Bruce Reed - Guitars, Keyboards, Vocals
Mark Freeman - Bass, Politics
T.J. Burke - Drums, Programming, Synth
Samantha Christine - Guitars, Noise
Influences
Radiohead, Anathema, Elbow, June of 44, Pink Floyd, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Calla, and many more...
Sounds Like
Reviews
"As a whole, Lie to Me is the answer to the conclusion many would draw about a group of admitted studio rats that have shed nearly every outside responsibility other than recording songs: That the band would get lazy. As Lie to Me demonstrates, however, the unbending sterility of ones and zeroes hasn’t corrupted Kingsbury’s music. If anything, the EP is the most intimate record they’ve released, a luxuriously nightmarish half-hour of loss, nostalgia and minimalist confusion. Gone are Reed’s lovelorn upper registers of “The Great Compromise,” or the faint traces of Floridian twang that blew through much earlier tracks like “The Open Sea.” In songs on Lie to Me, like the supernaturally mournful “Back in the Orange Grove,” Reed barely leaves the darkness, preferring a wounded growl over melodrama, and the epic instrumentation behind him is content to ride a single note to the breaking point rather than overemphasize the point. The band’s restraint doesn’t give way until the final two minutes of the last track, “Holy War,” when it erupts into a sea of crashing cymbals and a feedback tide." - Orlando Weekly
"The Great Compromise by Orlando, FL residents Kingsbury can join the pantheon of albums that provide time and space for songs that first kick the listener in the gut and then sit down on the ground beside them to help them figure out what the hell just happened. Led by the weary baritone whispers of Bruce Reed, Kingsbury has crafted a record that somehow encourages dark introspection while discouraging the puerile moping that’s too often present in contemporary rock and folk music. There’s nothing pedantic about these jarring tunes; instead, the listener is privileged to ingest and absorb song after song of intricate minor key progressions performed by rather talented artisans. As best evinced on tracks like “Corpse,” “Buried Beneath the Trees,” and “All This Dead Space,” it’s the musicianship that truly sets the mood on this record." - Amplifier Magazine
“Orlando, FL band Kingsbury compare themselves to bands such as Calla, Radiohead and Low. I like them already. After taking a listen, I am really enjoying their stuff. It's eerily dark -- almost too dark -- but something about it strikes me to keep listening. The music makes me feel like I'm walking through a hazy dream and no matter what I do, I fall deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole.”
- Circles of Concrete
“I love this record, The Great Compromise, by a band called Kingsbury . There's a lot to like: heavy, atmospheric, guitar-centered tracks, with what I think is very impressive production quality, given that their website claims the record was recorded in their home studio. Whether this speaks to the underlying technology available these days or their skill with it matters not, it's just a great-sounding record.”
- Burning Dervish
"To make music at the quality necessary to be considered derivative of those bands [Radiohead and Calla] takes a level of talent that most bands can’t even imagine. Judging by the state of music today, most bands don’t even try. Not only does Kingsbury try, but they clearly succeed."
-either/or
“What a better way to experience today's storm with the new LP from Kingsbury. They have this innate quality to make a depressing scene outside and make it more depressing, but in a good way. It makes you want to feel the bands strife in every note that they play. I love that they have male/female vocals on some of the tunes, because you can feel the strife in both of their voices.”
- Cause=Time
“Skillfully produced and recorded by the band, with the lion’s share of effort coming from lyricist and front man Bruce Reed, Orland’s Kingsbury have released a mesmerizing debut album. Guitars caterwaul between speakers with a vibrantly manic frequency, a military snare and sizzling cymbals rising up from deep within the mix, and above it all, an unsung, breathy and moaned lead vocal that more than once had me checking to see if Thurston Moore was making a cameo appearance.”
- Reax Magazine
“Soft, moody, progressive, and smart. The Great Compromise is an appropriate title for this album, as it contains songs that are somewhat accessible and catchy and yet, the songs are mainly subtle, odd creations born out of artistic integrity. Casual listeners may find this band's music too odd for their tastes, but our guess is that the folks in this band want to create quality music rather than just churn out the kind of shallow crap most people want to hear. We can't help but be impressed by the band's choices of venues and cities when they tour. Instead of picking only the obvious, ultra cool clubs and cities to play...they seem to be willing to play just about any time and at any place that they can. Their grass roots approach will probably pay off. Our guess is that, once underground musicians and fans hear this stuff, the members of Kingsbury will be well on their way to becoming an underground favorite.”
- Babysue
“Kingsbury may sing softly on "The Great Compromise," but they carry a loud stick by striking a balance with introspective subject matter, intelligent arrangement and a sincere sense of intimacy.” -orlandocitybeat.com
“The Great Compromise is Kingsbury's debut full-length album, and after listening repeatedly, I was taken aback. Their sound is altogether too mature and crafted for this to be a first full-length record; however, considering that they spent more than a year's time hashing out, recording, and finishing this album, one can begin to believe Kingsbury was able to create such a work. This album deserves more than a cursory listen and five hundred words.” –Independent Clauses
“Good points of comparison would be Red House Painters, Low, The Bad Seeds, and maybe hints of more melodic post-rock (think Red Medicine-era Fugazi). It's tremendous stuff.” – The Runout Groove
“Through whispery, moody lyrics, Kingsbury has created an album that seems best suited for dreary days when your wife has left you, your dog won’t let you pet him, it’s been raining for three days straight, and all you want to do in hide under the covers and play a record. We’ll take it.” –RetroLowFi
“The Great Compromise is highly recommended for a long, rainy drive with your cigarettes and an open window.” – killerpop.com
“A couple of nights later at the club was a well-attended CD release party for local mood-rockers Kingsbury. With an excellent debut album to unveil, the band rose to the occasion with a fully realized sound that unfolded in inky, opulent layers, their buddy Wes Jones from Apollo Quartet providing lots of the additional atmospheric sounds. To visually mirror this, they did their own lighting, which I always appreciate, no matter how low-tech. Most remarkable, though, was how incredibly professional they sounded. Take note; Orlando has a new indie rock contender.”
