Southeast Engine is an indie-folk-rock band from Athens, Ohio. With the help of The Wrens, the group signed with the reputable Misra Records (home of albums by Destroyer, Phosphorescent, Shearwater, Centro-matic, Great Lake Swimmers, etc.) in 2007.
SEE's most recent effort - From the Forest to the Sea - was recorded live to analog tape in a forsaken, 1800s middle school auditorium in the hills of Stewart, Ohio. CD / digital distribution is being handled by Misra and a 180 gram vinyl pressing is out via a brand new Absolutely Kosher / Misra Records imprint called Moon Jaw Records. Click [here] to read the complete bio on the album.
:: :: :: ::
Most Recent Press on From the Forest to the Sea
:: :: :: ::
PHENOMENAL COMBINED RATING of Forest / Sea from Metacritic
:: :: :: ::
Pop Matters - "Ohio band Southeast Engine release what could be the first truly outstanding record of 2009: Weeks spent attempting to distill what the Band would sound like, were they recording and vital right now, is time well spent frankly. It is the past time of many music fan and writer. The magical combination of the vocals of Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, and Levon Helm have influenced low-fi records by bands all over the world. The lyrical content, its own pilgrimage to find the soul of America, is worthy of volumes. Far less frequent, however, is to find a band that wears those influences on their sleeves and yet still finds a way to be unique. This is the exact trajectory that Southeast Engine is on and continues to pursue with their latest release, From the Forest to the Sea. "
Coke Machine Glow - "There are two main reasons why the character of that constant presence (Regret. Capital "R" regret) makes this album brilliant. First, you’d be surprised by how an album so lyrically and thematically overcome with one of man’s bleakest experiences can make you tap your feet. “Black Gold” is pretty obviously the best song that Southeast Engine has ever released. It’s one huge, triumphant, spiritual, Springsteenian polemic on big oil, the album’s clear centerpiece. It also expands Remnant’s morbid ruminations on his own transgression to humanity et al. In other words: We’re doing it again! We’re calling down the flood! We’re dancing recklessly up to the line past which there lies no redemption! Not just Adam Remnant and his pale-faced mistress, all of us!"
Paste Magazine - "Southeast Engine’s fourth album sounds so out of time, and so removed from current musical fads and trends. The freak-folk tendencies, biblical allusions and poetic nature imagery could have originated in 2009, 1969 or 1869, for that matter . . . starting with a 10-minute three-part suite featuring dancing ghost maidens, a shimmering white dress that floats on air, and what sounds like a mystical vision of heaven and the hand of the Almighty reaching down from the clouds—is what ultimately wins me over. Remnant’s vision is so utterly singular, weird and compelling that you’ll stick around for this mapless journey. God only knows where they’re going, but being lost is most of the fun."
JamBase - "One hesitates to use words like 'masterpiece' or 'classic' for an album released this week BUT spend even a little time with From the Forest to the Sea and you may find yourself tempted. I know for certain that it will be ages before I unlock the majority of this album's secrets. There's a density of language and concepts that invites long cogitation, yet it's all delivered with a charming, if occasionally crooked, smile. For all the storm clouds and damp socks, there's a candle's glimmer of real fucking hope. And that's the true kind, the kind that flutters and hisses and almost, just almost, dies out but never does. In more pedestrian lingo, this is an amazing record and it's likely to hit you where you live, wherever that may be."
JamBase - "A deadlock for my '09 Best Albums list"
Daytrotter - "If there's a fear of what's coming next, Southeast Engine and the vocals of Adam Remnant seem to suggest, without saying so, that they've found their own personal pathway through the impenetrable boulders, a gap in the solid skeleton that they could get to in minutes if needed – whether to keep passing through to a better other side or to just take shelter from any storms from the sky. . . It’s a unifying sound that is unmistakable and bold, while remaining loose as a beautiful kiss that couldn’t have been prepared for"
The Onion A.V. Club - 2009: First Quarter Report -
"The Decemberists divisive rock opera "The Hazards Of Love" is getting all the attention—and rightfully so—but Southeast Engine’s "From The Forest To The Sea" is also quite good, tracing a primordial quest in reverse, moving from the rudiments of civilization to the ooze from which all life began. If you’re a fan of albums that play best straight through, ’09 is starting off right."
