Tony Miller, Samantha Herald and a revolving cast of musical friends and neighbors.
Influences
The Kinks, Yardbirds, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Apples in Stereo, The Minders, The Stone Roses, The Bee Gees, Rolling Stones, Olivia Tremor Control, Zombies, various 60's psychedelia.
Sounds Like
Face-melting rock & roll with alternating psychedelic and pop flourishes.
Thoughts on Ideal Free Distribution:
"IFD balances whimsical and psychedelic pop with earnest and pomp. Vocalist Tony Miller has a very diverse sensibility, and the result is a band that can take songs left of center without them becoming novelty. … This band might be a secret, but it's still one of the best pop albums you'll stumble onto in 2007." – the black and white magazine
"What impresses us most about this band is the fact that their songs seem to spin very much like dreamy stream-of-consciousness recordings. Obviously influenced to a great deal by the British Invasion of the 1960s, the guys in Ideal Free Distribution have an uncanny knack for writing smart and inventive tunes that stick." – babysue
"…a collection of songs that sounds like a long-lost disc from the Nuggets collection by a band that probably could have pioneered these sounds themselves had they not already existed." – RetroLowFi
"Mixing together a variety of psychedelia, folk, and traditional 60s British pop, their debut album is an easy listener. … The melodies sung by Tony Miller are rich and colorful, filled with soothing variability added by a calmative tone." – Obscure Sound
"…an album of 60's influenced pop rock perfection. With catchy vocal hooks and lush arrangements tempered by occasional flashes of psychedelia and fuzzed out garage guitar, it's truly a joy from start to finish." – Candied Pop
"The band skillfully navigates the sonic landscape explored decades before by The Kinks, The Byrds, The Yardbirds, and other such rock royalty." – Cable & Tweed
"Channeling icons like The Zombies and The Kinks with an alluring, pure and phenomenally catchy form of power pop, the record is laced with psychedelic undertones. The thirteen tracks of IFD would provide the perfect soundtrack to a sunny day outing fit with grassy hill romps and the biggest sunglasses imaginable." – Urban Pollution
"Carnivalesque keyboards, angelic harmonies, female vocals--backing and acapella--…, sitar, backwards notes, fuzz guitar, and catchy tunes. It sticks." – Optical Atlas
"…a lovely dreamy pop sound inspired by the heady heights of 1960's psychedelia." – indie-mp3
"Ideal Free Distribution are a music fan's band. They're retrospective without being derivative, and are able to recall heroes of the 60s and 70s without aping them. The album-opening "Apples and Oranges" could very well have been the fruit of The Zombies, just as easily as that of the IFD." - You Ain't No Picasso
Magnet online album review 7.2007:
New Madrid, 1811 from s/t debut album
created by Pierre Chandeze
Anne Maria live performance, August 21st, 2008
in front of The Dame and Buster's in Lexington, KY
with musical colleagues Mike Grote, Eric Sutherland and Patrick Garnett
Rooftop horizon. Sunset bounces like a pingpong ball. Surrounding you-- cloak of pink clouds in a field of Mellotrons. You sing along, intrigued by the daydream. Suddenly, raindrops from space-- ripples like tambourines. Stepping into a record shop, ringing register sparks your imagination. Poster on the wall (kaleidoscopic Kentucky pop group) melts into a mirror. Three faces contained in your image. You don't know who you are. In your ears-- bright strumming electrics (strings above magnetic coils). In your eyes-- dusk overtakes you (you cannot discern its mysteries). Inside your raincoat you find a plastic pocketwatch. It is chiming.
Now is the time for the Ideal Free Distribution.
Ideal Free Distribution is known for creating music that not only sounds influenced by the classic psych of the 60s but also like it was plucked directly from that era. With strong influences from The Kinks, The Stones, The Pretty Things, The Yardbirds, and The Zombies, IFD's first album filled a melodic psych-influenced gap that has been missing for decades.
The second full-length album from the IFD presents the listener with a progression from the classic 60s era of pop/rock. On Then We Were Older, the IFD takes the classic influences of a lost generation and develops them into a modern sound – one that might have been expected to happen after the 60s but never did. Then We Were Older is an album that effectively characterizes the feelings of a mature psych-pop band. Cascading sonic textures amplify the pop melodies that provide for a headphone listeners delight. The album features classic sounds of 60s and 70s production coupled with modern fidelity and clarity.
This is the album that never stops playing in your head. This is the genius of Ideal Free Distribution.
Sights and sounds:
Then We Were Older second full length album
released 10.14.2008 Color Wheel Records
13 brain-bending tracks, 52:51 minutes
$10, s/h included (for domestic orders only)
Self-titled debut album
released 1.30.2007 HHBTM Records
14 space-age tracks, 47:04 minutes
$10, s/h included (for domestic orders only)
Split 7” featured in HHBTM Singles Club 2008
on clear vinyl with silkscreen sleeve
Ideal Free Distribution – “Holiday”
Poison Control Center – “50 Million”
$4, s/h included (for domestic orders only)
Build Your Army With Potatoes compilation
released 3.2008 Royal Rhino Flying Records
Featuring previously unreleased IFD song “200 MPH in Reverse” and 23 other exclusive tracks from The Instruments, Calvin, Don’t Jump!, Laminated Cat, The Lilys, Folklore, and tons more.
Head on over to RRFR’s page to buy, only $7, s/h included.
Happy Happy Birthday To Me Vol. 4 compilation
released 8.2007 HHBTM Records
Featuring 29 mini, pop explosions by various HHBTM artists and friends, includes early IFD track “Kodak Stare” and “Please Don’t Go” by IFD side project, The Melody Function.
Order a copy of this little gem for yourself over at HHBTM’s website, only $10 plus s/h.
Hey IFD folk - I hope when I get across the pond to KY later this year I have an opportunity to catch you live! I'll be keeping an eye on you - but not in a creepy way :-)
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