was cool. can't wait for the new album! richard
Hiya. :) It's NuM again with a new creation... The track's called Skeptical and recreates the reflexions of many in regard to religions nowadays. Please listen and enjoy, and if you have some time tell me what do you think about it. Comments are greatly appreciated.
Hope things are good with you. We’re playing "The Refrain" on BBC Radio Bristol Introducing this Saturday morning between 1-4am UK time (repeated on Sunday 1-4am). Hear it “live” or online on the i-Player anytime in the 7 days after broadcast, there’s a link on our myspace profile.
Happy Dynamic Living!
Richard Pitt & Gary Smith BBC Radio Bristol Introducing
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