And a Few to Break / News

Sputnik Music review of Procession by And a Few to Break

2007-07-03T12:18:00.000-07:00

http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review_12622

Summary: And a Few to Break has created a masterpiece on their first try with their debut album "Procession".

And a Few to Break-Procession

At the Drive-In was a great band. They wrote unique catchy punk songs that wouldn't have worked if they were done by anyone else. The two singers were tone-deaf, and it sounds like everyone is playing something different. They are one of the most influential bands of the past ten years and have set the standards for a new generation of post-hardcore bands.

And a Few to Break is a band hailing from San Francisco that has shattered those standards with their debut album, "Procession". They manage to mold the epic-ness of post-rock, the thrashing emotion of post-hardcore and punk, the odd time signatures of math-rock and the sincerity of folk into a sound that is all their own. "Procession" is a seamless album, with the last three tracks uniting as a single title track with a single theme: "Death becomes you when it takes your love and makes you its messenger". The songs are able to differ from one another without making the album seem inconsistent. All of this makes for a level of maturity not found on most debut albums.

The standout performance of the album is by the vocalist, who sounds like Cedric Bixler in At the Drive-In after some voice lessons from Aaron Weiss. His heartfelt cries and raw yelling would make Satan cry. In songs such as "My Eyes Are Left Salted", the vocals don't come in until the latter portion of the song, as a climax to a steadily crescendoing instrumental "intro" in a very post-rock-like fashion. This formula works very well for the band, making the listener even more interested in the music. The shout-along gang vocals in certain sections are extremely catchy and convey the song's general mood well. The band is able to establish a groove very well (especially with Paul Slack, the virtuosic bassist also of the Sacramento math rock drum n' bass duo SWIMS) which adds to the catchiness and makes the songs more memorable.

And a Few to Break are a gem hidden in the bushes of the lately stagnant genre that is post-hardcore. They have crafted a unique sound by incorporating a wide variety of influences into their music, a lot like those skinny afro-ed kids from El Paso did ten or so years ago. With a little more popularity, And a Few to Break can and will become the next big thing in experimental punk music.

West Coast Performer Magazine review of Procession by And a Few to Break

2007-07-03T12:11:00.000-07:00

http://www.performermag.com/wcp.recordedreviews.0706.php
And a Few to Break — Procession
Engineered by Aaron Prellwitz
Recorded at Tiny Telephone Studios

Procession is a sincere and spirited debut from San Francisco's And a Few to Break. Clean production, nuanced material and powerful performances are present, portraying a dedicated and passionate group of young musicians. While their talent is undeniable, the album is just as listenable for the handiwork of engineer Aaron Prellwitz, who has previously provided his services for artists like Neil Young and Hella. The sharp and thorough nature of this recording makes Procession a viable entry into the post-indie rock canon that is now forming.

Musically, the influences of AAFTB are not hard to trace. Most apparent is a reverence for the trail blazed by '90s indie-rock phenomenon At The Drive-In circa In Casino Out and Vaya. Brady McCartney's vocals, while emphatically melodic at times, trace the manic primal scream emitted once by a youthful Cedric Bixler. The positive spirit of D.C. hardcore acts is also felt in full on these songs, as the band fixes on the nearly overindulgent motif of introspection.

Although the five-piece, dual-guitar format is used to its fullest dynamic, AAFTB also include a few asides and interludes on the album. "Widowed Sound" features a delightful nylon classical guitar piece, padded with ethereal noise and noodlings that highlight the band's ability to create a textured palate of sound. This gift is also evident in "Those Who Tell the Truth," where lush and dreamy soundscapes are punctuated by neo-hardcore riffing. That track effectively transitions into the quasi-prog "Line of Fire," a frenetically syncopated and chaotic tune that comes across as a shouting match with all five parties involved.

It's clear that And a Few to Break is out to make a name for itself, as well as a statement, in the procession of urgent deluges on this album. (Relatively Conscious Records)

www.chamberpunk.com
-Geoff Shiner

Soundcheck Magazine review of Procession by And a Few to Break

2007-07-03T11:56:00.000-07:00

And a Few to Break
Procession
Relatively Conscious Records

Harold Kushner is cited as having said that "it is not the fear of death, of our lives ending, that haunts our sleep so much as the fear...that as far as the world is concerned, we might as well never have lived." If this is true, then the sometime subject of And a Few to Break's Procession need never have worried. The San Francisco band's lyrics contain clear images of everyday and life-changing events and the people who influence them, as well as more ambiguous plays on words such as "weep on weapons/we pawn weapons", giving us pause as we consider meaning. It's their subversion of a tendency for some music to wallow in our emotions without ever showing that we have learned from the initial drama, however, that makes them so interesting.

Citing so many influences of seemingly divergent natures, including Nina Simone, Converge, Sufjan Stevens and more, it seems difficult to believe that such an eclectic debut album could take you on a journey of such mature nature; but it does. We travel with them, alternately treated one moment to a high-energy post-punk sound, raw vocals that show great potential and stimulating phrases that refuse to give everything away, then suddenly dropped the next moment to a more melodic energy, giving us the chance to absorb the lyrics and take something of the lesson for ourselves.

This challenging road starts personal, recalling past relationships and loss, then moves to a more global position, speaking of rebellion, anger and a severe disappointment in the current political climate. Finally, only getting better with each track, we find ourselves coming back to an inner position of resolve and purpose. Something has been gained from loss, and the teachings were not in vain. The final trilogy, "Procession: Death Becomes You", with the words "death becomes you/when it takes your love/and makes you its messenger", makes the "lesson" all too clear: those who are loved are never forgotten.

- Andromeda Ross

And a Few to Break - Procession - Released December 12, 2006

Tiny Telephone

2007-05-11T18:15:00.000-07:00

We are returning to Tiny Telephone to hopefully record and mix two songs in two days.

