Supergrass, David Bowie, Devo, Suicide, Bauhaus, Yoko Ono, Jesus and Mary Chain, Guided By Voices, The Raveonettes, The MGMT, Cindy Lauper, The Who, New Order, Joy Division, Husker Du, The Kinks, The Velvet Underground, Television, The Nerves, The 27 Various, Polara, The Beatles, T Rex, My Bloody Valentine, The Mystery Jets, Brian Eno, The Cars, Alkaline Trio, Black Flag, House of Freaks, Lou Reed, Mott The Hoople, Radiohead, The Small Faces, Dinosaur Jr., Jefferson Airplane, Bruce Springsteen, Arcade Fire, Jandek, Andres Segovia, Black Sabbath, Kraftwerk, The Ramones, The Pixies........
The Melismatics formed at the turn of the century in the fertile ground of the Minneapolis indie-rock scene. Their debut album "Postmodern Rock" quickly caught the attention of college radio stations around the country and garnered favorable reviews from critics around the world. Shortly thereafter, Minneapolis indie-rock king pin Ed Ackerson (Polara, The Jayhawks, Limbeck, Sing It Loud) signed the band to Susstones Records and produced their next two albums "New Infection" and "Turn It On". The Melismatics toured the country numerous times over and continued to win loyal fans with their high-energy and unpredictable live shows.
After releasing three albums, having their music featured on MTV's "The City", "Laguna Beach", NBC's "Windfall", and numerous extreme sports videos, The Melismatics have now released their latest effort "The Acid Test" on CC Entertainment/E1 Music (street date September 30, 2008). Renowned producer John Fields (Jimmy Eat World, Rooney, The Jonas Brothers, Switchfoot, Clay Aiken, etc) caught the band performing at 2007 SXSW in Austin, Texas and signed on to produce the album. "The Acid Test" takes The Melismatics in a stunning new musical direction and features the co-lead vocals of Ryan Smith and Pony. The new album also highlights the rock-solid bass work of Mark Wade and inventive drumming of Ron Caron. In the summer of 2008 The Melismatics won the grand prize in the Lollapalooza Last Band Standing Contest and received the chance to play at one of the country's largest outdoor festivals.
The Melismatics have found a sound all their own that is familiar yet unique, euphoric and adventurous. As students of rock history, they have taken the best elements of the past and mixed them with their own modern vision; They fuse such influences as New Order, The Jesus And Mary Chain, The Kinks, Big Star, David Bowie, The Cars, and many others. The Melismatics' sound is constantly evolving and developing-- as The Onion put it, "no one ever accused The Melismatics of being predictable."
Oh yeah, have you guys considered putting your music up on Harmonix's Rock Band Network? It'd be a great and fun way to get a little exposure. Plus, I'd love to play along with you guys! http://creators.rockband.com/