The Onion A.V. Club -
"From The Forest To The Sea does maintain an undeniable sense of gravity. Southeast Engine makes tuneful music that means to arrest listeners by turning familiar sounds into spiritually engaged, rock ’n’ roll theater. B+"
Magnet - "Fresh off a convincing performance at this year’s SXSW, Southeast Engine is ready to hit the road in support of its February release, "From The Forest To The Sea". Adam Remnant’s groovy rock quartet had some help from the Wrens in getting signed to Misra Records in 2007. Three records later, the Athens, Ohio, crew continues to deliver a gypsy-friendly rock sound. "From The Forest" track “Black Gold” creeps with hints of dark political and religious references disguised in a feel-good, ’60s-inspired chorus shout-along.
San Francisco Bay Guardian -
"flush with biblical references and prickling from end-is-nigh jitters, it's sometimes spooky stuff, simultaneously evoking an era before the arrival of musical recordings and also a post-civilization future. Vocalist/guitarist Adam Remnant is not only a compelling singer -- his quivering Appalachian yelp is perhaps the midpoint between Will Oldham (Bonnie “Prince” Billy) and Jason Molina (Songs:Ohia, Magnolia Electric Co.) -- but also a perceptive, precise storyteller, equally confident in clipped speech and extended, flowing narrative. . . For all of its occasional echoes of other lonesome-howl enthusiasts From The Forest To The Sea offers up a distinct essence of its own. Distinctive enough, I should add, that I can't wait to dive into their back-catalog...."
Salisbury Journal -
"The record sounds absolutely wonderful - like something from Big Pink: harmonies, thick glugs of acoustic piano, guitar and the sound of floorboards vibrating the way that rooms are meant to.... This is an album that rewards some time with its singular vision - it is epic in its own way. Going with the flow of the album is recommended - the music will mean so much more than when picked up song by song."
"Athens, Ohio's Southeast Engine see the light and release a rock opera of self-doubt and redemption... the music often matches the soul dividing
sturm und drang driving the disc. It's rock opera, part Dante, part indie
du jour... never hectoring as it makes its way to
moral détente."
- Pitchfork Media
"...There are three albums now - Love Is A Murder, Coming to Terms with Gravity, and the new one, A Wheel Within A Wheel, which is one of my favorite albums of 2007." - Andy Whitman Paste - Top 10 Albums of 2007 - Number 2 - Writer Picks
"There's a lot of melancholy in the music created by this quartet from Athens, Ohio, yet frontman Adam Remnant fills the songs with a restless redemption." -Chicago Sun Times
"Other albums I can strongly recommend include Southeast Engine's Misra debut, "A Wheel Within A Wheel." - Brooklyn Vegan
"Not once have I been able to stop myself from hitting repeat when "A Wheel Within A Wheel" ends. Two or three spins are necessary each time to really roll around in all the pleasures hiding here. Jambase - Best Albums of 2007 - Cook's Corner
Southeast Engine stopped by the Daytrotter Studios recently and recorded a few songs that are now available for download. "Quest For Noah's Ark", "From The Roots of The Moutains to Your Holy Temple", "We Have You Surrounded", and "Black Gold". Listen and download at Daytrotter.
Stereogum-debuted video for Black Gold by filmmaker, Thomas R. Britt:
Southeast Engine History:
Southeast Engine was formed in 2000 by Adam Remnant (lead vocals, guitar) and Leo DeLuca (drum kit, percussion). Both attended the same high school in Dayton, Ohio and grew up in "The Gem City" during its musical heyday of the 1990s. Underground bands like Guided By Voices, Brainiac, and Swearing At Motorists made significant and long-standing impressions upon the two youngsters.
Around 2000, the pair moved to Athens, Ohio and were equally inspired by the Appalachian old-timey and folk music of the area. Thus, Southeast Engine is a unique hybrid of the Dayton, Ohio musical underground and the Athens, Ohio folk scene. After numerous lineup changes, the two are now joined by full-time members, Jesse Remnant (bass guitar, harmony vocals) and Billy Matheny (keyboards, Wandering Genie, multi-instrumentalist).
The Wrens (Absolutely Kosher Records) have been pivotal to Southeast Engine's progression. The two bands played together for the first time in 2005. Charles Bissell, songwriter for The Wrens, really took to Southeast Engine's music and lead the band to Cory Brown of Absolutely Kosher / Misra Records. The band signed to Misra in February of 2007 and released their first internationally distributed album later that year.