Songs:
Gothalo (new version)
and a song tentatively titled War Torn (for Mark)

We will let you know how it goes.

The show we played with From Monument to Masses and Silian at BOTH was awesome. We had three sets of parents in the house and played as well as we have played in front 200 plus people.

Next up: Mission Creek Music Festival at El Rio with We Be the Echo and Bad Dudes.

We headline and play last!

More to come. We are on the radio (KDVS) the week after (May 24th)!

love aaftb!

CHICO! Chico State! KCSC!

2007-04-20T15:40:00.000-07:00

Yo kids. We have a huge show tonight with From Monument to Masses and Silian Rail at Bottom of the Hill, 9:30 PM.

There a couple of tickets still available.

Earlier this week we drove to Chico for a show Tuesday night at Off Limits and Wednesday afternoon at Chico State.

We played very well Tuesday night and with some great people. We've spent a lot of time trying to tighten our set and I think it showed. We should be putting video of it up in the next couple weeks.

Before the show on Tuesday, we guest djed on KCSC, the Chico State Internet Only Radio Station. The dj, Janae, pronounced janay, was awesome and let us talk about whatever we wanted to pick through the thousands of CDs at KCSC to find all the bands who influenced us. Needless to say, our guest stint was the first I have ever heard mewithoutyou, explosions, slint, etc on the radio. Janae was also kind enough to let us sleep on her floor and in her bed since she wasn't staying at home that night.

We hit up an awesome breakfast place in the morning and drove immediately to Chico State to loadin. It was a different show for us for many reasons: we were playing outside, on a college campus, in front of only 18-22 year olds, and in the sun at 12 noon. Prior to our set, the campus observed an extended period of silence to honor the victims of the Virgina Tech shootings. It hadn't occurred to me that we were on a college campus until that point. It was pretty amazing to see a bunch of young people remain quiet for a number of minutes collectively. There always seems to be a phone going off, or people talking, or text being sent.

The show was crazy. No one was closer than 20 feet to us, but a pretty big audience stopped and sat on the grass and watched us from afar. The best moment was an a capella chant along that bounced off all 4 of the buildings in the quad we were playing in to create an huge reverb/echo to it.

We got off stage and met more good people in Chico. Chico is definitely are second home. Thank Sanni for booking us, Janae for having us, Katie from Devil Kat Productions and Sesar from Planchate for setting the Off Limits show up, Cameron for being awesome, Jake from La Dolce Vita for coming to both shows with short hair and for taking pics, Mike from La Fin Du Monde for driving an hour home afterwards, Rob, Dana and the crew for coming out and many of that same crew for coming out both days, and anyone else in Chico we met.

We had a nice time and it def prepared us for tonight!
brady

March 20, 2007: Hotel Utah with You May Die and PA video

2007-04-12T12:33:00.000-07:00

pictures from March shows in SF!

2007-04-09T13:38:00.000-07:00

thank you alex

all photos shot by alexander schoner
5OX Photography

March!

2007-04-02T13:06:00.000-07:00

It's been over a month. A lot has happened. We have reorganized a bit and are trying to push Procession as much as we can. Trying to play outside of SF and better and better shows in SF.

A couple of important things to mention:

We had a wonderful trip to Southern California. Santa Barbara was awesome. OSO, our hosts, were a great band and great people. And we only met two of the four since the other two had another show that night.

We spent the next day in Santa Barbara swimming and playing football on the beach. Best thing said while on the beach, Phil of OSO, I play music and sports because they are the two quickest ways to break the ice and unite people.

LA was LA. A lot of nice people. Crazy long drives from one place to the next. We played well to a room that slowly filled up for the Police cover band that followed.

We played two shows with our good friends You.May.Die.in.the.Desert and met our new favorite band: PANTHER ATTACK! Double drummer instrumental band that did something that most bands and even more instrumental bands never do: they wrote good songs.

We hosted them for two days and had a couple of cancellations. We canceled our trip to SXSW minute because of some personal issues.

We are trying to move forward and build on all the we have created so far. It's difficult, but how many times do you get to play in a band in your life? Lots! But how many times does a band become better than its awesome parts? Rarely!

love, And a Few to Break

Friday, April 20th, And a Few to Break at Bottom of the Hill!

2007-04-02T13:04:00.000-07:00

Kick off FMTM's mini Japanese Tour at their first Bay Area show since Summer 2006! Buy tickets
now to make sure you get in!

From Monument To Masses
with special guests And A Few To Break and Silian Rail.

Friday April 20, 2007
$10 - 18+ - 9:30pm

Poster by CELL68.

March 8th at the Starry Plough in Berkeley!

2007-03-01T23:37:00.000-08:00

And a Few to Break's Best Picture of 2006 goes to...

2007-02-20T23:48:00.000-08:00

The Road to Guantanamo

What is being done in our names?

the Bay Bridged! Episode 51! And a Few to Break

2007-02-16T12:04:00.000-08:00

Christian and Ben from the Bay Bridged decided to focus their 51st Bay Bridged Episode on us. We recorded the interview at the Bay Bridged headquarters. We all had a lot of fun. I think it's pretty evident during the interview!

The Bay Bridged: Episode 51: And a Few to Break: LISTEN HERE!

a valentine sent to And a Few to Break

2007-02-15T10:58:00.000-08:00

favorite albums from last year

2007-02-13T16:39:00.000-08:00

mewithoutyou: brother, sister

liars: drum's not dead

joanna newsom: Ys

tv on the radio: return to cookie mountain

mastodon: blood mountain

favorite albums we were given at shows or on the road from last year

2007-02-13T16:29:00.000-08:00

the donts: inner el camino

sholi: split with the dead science

tartufi: us upon building upon us

secret stolen: absent without leave

SWIMS: SWIMS

Day Six: OLYMPIA (again!) and PORTLAND (again!)

