Fang Island
Encyclopedia
Fang Island is an American
indie rock
band formed in Providence, Rhode Island
, and based in Brooklyn
, New York
. The group consists of guitarist
s Jason Bartell, Chris Georges and Nicholas Andrew Sadler, bassist
Michael Jacober, and drummer
Marc St. Sauveur. Their self-titled debut album on Sargent House
was released in February 2010.
.
They were later joined by Bartell, St Sauveur, Jacober, and guitarist Nick Sadler, who had played in another Providence-based band, Daughters
.
The band got its name from an article in The Onion
. Guitarist Jason Bartell recalled, "I think it was just a funny blip about Donald Rumsfeld
having a secret hideaway, and it was on Fang Island. We like how it was sort of this, like, fictional space that we imagined our music was played on".
The band describes their sound as "everyone high-fiving everyone"
and their goal, according to Bartell, is to "make music for people who like music".
The band independently released Day of the Great Leap in 2007, followed by a second EP
, Sky Gardens, in November 2008. Their song "The Absolute Place" was remix
ed by Chris Keating of Yeasayer
in 2009.
An unmastered version of the band's forthcoming full-length album leaked in early 2009 and was later named one of the year's top 10 albums by Brian Cook of The Stranger
.
In December, the group digitally released the album's lead single
"Daisy", which features an electro-organ intro and chanted vocals.
The song played during a series of commercials promoting the MTV
reality show The Buried Life
.
The band's self-titled debut album was released on February 23, 2010. Adam Pfleider of AbsolutePunk described it as a "wild party" that "listeners will want to relive ... over and over again".
Dan Goldin of Decoy Music praised the album for "successfully combining the luster of indie pop music with the technical eccentricities of progressive rock".
Pitchfork Media
's Ian Cohen called the music on Fang Island "honest and life-affirming and infectious".
In March, the band performed at the SXSW
music festival in Austin, Texas
,
and were named by social networking analytics site Next Big Sound
as the artists who experienced the fastest growth in online fandom during the festival.
While in Austin, the band also recorded three songs for a Daytrotter
session.
Fang Island entered the Billboard
Heatseekers Albums
chart in April. The band opened for The Flaming Lips
at several shows in July.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
band formed in Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
, and based in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The group consists of guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
s Jason Bartell, Chris Georges and Nicholas Andrew Sadler, bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
Michael Jacober, and drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
Marc St. Sauveur. Their self-titled debut album on Sargent House
Sargent House
Sargent House is a Los Angeles based management company and record label. It was founded in June 2006 by Cathy Pellow, who is a music video commissioner for Atlantic Records and who also owns a music video production company called Refused TV. Pellow began managing the rock outfit RX Bandits in 2006...
was released in February 2010.
Biography
Fang Island began in 2005 as an art project with original members, Philip Curcuru, Chris Georges, and Pete Watts, while attending Rhode Island School of DesignRhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design is a fine arts and design college located in Providence, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1877. Located at the base of College Hill, the RISD campus is contiguous with the Brown University campus. The two institutions share social, academic, and community resources and...
.
They were later joined by Bartell, St Sauveur, Jacober, and guitarist Nick Sadler, who had played in another Providence-based band, Daughters
Daughters (band)
Daughters is an American grindcore/mathcore/noise rock band formed in 2001 in Providence, Rhode Island after the demise of Providence-based As the Sun Sets. Daughters have four releases including their self-titled EP, Canada Songs LP Hell Songs and last album Daughters . The band has re-released...
.
The band got its name from an article in The Onion
The Onion
The Onion is an American news satire organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club...
. Guitarist Jason Bartell recalled, "I think it was just a funny blip about Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Henry Rumsfeld is an American politician and businessman. Rumsfeld served as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and as the 21st Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He is both the youngest and the oldest person to...
having a secret hideaway, and it was on Fang Island. We like how it was sort of this, like, fictional space that we imagined our music was played on".
The band describes their sound as "everyone high-fiving everyone"
and their goal, according to Bartell, is to "make music for people who like music".
