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The Conformists began in November of 1996.
"At a recent show they did with US Maple (that might help give you a clue where their musical loyalties fall, but I'm certainly not trying to categorize their own sound), I was treated to what has become a long-standing tradition of unpredictability in live performances by The Conformists. One song was done with no volume whatsoever; the drums were played with brushes and the vocals completely inaudible. Half the audience was hip to it, having seen the band many times before, and even hummed along with the instruments/vocals. Immediately after, they launched into a full volume song, making for a nice effect. They've also played with bands like Shellac, Cheer-Accident, Yowie, and French Toast if that gives you any clues as to some more of their allies.
As for the band's sound, whereas US Maple seem to mold something that utilizes the occasional hook and really interesting chord progressions centered around their dual intricate guitars but still can use a song-like formula to their tracks, The Conformists tend to make me think of the aural equivalent of being thrown down a flight of metal stairs in a dark alley nailed to a bloody clown beating you with a half-broken strobe light. Not in a bad sense at all, though. There are tons of shifting rhythms present, and while the rhythms/chords can be repeated at times, they are constantly morphed through slight differences such as seasick retuning (as in the last 3 minutes of Welcome, Rainbows) and radical tempo changes (as in These Are Not Flowers). Actually, These Are Not Flowers was one of the first tracks that caught my ear. The song starts with bass, guitar, and drums doing a relatively simple two-chord verse-like chugging section. The drums almost immediately start to slow down while the guitar and bass keep the tempo up, until the drums are creeping along, ultimately falling into a fill and joining back in with the guitars/bass at the original tempo. Then the guitar and bass do the same digression of tempo, with the drums keeping the tempo up. Ultimately the guitar does some jerky gymnastic strumming (hence the stair stumbling), and the vocals come in with a few spoken lines with just the drums and a final scream before the song ends.
The actual instrument tones present are not all that abrasive: the guitar is for the most part a relatively clean Marshall-like tone with natural tube distortion, and the bass is pretty clean. Not many abrasive vocals, but there are a few screams/yells here and there. It's more the manner in which things are played that pummels your senses: the constant tuning shifts in Welcome, Rainbows actually make me feel like a stumbling drunk holding back vomit that is dangerously close to daylight."
-Eric Burnley, indieworkshop.com
(excerpt from a review of Two
Hundred; read the whole review here)
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