2007-02-13T10:08:00.000-08:00

Well shit. This was a busy day for us, which is why it has taken so long to write this update.

We started our day by waking up and saying peace to our Cardigan Loop Hosts. We took the handmade maps that they gave us and our Google map directions and headed to Evergreen State to do in an in-studio live interview with the legendary KAOS, Olympia Community Radio.

It had been longer than any of us would like to admit since we had been on a college campus. Free New York Times, unlimited buffets, and only 18-24 year olds. Some things you miss. Some things you don't.

After eating a very quick meal in one of the student cafeterias and finding the KAOS studio, our host and his technician setup 5 mics.

Minutes later we were hearing songs from our record on the radio for the first time. It was a pretty satisfying feeling. Jose, the host of Music Department Live, was amazing. He clearly didn't play music like ours on his shows usually, but was enthusiastic. He asked good questions, let us talk, and let the music play unedited, which meant we had some stretchs of 9 minutes to shoot the shit off air.

During one of those stretches I mentioned to Jose that Mark was studying voice acting and by the end of the show Mark had been asked to do the call letters.

"Hi. I'm Mark from And a Few to Break and you're listening K-A-O-S, Olympia Community Radio, 89.3FM"

I broke the FCC rules by saying "shit" or "fuck" on the air at some point.

We laughed a lot.

The interview with Jose turned out to be one of the highlights of this tour. He was an amazing dude and being on a radio station focused on any and every band was an amazing thing.

We parted ways with Jose and KAOS at 230 after being asked to come play there end of the year festival (hopefully it'll HAPPEN!) and made our way to Portland for our second show there in three days.

We were excited to play Portland again after a less than stellar show two nights before. Rotture was an awesome place to play and You May Die was great to play with again, but...

We were playing with one of the first bands we had ever played with, Kieskagato. We met them at the Hotel Utah when they toured through San Francisco. And we were very happy they came out of a semi-hiatus to play with us on a Tuesday night no less at ASH STREET!

Portland was rainy on this fine Tuesday. We ate dinner at one of the Thai food stalls in a parking lot on the West Side of Portland.

We opened the show. Always fun for us. There were about 20 people there when we started. About 60 when we ended. It was nice to see people who had been sitting at the bar come closer and it was nice to see people trickle in through the set.

We got a pretty amazing reaction to our set that night. The sound was awesome thanks to Heather (who also books for Ash Street and is an equally awesome and friendly booker). We sold some CDs and made some friends. I think the next time we go to Portland will be nice. (MAY)

Kieskagato and Kotogoto followed us. We thought Kotogoto might be a side project of Kieskagato, but apparently not. Kieskagato had changed a bit from the last time we saw them. It was a much looser and lighter set than the last time we had played with them. It suited them. Many many smiles in the crowd throughout their set. Very happy we were able to play with them again. Good musicians and good guys.

Kotogoto was a big band. Guitars, drums, steel drums, strings, a couple vocalists. The kind of band that may or may not be a direct-descendant of the Arcade Fire, but it's hard to imagine a big monstrous band with strings and multiple vocalists being imagined by so many people so frequently these days without Arcade Fire and some of the other big (in size) bands. It was one of their first shows and they had a lot of enthusiasm and some good songs.

We had decided that we needed to get on the road that night since our next stop was in Chico, a good 10-12 hours away. So we thanked Kieskagato for their generous offers of places to stay and headed out.

3 hours later we were in the middle of a rain storm and off the road.

Thank you KAOS and Jose! KIESKAGATO! Heather and Ash Street! and Kotogoto! Portland, you know we got to come back.

Synthesis Review: And a Few to Break: Procession

2007-01-25T16:28:00.000-08:00

Synthesis Magazine
And A Few To Break: Procession (Relatively Conscious Records)
By Rob Reeves
Jan 22-28, 2007

I wish I would have had this album a few weeks sooner than I did so I could have submitted it as my album of the year for 2006. This is a masterpiece. I don't even know what category to put it under, and iTunes merely lists it as "unclassifiable." The closest I can come is to say it's prog rock made in the spirit of punk while listening to a huge amount of post-rock. The virtuosity it possesses is evident throughout, and even during the simpler parts of the songs, the composition is impeccable. The album as a whole is very well put together, with songs flowing seamlessly into one another, culminating in a 20-minute epic spread over three movements. Please, I implore you, buy this album.

www.synthesis.net

Mark injured :( Saturday, January 27th cancelled.

2007-01-22T13:02:00.000-08:00

This weekend Mark, our drummer, got in a bike accident. Unfortunately that means we have to cancel a date we were really excited about at El Rio, but you should still go support all the bands this Saturday night: Giraffes? Giraffes!, El Capitan, and Last of the Blacksmiths.

If you want to wish Mark well: andafewtobreak@gmail.com
He's the man and he'll act like he is hurting less than he is, but stitches are stitches.

Tour: Day Five: OLYMPIA

2007-01-21T20:08:00.000-08:00

Cardigan Loop

After an underwhelming, but awesome because we were playing with friends show in Portland, we spent the day in Portland. It rained throughout the morning and into the early afternoon, but we were happy to be on tour and in an awesome (time-killing) city. So, we ate and traipsed around the Hawthorne area of Portland. Paul looked for switch blades (apparently legal in Oregon, but not in California) and we all spent time in one of the coolest cheapest vintage stores in the country. We also spent some time debating whether to see Borat and/or do laundry, but neither ended up happening in Portland. Midway through the afternoon we decided it would be a good idea to drive to Olympia before it got too dark, so we hopped in Sammy Davis, Jr., Jr.

We made good time, found the house we were playing that night, and decided to do laundry before the show. After asking for directions to a laundromat from multiple people and doing our laundry, we drove to the Cardigan Loop, the site of our one and only house party of the tour.