The band independently released Day of the Great Leap in 2007, followed by a second EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, Sky Gardens, in November 2008. Their song "The Absolute Place" was remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
ed by Chris Keating of Yeasayer
Yeasayer
-History:The band's three core members, Chris Keating, Ira Wolf Tuton, and Anand Wilder, first came to attention after appearing at the SXSW festival in early 2007. Their first single consisted of a double A-side of the tracks "Sunrise" and "2080"...
in 2009.
An unmastered version of the band's forthcoming full-length album leaked in early 2009 and was later named one of the year's top 10 albums by Brian Cook of The Stranger
The Stranger (newspaper)
The Stranger is an alternative weekly newspaper in Seattle, Washington, USA. It runs a blog known as Slog.-History:The Stranger was founded by Tim Keck, who had previously co-founded the satirical newspaper The Onion, and cartoonist James Sturm. Its first issue came out on September 23, 1991...
.
In December, the group digitally released the album's lead single
Lead single
A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...
"Daisy", which features an electro-organ intro and chanted vocals.
The song played during a series of commercials promoting the MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
reality show The Buried Life
The Buried Life
The Buried Life is a reality documentary series on MTV. The series features Duncan Penn, Jonnie Penn, Ben Nemtin and Dave Lingwood attempting to complete a list of "100 things to do before you die." The pilot episode aired on January 18, 2010, and the show was renewed for a second season in 2010....
.
The band's self-titled debut album was released on February 23, 2010. Adam Pfleider of AbsolutePunk described it as a "wild party" that "listeners will want to relive ... over and over again".
Dan Goldin of Decoy Music praised the album for "successfully combining the luster of indie pop music with the technical eccentricities of progressive rock".
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
's Ian Cohen called the music on Fang Island "honest and life-affirming and infectious".
In March, the band performed at the SXSW
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
music festival in Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
,
and were named by social networking analytics site Next Big Sound
Next Big Sound
Next Big Sound is a music analytics website. Its tagline is "actionable intelligence for the music industry," and the site measures the growth and popularity of bands across the major web properties...
as the artists who experienced the fastest growth in online fandom during the festival.
While in Austin, the band also recorded three songs for a Daytrotter
Daytrotter
Daytrotter is a website for the recording studio Horseshack, which hosts recording sessions with many popular and typically upcoming indie music acts, although it works with local bands in the Illinois area as well. The sessions can be compared to that of a radio station's lounge recordings, where...
session.
Fang Island entered the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Heatseekers Albums
Top Heatseekers
Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical...
chart in April. The band opened for The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips are an American alternative rock band, formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1983.Melodically, their sound contains lush, multi-layered, psychedelic rock arrangements, but lyrically their compositions show elements of space rock, including unusual song and album titles—such as "What...
at several shows in July.
Band members
- Jason Bartell - guitaristGuitaristA guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
- Chris Georges - guitaristGuitaristA guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
- Michael Jacober - bassistBassistA bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
- Nicholas Andrew Sadler - guitaristGuitaristA guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
- Marc St. Sauveur - drummerDrummerA drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
Albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart position | |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Heat Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical... |
|||
| 2010 | Fang Island Fang Island (album) Fang Island is the debut self-titled studio album from the American indie rock band Fang Island.- Track listing :# "Dreams of Dreams" - 1:57# "Careful Crossers" - 2:51# "Daisy" - 3:19# "Life Coach" - 2:57# "Sideswiper" - 4:13...
|
27 | |
EPs
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 2007 | Day of the Great Leap
|
| 2008 | Sky Gardens
|
Music videos
| Year | Title | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | "Daisy" | Carlos Charlie Perez |
| 2010 | "Life Coach" | |
| "Careful Crossers" | ZFCL | |
External links
- Fang Island at Sargent HouseSargent HouseSargent House is a Los Angeles based management company and record label. It was founded in June 2006 by Cathy Pellow, who is a music video commissioner for Atlantic Records and who also owns a music video production company called Refused TV. Pellow began managing the rock outfit RX Bandits in 2006...
- The Onion article from which Fang Island took its name