- Orlando Weekly
Kingsbury has shared the stage with Holopaw, Stellastar*, The Honorary Title, The Album Leaf, One Line Drawing, Matt Pond PA, French Kicks, The Reputation, The Billy Nayer Show, and Chuck Prophet to name a few. They have played throughout the east coast, and self-released two highly praised EP's, "This Place is Coming Down" and "The Open Sea." The band’s debut full-length album, “The Great Compromise” was released 2007 on Post Records to much critical acclaim. The new EP "Lie To Me" has been released digitally on the band's website, Kingsburymusic.net, November 2008.
News
In November, we released a new version of our website, www.kingsburymusic.net. On this new version, we have released our new EP “Lie To Me” for free. You will also be able to download everything we have ever recorded for free. We will have live recordings, random tracks that never got released, studio footage, all the album artwork, all the lyrics, and maybe even a few cover songs if we don’t get sued for playing them.
Kingsburymusic.net is going to be the portal to everything we do from here on. Every time we record a new song, we will post it. All the pictures we take, the videos we make, the ideas we have, everything will be on the site. And we will post it as quickly as we can make it. Think of it as an online music blog, but the only content will be content we create.
The site is going to have a donations link, so that if you feel so inclined, you can help us with making our wonderful content. All of the donation money will be reinvested into our recording studio, gas for our van, and other infrastructure we may need to make more abundant and higher quality audio and video.
All of our records and related merchandise will still be on sale for all of you on Post-Records.com. Hardcopy releases will still be released on Post-Records, and if we get enough money from donations, we are going to press vinyl copies of “Lie To Me” and “The Great Compromise”.
We strongly feel that the way people consume music and media is radically changing, and as technology changes, the relevance of the album will continue to come into question. Rather than try to fight a changing media climate, we would rather spend our time setting up a system that we can be as creative and constant as possible.
We are going to change the way we do things as a band, because our culture and technology is changing. We are excited about the change, and we hope you are too.
Lie To Me
From May 2007 to July 2008, Kingsbury tried numerous different writing and recording strategies in their home studio, Sugarwood, in Winter Park, FL. The band (Mark Freeman, TJ Burke, Samantha Christine, and Bruce Reed) was still involved in promoting their critically acclaimed debut full-length "The Great Compromise" and touring across the country, but used what little time they had to write, record, and craft music in ways outside of what they were used to. The result is "Lie To Me", the follow-up EP to "The Great Compromise" and the first of a series of recordings released for free on the bands recently rebuilt website, kingsburymusic.net.
"Lie To Me" exploits the more atmospheric elements of what Kingsbury does. With six songs, it still clocks in around thirty minutes. The songs share a strong emphasis on subtlety and dynamics, but remain incredibly gripping. The record is rich with layered compositions and Reed's voice sounds more comfortable than ever. Instrumental tracks like "Ocarina Mountaintop" and "Armada" were born out of sonic manipulations and stream of conscious recording, while songs like "Holy War" and the title track, "Lie To Me", were crafted in the studio completely live. As a whole, "Lie To Me" delivers on Kingsbury's strength; music that is uncomfortably gorgeous and beautifully unnerving.
The EP will be released for free on the band's recently rebuilt website, kingsburymusic.net, this November and will have an official release early next year on Post-Records.
The album was mastered by T.J. Lipple (Q and not U, Aloha) at Silver Sonya in Washington D.C.
Videos
"Corpse" from the album "The Great Compromise"
"As I see It" live on WPRK, Feb. 2008
"Holy War" live at The Social, Jan. 2008
"The Open Sea" live at 1982, May 2007
"Blood in the Kitchen" live at the Social, Feb. 2007
Hey! We hope all is well with you and yours and are glad you are a friend of ours :]
As summer rolls in to South Florida slowly but surely we hope you will enjoy our 3 NEW RECORDINGS UP NOW on our Myspace cause they will be the coolest thing you will be able to find while it's 90 degrees with 100% humidity down here! lol
And if you don’t live in Florida just remember that we do what we do while enduring 90+ temperatures with 100% humidity lol
Thank you once again for a great show.....and am looking forward to Matt Butcher's performance tonight, discovered his music first through your recent musical collaboration with him, and I am loving the "Lie To Me" video immensely. Cheers!
Amazing music, I think you need a street team! hit me up on that. And props to you all for taking the time to chat with the fans after the shows. I even saw a few artists sporting Kingsbury T-Shirts at the Florida Music Fest. Rock On....
Hi! How are you? I hope everything is sweet :) Thanks for the friendship, I really appreciate it! Feel free to drop by my page! Take care and have a great week! Will