As a band, we never know what we are going to get from a club we have never played, but we REALLY never know what we are going to get from a house party show. Our first trip to Cardigan Loop had confirmed, in our minds, all of our greatest fears--that we had driven all the way to Olympia to play in a very quiet, residential area, at a nice family house, and for 14 year old underage drinking girls and boys who we would be held responsible for when the cops inevitably showed up.

Once we parked we gathered ourselves, stepped out of the van, walked in a downpour, and knocked on the door of Cardigan Loop. We let out a sigh of relief when the door opened and we were greeted by Evergreen State students. From that moment, the night went better than we could have expected. The people hosting the show were welcoming and accommodating. The band that booked us was friendly. And people showed up and continued to show up on a Monday night, a notoriously rough night for shows.

The opening band was a young man named Shelby who sang along to prerecorded tracks on his iPod and performed a cover of the Cardigan's "Lovefool"..."Love me love me oh say that you love me. need me need me oh say that you need me. i don't care bout anything, but you!" He was energetic, confrontational, and at points crowd pleasing. After his set, he proved to be a very nice young man danced throughout our set.

Anticipating the cops visiting the house party and shutting it down, we asked the other band, Horses and Orcas, who had setup the show if we could setup on the right side of Cardigan Loop's living room and they could setup on the left side, so that we could play at the same time (one band play a song and then the other play a song, so both bands got a chance to play before the cops showed up).

After a coin toss in the center of the room, we played first and tore through our shortest song after which Horses and Orcas tore through their awesome mix of My Bloody Valentine and Bay Area favorite A Pack of Wolves.

It was one of those situations that could have been a terrible idea and taken any momentum out of the night, but, in practice, achieved the opposite. We were up in their faces cheering them on through their set and they did the same. Throughout the combined set more and more kids showed up--about 5 times as many as the previous night. By the time we reached the middle of the set and our longer songs, we switched to one of our songs followed by two of Horses and Orcas. Thankfully our fear of the cops breaking the show up never materialized and we ended the set with a huge crowd with smiling faces in a small space.

After we finished we were inundated by the kids who had just watched us play and met a number of amazing kids. With nowhere to go and nothing to do, we decided to stay. Another good decision. We talked about music and tour and the East Coast and ate and drank and eventually slept in the living room we had played in. Four boys on the floor going to bed at 4. We were joined by a random fifth at 430 who had not attended the show and didn't live at Cardigan Loop. You got to be ready for anything at anytime.

We woke up, bullshitted with our hosts, and said goodbye.

Thank you to everyone at Cardigan Loop. We will name no names though so they don't get shutdown. Thank you Horses and Orcas and Shelby. Thank you to everyone who came out. You know who you are. Another stop on our tour that confirmed that this country and its people are good!

Next Stop: Music Department LIVE! on KAOS, Olympia Community Radio before our show in Portland on Tuesday.

one of many intros into Gothalo

2007-01-16T14:33:00.000-08:00

And a Few to Break live at Bottom of the Hill

thank you Mike from WE BE the ECHO!

KIS video from our CD Release at BOTH

2007-01-11T16:14:00.000-08:00

K.I.S. by And a Few to Break (live at Bottom of the Hill)

Tour: Day FOUR: Portland (1st TIME) more pics

2007-01-08T14:43:00.000-08:00

it's morning. we're leaving. we don't know where we're going.

our bedfellow for the night

Sammy Davis, Jr. Jr. in front of our Portland home for a night. Thank you Chris.

Tour: Day FOUR: Portland (1st TIME)

2007-01-08T13:34:00.000-08:00

Two of us drove from Seattle with Brandon from You May Die. The rest drove in the van. Finally, the Pacific Northwest looked like the Pacific Northwest. Rain and cold and greenery and woods mixed with the industry of ports and cities booming from computers and hype.

The drive was pretty quick. Those of us in the car with Brandon shot the shit about being in a band, past bands, records we loved, and Rancid. It seems "...and out came the wolves" was a big record for kids in DC and Seattle.

We arrived in Portland early in the evening and then played the waiting game. Jamie and Sam found a terrible burrito spot. Paul looked for a vintage music instrument warehouse. We all waited in front of our new venue Rotture. The show was supposed to be at an all-ages venue called Food Hole, but a last minute change took us to a new 21 plus venue that looked like DUMBO in NYC. Nothing about the front of the venue looked like a venue. The only signs that confirmed to us we were in the right place was the number on the door and the lonely red bulb above the door.

It was cold and dark and abandoned. After two hours of waiting someone from the venue showed up and let us in. Looks can be deceiving. The venue was probably the nicest space we have played. It looked like an old speak easy. We were pleased.

The night went well overall. We played first. The 10 people there seemed like they were there to eat and smoke and drink, but once we started playing they were an attentive group. We could see the guys in You May Die while we were playing because the place was so empty, which was nice because they were into it and singing along. The first person I have ever looked at while singing and seen singing my lyrics back to me.

You May Die played another nice set. The sound was pretty amazing at Rotture. I sat in the back and ate spaghetti during their set and was pleasantly surprised by how crisp the sound was. They raged as if the place was full, which is always a good sign.

They were followed by Artesia from Portland. They had played a bunch with our friends From Monument to Masses. Nice dudes. Had a sound similar to Explosions in the Sky, but quieter and with vocals at points.

Mark and I met their booked Goldie, who was awesome, enthusiastic, and full of good ideas about how to come back to Portland and where to play.

The night ended later than expected.

Paul had been up to Portland with SWIMS before and his boy Chris, who had hosted the show SWIMS had played, hooked us up with a place to stay in his basement with his big old St. Bernard.

We slept with big plans in our head for the next day. Laundry and Borat.

Tour: Day One Addendum: SUPPORT PLACEBO!

2006-12-30T00:47:00.000-08:00

We weren't joking about the cops coming and trying to shut the show down at Placebo. Thank you for having us Placebo. Jasmine, Julie, Brandon, everyone!

