Photo of Modern Skirts
  • Alternative / Indie / Pop
  • ATHENS, Georgia, US
We're recording 49 songs for friends who donated to the making of "Gramahawk." Not to mention the lake and the pool and the wild magical nights like they had in

Modern Skirts

General Info

  • Genre: Alternative / Indie / Pop

    Location ATHENS, Georgia, US

    Profile Views: 417115

    Last Login: 8/31/2010

    Member Since 11/11/2004

    Website www.modernskirts.com

    Record Label Modern Skirts Recordings

    Type of Label Unsigned

  • Bio

    Born of four hopeful rednecks and numerous misconceptions, Athens, GA's Modern Skirts crept onto the scene in 2005 with its piano-laden debut record, "Catalogue of Generous Men." The record was very well received, landing at #11 on Paste Magazines' 50 Best Albums of 2005. Pop Matters also praised the debut for its “impeccably structured, gorgeous pop”. After some marginal touring success around the South and several sold out shows at Athens’ legendary 40 Watt Club, Modern Skirts took to the road for two years. During that time, they gained a small but passionate following, while losing massive amounts of steam and developing a creeping ambivalence towards their initial musical output. Fearful of being pigeonholed as a piano-pop band, Modern Skirts began working on songs for a follow-up to "Catalogue of Generous Men." While penning this new material, the band scored a string of European dates in the summer of 2008, opening for R.E.M. in Amsterdam and playing at Glastonbury, Rock Werchter, and London‘s O2 Wireless Festival. These massive shows would ultimately prove to be fruitless and forgettable, save for their inclusion here. Modern Skirts would soon return to the studio with David Lowery (Cracker) and Mike Mills (REM) handling production duties. "All of Us in Our Night" was the resulting effort that climbed its way to #22 on the CMJ charts. Darker and more electronic than its predecessor, "All of Us in Our Night" was lauded by Under the Radar as “one of the indie albums of 2009”. It was also heralded by Pitchfork as "bloodless, hermetic," and "not as good as the first one". Still falling short of finding a truly unique and singular voice, the boys in Modern Skirts discovered something startlingly fresh in singer Jay Gulley’s bedroom recordings and immediately began work on their self-approached and self-produced third record, using these demos as a template. The band threw out the conventional procedures of recording they had encountered in previous sessions and began innovating their approach to capturing the songs on tape. The new material maintained the clever melodic and arrangement sensibilities of earlier recordings, but something more unique began to show itself as the songs actualized. After four decadent and dangerous weeks in New Orleans, this startlingly original album was complete. In the spirit of building excitement for the upcoming release, the band mastered and released a collection of the original bedroom recordings digitally and with limited hand pressings as the "Happy 81" EP on July 6th. Despite a significant shift in focus, the record was warmly received by fans and critics alike, "a spectacular display of lo-fi pop with a real raw power to entertain" as fensepost.com cheerfully proclaimed. This new record will reintroduce Modern Skirts as a band honest to their musical tastes and to their desire to create and perform both intellectually crafted and inherently catchy songs. Perhaps the most striking aspect of the record, though, is the insight into Gulley's dark, imaginative and humorous brain. A song about Gulley's second DUI, an ode to 80's one hit wonder Jane Child, and a stomping, aggressive mantra about taking off his date's top while being serenaded by a Mariachi band are just the beginning. There is a gleeful and twisted pop evil afoot here. ..NATIONAL PRESS & TOUR PRESS..:.. please contact jason@modernskirts.com ...... ..ONLINE MEDIA/COLLEGE RADIO..:.. please contact TEAM CLERMONT at (888) 548.TEAM.. For press e-mail ..bill@teamclermont.com.. and for radio e-mail ..jj@teamclermont.com...... ..BOOKING..:.. please contact Erik Selz at RED RYDER AGENCY - (773) 384.0050 or ..erik@rryder.com...... ..MANAGEMENT CONTACT..:.. please contact Jason Ellis at (706) 254.6874 or ..jason@modernskirts.com...... ..TOUR MANAGEMENT..:.. please contact Jason Ellis - (706) 254.6874 or ..jason@modernskirts.com.......... ....Modern Skirts.. on Facebook...... ..BUY OUR CDS AND MERCH AT ATHENSMUSIC.NET:.... ............ ...... ..MODERN SKIRTS ON ITUNES:.... ............ .......... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ............ .. .. .. .. .. ........ .... .. .. ...... .. .. ...... .. .... .. .. ....Email Newsletter.... .. .. .. .. ....™ .. ..email marketing.... privacy.. .. .. .. ....................View Modern Skirts's EPK........
  • Members

    John Q Swint, James H Gulley, Phillip T Brantley, Joseph W Glidewell
  • Influences

    Brian Wilson, The Kinks, The Beatles, ELO, The Zombies
  • Sounds Like

    Regret.

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  1. Modern Skirts We're recording 49 songs for friends who donated to the making of "Gramahawk." Not to mention the lake and the pool and the wild magical nights like they had in

    2 days ago

  2. Modern Skirts Out at the Elbert County Fish and Game Club this week recording (at least) 49 songs and ridding the world of a few more cases of beer.

