Mike Brosco, Steve Burton, Tim McKeage, Brian Reedy
Influences
Beatles, Stones, Luna, Velvet Underground, The Band, Pink Floyd, Tom Waits, X, David Bowie, Brian Eno, Iggy Pop, NY Dolls, Talking Heads, John Doe, Bob Dylan, Ramones, John Dee Graham, Tom Petty, Peter Gabriel, Nick Cave, Soul Coughing, Daniel Lanois
Sounds Like
Television, Luna, John Doe, Spoon, Yo La Tengo, Tom Verlaine, The Mother Hips, The Feelies, The Smithereens, The Posies, Thin White Rope, Trotsky Icepick, Shudder To Think, Proof of Utah, Lonely Trailer
Signalmen is a musical project put together by long-time musical collaborators Steve Burton and Mike Brosco. The current line up includes Tim McKeage on bass and Brian Reedy on drums (see lyric link for musician credits of each song). We have released two CDs on the Parasol label. Both are still available at Amazon or directly from Parasol (hint: much cheaper at parasol).
We took a couple years off to pursue other projects but we are now back in the recording studio working on our third full-length Signalmen CD (should be out in late 2007 or early 2008).
-- REVIEWS --
With it's strange, left-field pop hooks and creamy-smooth melodies, this band may get a few comparisons to Spoon (or Yo La Tengo), and they definitely have a Televisionesque sound, especially in Steve Burton and Mike Brosco's detached vocals and their dual guitar leads. But it's in their inventive, unique, art/pop arrangements, most notably in "Clip My Wings" and the opener "Believe" that Signalmen will really catch your attention. In the former, a strange little guitar intro gives way to a bigger, spookier hook, which coils the song with a subtle tension. In the latter, an insistent, chiming guitar figure collides with (Tom) Verlainesque vocals for a perfect slice of dark, haunting, underdog pop.
- Pop Culture Press
Dreamy, guitar-driven rock. Fuzzy yet jangly guitars and soft-spoken vocals make a cushy pad for ears in need of a snuggle.
- LISTEN.com
Alternating between the oddball vocal delivery of Steve Burton (somewhere between David Byrne and Mick Jones) and Mike Brosco’s more orthodox tones, Falsetto Teeth is never less than riveting. At times reminiscent of The Mother Hips or Citizens’ Utilities, two bands who similarly embrace(d) a variety of genres, Signalmen are afraid of neither experimentation or unadulterated, hook-heavy pop. Probably a little too left-field to become stars among the elitist pop community, Falsetto Teeth’s intelligent, schizophrenic stylings will find their place in the hearts, minds and alphabetised racks of the enlightened.
- Comes With A Smile
Languid guitar that washes in like surf, a singer who sounds like he has bouts of narcolepsy and an elevator-muzak vibe add up to an album whose sum is greater than its parts. Steve Burton's vocals lag behind the beat, but twangy guitar lines and mellow drums propel the melodies just enough to keep them from dropping into the dust - it's a ready-made album for sleepy-eyed Sunday mornings. There's elements of other bands here - the Smithereens, the Posies - but Signalmen comes off as odd, unique and intelligent.
- GEAR
Steve!! How ya' doin' up there? I don't know about you but I've gotten really old...Grey hair, shortness of breath, that kind of thing. However my songwriting is just as juvenile and half- baked as ever...which kinda' sucks.