Taken from the December 14th edition of the North Coast Journal:

A rather disconcerting e-mail showed up in my mailbox last week with the subject line: "Fathom Canceled Tonight."

The note from long-time Placebo volunteer Julie Ryan explained the cancellation: "Here is the deal: Last night while [the Bay Area punk band] And a Few to Break was playing their excellent set, the neighbors who live in the tow yard complained about noise at the Placebo and then proceeded to call the cops. The cops issued the Placebo a written warning and said if they get [another] complaint within the next 24 hours, they will fine the Placebo $500. The Placebo cannot afford this, so no Fathom, sorry!

"I explained to the cops what the Placebo is about and that we moved to this area because it is NOT a residential area, it is a business/industrial area. (Hmmm ... Why are there people living in the tow yard?) The cops took my name (yep, it's Julie) and also took Leslie from Synapsis' name."

Julie went on to plead, "If you like the fact that Placebo, Synapsis and Empire Squared put on cool all-ages events, you need to help," suggesting letters to the city council and supplying a link to the city of Eureka website (www.ci.eureka.ca.gov).

Tour! Day Three: Bellevue.Seattle

2006-12-30T00:22:00.000-08:00

Quick trip from Bellingham to Seattle.

No one was at Ground Zero Teen Center when we arrived. Ground Zero looked like someone's home from the outside and was nestled in Bellevue, a major suburb of Seattle. But it turned out to be an amazing live music venue. Great sound, nice space. Fantastic resource for all the kids in the area. All kids running the place.

You.May.Die.in.the.Desert set the show up. We played with them in Berkeley many moons ago. They were very helpful in booking shows in Seattle and Portland. We are grateful to them for all of their help. We didn't talk too much with them the first time we played with them. They were a tired band on tour. We were a shy bunch of kids who had just gotten off of work and loaded-in. Point is: this night marked the start of a beautiful friendship.

We were excited to play in Seattle, excited to play on a Saturday night, excited to play another all-ages show, and excited to play with You.May.Die!

The show went very well. The whole bill worked really well together, which is rare for one of our shows.

The opener, Post Harbor, played a nice set. Post-rock mixed with earnest vocals. Very nice people from the little we talked to them. A great start to the night.

We played next. We were ready to get back on stage after playing for 8 people the night before. We were not disappointed. We tightened our set to keep everything running on time and relearned the golden rule for bands: keep the audience wanting more.

Something about the Seattle area has made it possible for all sorts of strangely awesome bands to grow and flourish around the country. From Nirvana to Blood Brothers. The biggest crowd of the tour was in attendance and they were the most visibly interested crowd we have ever played to (outside of SF and DC). We played. Killed it in my opinion. And were feeling very good about things. I have rarily come off stage to more beaming faces. There was a nice woman who took pictures of the whole show too, so hopefully we will be able to share some of those with you.

The Gingerbread Patriots from Portland played after us. They played well, but had some sound problems. Indiepop with girl and boy vocals. Friends of You.May.Die. We hope to see them again sometime in Portland.

You.May.Die.in.the.Desert closed the night and killed it. The last time we played with them we played in a basement in Berkeley (an awesome basement, but, still, a basement). These guys play intricate post-rock. Pretty guitar and bass with crazy, sometimes mathy sometimes dancey sometimes balls to the wall beats. All sorts of tapping. It was nice to hear such an expansive sound on a soundsystem you could actually hear the nuisances on. They seemed tired from driving the last time we saw them, but they were on this night. The second to last song was a new song and it was the best of the set in my opinion. It's always good to hear a band, tell them that you liked this or that song, and have them reply that it was a new song they have barely practiced. Usually means a band is growing and moving in a good direction.

The night ended and the spirits of all seemed high. We packed up, shot the shit, lavished each other with compliments, and then we all went home with the bass player of You.May.Die, Brandon. We didn't think we could meet anyone as generous, welcoming, nice, and interesting as Amanda and Ryan, but, miraculously, we did, the highest compliment we could pay Brandon. Before going to Brandon's home, he took us to a supermarket to buy the makings of a late night feast. Annie's at 2am never tasted so good.

Our home for the night had enough beds for us all, a view of the Puget Sound, and a tape of Brandon's favorite show that we watched together and became instantly obsessed with Man vs. Wild. After the most recent episode of Man vs. Wild and after meeting Brandon's roommates and girlfriend, we retired for the night.

Sunday morning was a lazy one. The only thing we were trying to accomplish was lunch with a college friend of Jamie's, Sam's, and mine. We wanted to see Seattle, but we were slow moving and still recovering from the trip all the way up to Bellingham. We left Brandon's saying goodbye to our wonderful hosts as we stepped out into the Seattle rain. We drove to the U. of Washington area, ate quasi-all vegan-awesome Indian food, and said goodbye to Seattle.

WE WILL RETURN!

Tour: Day two MORE pictures in Bellingham

2006-12-29T22:48:00.000-08:00

As I said, before we left our man Ryan set up the first display for And a Few to Break:

Sam and sleeping bags in Amanda and Ryan's Apartment:

Jamie, Amanda, and the back of Sam's head at a diner in Bellingham:

Our hosts, so sad saying goodbye:

Our summer tour will undoubtedly feature a date HERE:

Back on the Road (to Bellevue and Seattle):

Tour: December 8th: day TWO

2006-12-28T11:36:00.000-08:00

December 8th could have been one of those days that proved to us that touring wasn't for us or wasn't for all of us.

Our task: to drive from Eureka, CA to Bellingham, WA (northern california to the canadian border). 15 hours if we were lucky.

We left the our first show at the Placebo about 1am and drove to Crescent City, a spot Jamie and I had stayed on a road trip this past summer.

We drove for about two hours slightly past Crescent City to a campground that can only be described as the Ewok Village from Star Wars. Massive redwoods and a canopy you could believe was being used by other creatures. Somehow we all forgot it was December, which meant that most campgrounds were closed including this one.