    2 days ago

  3. Modern Skirts Modern Skirts has a show coming up on 08/28/2010 at 08:00 PM @ Visulite The... in Charlotte, NC http://lnk.ms/BT4rw

    3:30 AM Aug 27

    • leshae ann
      leshae ann 6 days ago
      You always play when I'm not there. And then in Atlanta or Athens when I'm not there. I've got to stop traveling so much. :) Miss you guys!
  4. Modern Skirts Modern Skirts has a show coming up on 08/27/2010 at 09:00 PM @ 40 Watt Club in Athens, GA http://lnk.ms/Cp3Ld

    2:37 AM Aug 26

  5. Modern Skirts 40 Watt show Friday! Uhh mmmm uhhhh. With Gift Horse and Nate Nelson. Ooooooh. Tickets are $8 advance, $10 at the door. You can go to Schoolkids, Wuxtry, or

    4:24 PM Aug 24

Videos

Jane Child

03:50 | 173 plays | Aug 23 2010

Comments

    You guys are amazing :D
    I LOVE YOUR MUSIC.

    Do you think you guys could put Astronauts on here?
    It's my favorite (:

    Posted Jun 16 2010 8:40 AM

    I love your music

    Posted May 1 2010 10:28 PM

    Huhu!!!
    Miss your music in Europe!!! And i´m still waiting for an email from jojo... (since 17.07.08)
    Greetings from Germany!!!

    Posted May 1 2010 10:28 PM

    had a blast at the show last night...

    Posted May 1 2010 10:27 PM

    Your music is amazing.... love it.

    Come back to Gainesville, FL! :-)

    Posted Mar 22 2010 4:50 AM

    COME BACK TO MACON

    Posted Feb 12 2010 2:41 PM

    miss you guys. hope you're well and can't wait to hear your new record. let's connect this year and play!

    Posted Feb 12 2010 2:41 PM

    HHey guys....Hope you had a Merry cristmas and will also have a bright and fun new years. Love cathy

    Posted Jan 19 2010 5:17 PM

    YUMMY NEW YEAR!

    Posted Jan 19 2010 5:17 PM

    Sweet tunes there...............nine out of ten paleontologists prefer Old Bones. Agree?

    Posted Dec 25 2009 7:38 PM

10 of 2126 More

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Bio:

Born of four hopeful rednecks and numerous misconceptions, Athens, GA’s Modern Skirts crept onto the scene in 2005 with its debut album, ‘Catalogue of Generous Men’. The record was met with both critical praise (landing the 11 spot on Paste Magazines’ Top Records of 2005) and several unwanted comparisons (mostly to Ben Folds {avoid coupling male vocals with prominent piano on your band’s next record, as this convenient correlation is likely to be drawn}). The band also starred in a video for ‘Pasadena’, the record’s lead single, which received airplay on over 40 different networks. After two years of seemingly pointless touring around the States and a string of European dates in the summer of 2008 with hometown heroes REM (including stops at Glastonbury, Rock Werchter, and the MTV stage at London‘s O2 Wireless Festival), Modern Skirts returned to the studio with David Lowery (Cracker) and Mike Mills (REM) handling production duties. ‘All of Us in Our Night’ was the resulting self-released effort that climbed its way to 22 on the CMJ charts. It would be the only completely independent record to crack the CMJ’s Top 25 in 2009. With its lush electronic instrumentation and dazzling dark wit, ‘All of Us in Our Night’ received acclaim in many notable publications such as Spin and No Depression and was praised by Under The Radar as “one of the indie albums of the year”. But Pitchfork also chimed in, blasting the album for being “bloodless and hermetic” and “not as good as the first one”. Whoa Nancy! After signing on with renowned Chicago booking agency Red Ryder and taking home the trophy for Athens’ best pop band at the 2009 Flagpole Music Awards, Modern Skirts jumped right back into the studio to self-produce their third full-length player. These sessions yielded the band’s most confident and startlingly original material to date and are soon to be forced upon a super small, barely attentive audience...

NATIONAL PRESS & TOUR PRESS:
please contact jason@modernskirts.com ..

ONLINE MEDIA/COLLEGE RADIO:
please contact TEAM CLERMONT at (888) 548.TEAM
For press e-mail bill@teamclermont.com and for radio e-mail jj@teamclermont.com

BOOKING:
please contact Erik Selz at RED RYDER AGENCY - (773) 384.0050 or erik@rryder.com

MANAGEMENT CONTACT:
please contact Jason Ellis at (706) 254.6874 or jason@modernskirts.com

TOUR MANAGEMENT:
please contact Jason Ellis - (706) 254.6874 or jason@modernskirts.com

Modern Skirts on Facebook


BUY OUR CDS AND MERCH AT ATHENSMUSIC.NET:



MODERN SKIRTS ON ITUNES:







Member Since:

November 11, 2004

Members:

John Q Swint, James H Gulley, Phillip T Brantley, Joseph W Glidewell

Influences:

Brian Wilson, The Kinks, The Beatles, ELO, The Zombies

Sounds Like:

Regret.

Record Label:

Modern Skirts Recordings

Shows & Events

1 upcoming show/event