From the Forest to the Sea is the title of the group's most recent album. Recording was done live to tape in a forsaken, 1800s high school auditorium in the hills of Stewart, Ohio. Out now on Misra Records.
Register to have Grandma Moon Jaw come to YOUR house, build you a playpen, gather fanged, wild animals from their natural habitats, put the animals in the pen with you, and take pictures of you being mauled alive! Register at: dreamsreallydocometrue.com/grandmamoonjawswonderfuladventure
This new one of yours is making me REACH. It's making me reach. (Please don't confuse this with a phonetic spelling. It's not making me rich, it's making me reach.)
Love your songs Southeast Engine!! You rule and so does your profile drawing!! I think my spiritual animal is a California King snake. There was one staring at me from under a bush, while I was playing in a sandbox as a kid. xoxo Cat
Hey guys. I can't wait to see you tomorrow night in Charlotte! Just thought I would mention that once again y'alls music never ceases to amaze me. I think that anyone our age should listen to Coming To Terms With Gravity. Not only is it one of those rare albums I can listen to all the way through, I often find myself listening to each track three or so times apiece considering how awe inspiring they truly are. I also enjoy the drums, guitar, vocals, lyrics (really digging the personification), keyboard/piano... and is that even some organ I hear in a few select pieces? Overall... everything about it is spectacular. I also like how maturely a lot of the coming of age themes are covered. Anyway, I have been spreading the word. Hopefully by tomorrow night me and hopefully even a few buds of mine will attend. Until then I will be trying to learn some of your newer stuff. If not, why not let it be presented in the best way possible? Live. Should be a fun outing whatever the case may be. Anyway, kudos to you all and keep doing what you're doing. P.S. In case you were wondering, my spirit animal is the porcupine.
good to meet you all here in Boston, share the stage and what not. you sounded great. awesome harmonies! best of luck on your tour and into the future. may our paths cross again.
TUESDAY, MARCH 17
at Maxines - 700 Central / $5 / 21+
The Itinerant Locals (arkansas) 8:30PM
Brave Combo (texas) 9:15PM
TUESDAY, MARCH 17
at Low Key Arts - 118 Arbor / $7 /all ages
doors open 8PM
US Girls (Pennsylvania) - 9PM
Fiasco (new york) 9:35PM
AIDS Wolf (canada) 10:10
Monotonix (israel) 10: 45
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18
at Low Key Arts - 118 Arbor / $7 / all ages
doors open 7PM
Scouts Honor (llinios) 7:30PM
The Mathematicians (new york) 8:15PM
Pink Spiders (tenessee) 9:15PM
VOV After Party at Maxines – 700 Central / Free Show / 21+
With Coupleskate (illinios) -12AM
THURSDAY, MARCH 19
at Low Key Arts - 118 Arbor / $10 / all ages
doors open 7PM
An A+ Set Up (arkansas) 7:30PM
Poison Arrows (georgia) 8:15PM
Teenage Bottlerocket (wyoming) 9:00PM
The Queers (new hampshire) 9:45PM
FRIDAY, MARCH 20
at Low Key Arts - 118 Arbor / $5 / all ages
doors open 8PM
Blue Screen Skyline (Arkansas) 8:30PM
The Bitter Tears (illinios) 9:15PM
Haymarket Riot (illinios) 9:45PM
Murder By Death (indiana) 10:30PM
VOV Afterparty at Maxines – 700 Central / Free Show / 21+
With J. Wail
SATURDAY, MARCH 21
at Low Key Arts - 118 Arbor / Free Show / all ages
doors open 8PM
Foundry Field Recordings (missouri) 8:30PM
The Pomegranates (ohio) 9:15PM
KaiserCartel (new york) 10PM
Headlights (illinios) 10:45PM
VOV After Party at Maxines – 700 Central / Free Show / 21+
With White Glove Test (Arkansas)
SUNDAY, MARCH 22 – The All Day Band BBQ Blowout
at Low Key Arts - 118 Arbor / $5 / all ages
doors open 2PM
3:00pm - theodore (missouri) - main stage
3:30pm - bad credit no credit (brooklyn) - floor
4:00pm - southeast engine (ohio) - main stage
4:30pm - rabid rabbit (chicago) - floor
5:00pm - heat machine (nebraska) - main stage
5:30pm - he