At 3:30 am, we drove back to Crescent City and booked our first hotel of the tour. We were all gung ho about no hotels, but at 4am with a 13 hour drive ahead of us we thought sleeping in a bed for a couple hours was a better idea than saving some money and not getting any sleep on the side of the road in Sammy Davis, Jr. Jr.

When we arrived at our hotel, chosen because it looked the cheapest, Sam stepped out of the vehicle and rented the room. His task: to convince a woman working the graveyard shift that our van only had two people in it and that we therefore only needed to be charged for two people. Sam was successful.

However, upon reaching our doorstep Sam and I noticed that our new graveyard-shift-working-acquaintance had decided to sweep the front steps inexplicably at 4am and had no intention of taking her eyes off of our van.

So, we did what any band trying to sneak into our own hotel room would have done. Sam and I entered, dropped our bags, and then Sam drove to the front desk to ask our new acquaintance what convenience store might still be open to throw her off our trail.

Pushing back our collective bedtime by a couple more minutes, but saving money by not being charged for 5 people, Sam drove away with Mark, Jamie, and Paul hiding in the back of our van and returned to our front door parking at the best angle to shield Mark and Jamie's entrance. Paul decided to sleep in the van because he would have his own space and in order to guard our equipment. THANK YOU Paul!

We slept for 4 hours in a $60 hotel room. Anyone else think that the roomrates should drop if you book a room that late and then have an 11 o'clock checkout?

We woke up and got in the van by 8am, ate at Safeway and a Christian Cafe/Bookstore ("You're in a band?" "Yes. We play inspirational rock"), and then drove. And then we drove some more. We got on I-5 after Grants Pass and drove staight through Oregon and all of Washington until we got to Bellingham at 8:15pm.

As we stepped out of the van in front of the venue, WhAAM, an all-ages non-profit show space, we were greeted by a bunch of teenagers we thought might stay for the show. Then we talked to the kids running the space and were promptly told as nicely as possible (apparently the show was supposed to start at 7pm, our fault) to setup and play.

We setup. Jamie's tuner went down. We were all sore and tired, but playing in an amazing space with hardwood floors and nice lighting.

As we started playing, we realized that all the kids who had been waiting outside while we loaded-in had left and that we were basically playing to the staff at WhAAM and three random kids. Humbling to say the least. The set was fine. The kids in attendance seemed to like it. We sold CDs and t-shirts to half the crowd and were pleasantly surprised by how nice everyone seemed even though we were late and a little bit crabby.

More importantly, within minutes of ending our set, we found a place to stay. Initially with Mark, one of the WhAAM founders, and then with two other WhAAM founders, Ryan and Amanda, who had more space.

The second ska band we played with on this tour followed us. A lot of energy, but we realized they had all (8 or 9 of them) been sitting in the back (the green room if you will) during our set and that did not leave the best taste in our mouth.

The closer was a band called the All Nighters. They looked like a rockabilly band, but ended up being a surf/spaghetti western soundtrack/post-rock band. A nice surprise and their lead guitar player was very friendly and was the first person we sold a t-shirt to (who put it on and then played with it on).

At the end of the night we headed back to Ryan and Amanda's. They had an amazing apartment in downtown Bellingham. Amanda put the whole thing together and it felt like home from the moment we walked through their front door. After we got situated, Ryan played heavy and math rock records for us and then we all sat in front of the TV and watched Eugene Mirman sketches. We ended the night on the floor, couch, and pullout bed.

As we were thanking her for the millionth time, Amanda said to us, "Something would be wrong if we didn't have a band sleeping on our floor at least once a month."

We slept well, some better than others. Paul slept in the van again.

Since our drive to Seattle was only about 2 hours and we had hit it off with Amanda and Ryan, we decided to stay in Bellingham and see it during the day. So, Amanda took us to her two favorite breakfast places. The first was packed. The second was less packed, but still pretty busy. It hit the spot. We had been through a lot in the past two days and were very happy to have some comfort food.

After breakfast, we walked around a bit and met up with Ryan at his day job at Everyday Music (he runs WhAAM with Amanda and 6 or so others and works another job). While we were looking around at Everyday, Ryan took 5 copies of Procession off our hands and made an And a Few to Break section at Everyday. The first time we have had our own section. We are in the "A's" at Amoeba.

Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to Ryan at Everyday and then Amanda at their house (after listening to a copy of Ryan's band's CD, AWESOME).

If we weren't meeting up with You.May.Die.in.the.Desert that night we could have been convinced to move up to Bellingham.

But, we had to drive to Seattle and play another all-ages shows. This time with friends of ours from a Berkeley show last June.

THANK YOU to AMANDA, RYAN, MARK, WhAAM and everyone else we met in Bellingham. Even though we now truly know how far Bellingham is away from San Francisco, we WILL be back.

DAY THREE: Bellevue/Seattle. Oh shit, we didn't think it could get any better, but it did!

--
websites:
www.myspace.com/andafewtobreak
(myspace)
http://attnspan.com/audio/Procession
(procession)

And a Few to Break: Bottom of the Hill: CD Release VIDEO

2006-12-19T11:22:00.000-08:00

thank you ben MIROV
thank you to everyone who came out
it was an amazing night
huge crowd of friends and other smiling faces

thank you to APOW, We Be the Echo, and SHOLI!

December 7th: Day One: Pacific Northwest TOUR!

2006-12-17T20:26:00.000-08:00

TRIP
Finally. All the planning, booking, van buying, practicing, pressing, promoting, and packing were done.

We, And a Few to Break, piled into our van, Sammy Davis Jr. Jr. Everything was clean and organized in the van. The engine and breaks were in tiptop shape and we were ready. We set out about 2pm for the Placebo in Eureka, California. http://www.theplacebo.net/

Taking 101 North up the coast was the quickest, most beautiful way to Eureka, but it was also the most dangerous because of its proximity to the windy, weather always changing coast. We had been warned of an incoming blizzard, so we busted our behinds to Eureka in order to arrive before the snowstorm and start the tour off with a show instead of a whiteout.

Luckily, the darkness and winding roads were the only things we had to deal with. We made it to a pizzeria about 15 minutes outside of Eureka/Arcata in about 5 hours and ordered a large pizza. While waiting, playing pinball, watching the NBA on a huge TV, and using the bathroom, we cracked open the local papers and saw that we and the show were mentioned in the Arts/Music sections of two papers. We felt good about this advanced press. At this point, we were more than ready to play after months of anticipation and a 5 hour drive.

The curious thing about a band touring is that they spend the majority of their time in a van/car/bus or in various timekilling spaces just to play 30-40 minutes of music and, at this point in our exisitence, to a crowd that could be huge or just the people who booked the show.

SPACE
Anyway, we left the pizzeria and found the Placebo pretty easily. When we arrived we found Eureka to be pretty dead and cold. Much of this had to do with the fact that we were playing a space in the warehouse district of Eureka.

As we walked up to the entrance we noticed a TV interview going on with one of the organizers of the show, Jasmine. Needless to say, we felt pretty good about the space and the show after reading about the show in two papers and witnessing an interview aking place about the Placebo.

The space itself was pretty similar to the all-ages spaces we have played. A warehouse with christmas lights, local artists showing their work on the walls, and a surprisingly nice PA.

When we walked in the staff welcomed us and showed us to load-in dock. We loaded-in, met the other bands, and waited for the show to started while trying to stay warm in the Placebo and Sammy Davis, Jr. Jr.

BANDS
We played with three local bands. The first was a local ska band, Two Time Good Fighter. They were nice young men and women who reminded me of my bandmates in high school. Enthusiastic, but nervous. Sam, Mark, and I started in ska/punk bands, but hadn't thought much about ska since those bands ended. Thank goodness for ska and its gateway drug tendencies. Its the music that gets all those band kids who play horns to think about playing music other than classical and traditional jazz.

The second band, Mega Total Violence, was a four piece (three piece on December 7) made up of one of the fellows who ran the Placebo, Brandon. They played a short set of instrumentals and screaming intense groove based rock. Their lead singer had the most amazing scream I have heard live in a long time. She began the set by playing keyboards, so when she stepped to the front of the stage to sing, none of us expected a velociraptor scream to come out of her mouth, but it did and it was amazing. We look forward to hearing MTV when they have their fourth member the next time we come through Eureka.

We played third. It was cold as hell, but we got warm pretty quickly. We had a nice crowd of people in the bands and people who came to see the second band and closer. It took us a couple of songs to get truly warm, but when you start a set balls to the wall, you tend to warm up quickly. We weren't sure if we would ever have a good enough PA to have all four of us sing, but from day one we did. Other than the PA cutting out during one of our favorite parts of "the Middle Passage", we were happy with the set and met a lot of nice enthusiastic people after the set.

Eureka proved itself to be a welcoming place. We met great people who were very appreciative of the fact that we drove all the way from San Francisco.

The final band, Laden Swallow, played a great set of straight ahead rock with amazing backing vocals. We were very appreciative of their willingness to let a touring band play in the middle of the bill. We never know who we are going to meet, but the guys in Laden Swallow were exceptionally nice.

Unfortunately, the Placebo's neighbors called the police who nicely asked that the show end abruptly. The area the Placebo is located in isn't zoned for live music, curiously though, it isn't zoned for apartment renters either.

The showed ended early, but everyone seemed happy with the night. We sold a bit of merchandise--our first t-shirts--and received an unexpected guarantee from the Placebo.

The number one reason to book all-ages community spaces: the people, the atmosphere, and the generosity.

Had we not had to drive to Bellingham for a show the next night, we would have staid in Eureka and undoubtedly had a wonderful night with the people we had met in Eureka, but, alas, we had to get on the road.

Thank you to the Placebo, Jasmine, Brandon, Jennifer (i think it was Jennifer from the Bay Area), MTV, Laden Swallow, Two Time Good Fighter, and Troy!

NEXT: Bellingham and the greatest people you will ever meet in life: Amanda and Ryan!

Procession reviewed in the SF Weekly

2006-12-16T10:59:00.000-08:00

Like most records from post-punk and hardcore innovators, the debut LP from And A Few To Break feels like an urgent and necessary invention, and Procession collects messages of political, emotional, and musical revolution.

This might be expected from a band that takes its name from politico-hardcore act Refused's lyrics ("I've got a bone to pick with capitalism, and a few to break"), but the San Francisco group's strengths, ably demonstrated in tunes like "KIS" and "Line of Fire," lies in its assured balance of influences.

Whether it's the cowbell-hammering, gang-sing that evokes The Ex, or a guitar-backed howl that brings to mind '90s post-alls like At The-Drive In, Cave In, and the preceding batch of D.C. innovators, And a Few's passionate playing demonstrates that its members are just as skilled at listening as they are at performing.

Despite moments of individual virtuosity, the most exciting moments on Procession come with the emotionally gnarled wreck of a final three songs, a sprawling trilogy of "Procession: Death Becomes You," "Procession: When It Takes Your Love," and "Procession: And Makes You Its Messenger" — the last of which begins with an insistent round about how death "makes you its messenger." But by the end of Procession's wild ride — from apocalyptic guitar terror to bucolic nylon string serenity — the intertwining themes of love, death, loss, and redemption combine into a stunning message. — Nate Cavalieri

http://music.sfweekly.com/Issues/2006-12-13/music/reviewed2.html

Tour: Lonesome Crowded West!

2006-12-07T12:45:00.000-08:00

Goodbye San Francisco. Hello Lonesome Crowded West!

Please your friends in Northern California, Oregon, and Washington know that we are visiting and we need some friends!

love,
And a Few to Break

And a Few to Break Camping in the Snow 2006 West Coast Tour!

every venue has a website

Week ONE
Arcata/Eureka, California,
Thursday, December 7th at Placebo

Bellingham, Washington,
Friday, December 8th at WhAAM

Bellevue/Seattle, WA.
Saturday, December 9th at Groundzero Teen Center

Portland, Oregon,
Sunday, December 10th at FOOD HOLE

WEEK TWO
Olympia, WA.
Monday, December 11th at a Secret Show

Olympia, WA
Tuesday, December 12th on KAOS 89.3 Evergreen State University at 1PM STREAM the Broadcast

Portland, OR.
Tuesday, December 12th at Ash Street Saloon FREE

Chico, CA.
Wednesday, December 13th at Off Limits

San Francisco, CA.
Thursday, DECEMBER 14th at Bottom of the Hill CD RELEASE!

Reno, Nevada,
Friday, December 15th at Record Street Cafe

--
websites:
www.myspace.com/andafewtobreak
(myspace)
http://attnspan.com/audio/Procession
(procession)

BOTTOM OF THE HILL CD RELEASE!

2006-12-01T15:32:00.000-08:00

In a little under two weeks, on Thursday December 14th, we will be playing our CD release show at Bottom of the Hill. We will be joined by three very awesome bands: Sholi, We Be The Echo, and A Pack Of Wolves. See the flyer above for details and tell everyone you know.

The aaftb crew

amoeba records in san francisco now carries Procession

2006-11-30T16:25:00.001-08:00

you can finally go to a store living and breathing and buy our first record

we are in the "A" section

YEAH!!!!!

brady

amoeba records in san francisco now carries Procession

2006-11-30T16:25:00.000-08:00

you can finally go to a store living and breathing and buy our first record

we are in the "A" section

YEAH!!!!!

brady

November 18th: the Middle Passage and A Pack of Wolves

2006-11-20T13:28:00.000-08:00

well
we had another wonderful night at edinburgh castle
it may have been our last
if edinburgh shutdown rumors are to be believed
but we received mix signals: new stage, no soundman
who knows

either way
it was a great show for us
we met a lot of new people
and we unveiled our retooling of the Middle Passage
we have had the Middle Passage since one of our first shows in DC at the late Metro Cafe
it's been on two of our three releases and was supposed to be on the third

but it is the song that we can never finish
because it means so much to us

we have spent a lot of time in recent weeks fine tuning, rewriting, splicing, etc.
and it paid off in our eyes
we can't wait to hear what it sounds like after two weeks of touring with it

following our set, A Pack of Wolves played
there isn't much one can say about APOW
except go see them

they are one of the only bands that utilizes a lap top well
pounding disco beats mixed with early Modest Mouse guitar sounds
and a sense of melodramaticism/sillyness/abandonment

saturday was certainly not the last AAFTB/APOW show

brady/aaftb

CD RELEASE at Bottom of the Hill on Thursday, December 14th

2006-11-13T15:49:00.000-08:00

we are having our CD Release at Bottom of the Hill on December 14th

PROCESSION out on Relatively Conscious Records

COME!
PROMOTE IT!
COME!

with We Be the ECHO
and TBA

KALX, 90.7 is co-announcing the show
and the SF Weekly will be reviewing our album December 13th and promoting the show
(thank you NATE!)

brady/aaftb

Ys and Dat Rosa Mel Apibus out on Drag City TOMORROW!

2006-11-13T14:17:00.000-08:00

hello everyone

one big album comes out tomorrow

Joanna Newsom's Ys

and an album I hope is big

White Magic's Dat Rosa Mel Apibus

Joanna Newsom is coming to San Francisco at the end of her Nov/Dec tour
she no longer lives here
so you better buy a ticket

Great American Music Hall: JOanna Newsom

no more walking through the mission and seeing her
or her playing every month in SF

exciting
brady

two soldout shows worth standing outside of this weekend in hopes of buying a ticket from someone who bought too many or had a last minutecancellation

2006-11-02T14:33:00.000-08:00

mewithoutYou at Slim's, November 4th, San Francisco

the Knife at the Mezzanine, November 3rd, San Francisco

halloween at davis

2006-10-30T14:47:00.000-08:00

we had a wonderful show this weekend at Cafe Roma in Davis, CA
we played with two good young bands

unalaska and deluxe

we sold CDs to half the audience
read the other two bands and their girlfriends and/or mothers
and had a nice time

the venue had windows for walls
so we saw some amazing halloween costumes walking past us
while completely throwing ourselves into our set

paul screamed as he never has

more tour updates soon

brady

ps only music comment
ANNUALS=overrated
but the first song on their record is amazing

thank you nick and emily for coming out and to the other bands (all wonderful people)

a present from Think in French to AAFTB

2006-10-24T10:50:00.000-07:00

our favorite album this year by a band that no one we know likes besides us

2006-10-24T10:41:00.000-07:00

Brother, Sister
by mewithoutYOU

not sure why we like this album so much
there is silly singing
but i am convinced that if mewithoutYOU's singer didn't speak prophetically (scream, whatever)
this band would get many more U2 comparisons
their rhythm section is increasingly becoming a finally tuned mid-80's driving post-punk/new wave section

listen to this and then listen to their first two albums

it's been awhile, but a lot has been happening

2006-10-24T10:24:00.000-07:00

we are back on the blog

in the time that has passed we have accomplished quite a bit...

first, WE BOOKED A TOUR!?!?!!?!!! through Northern CA, Oregon, Washington, and Nevada.
We are very excited.

We will be playing with friends of ours most of the days including THINK IN FRENCH, We May Die in the Desert, Kieskagato, Secret Stolen, and Idle Discourse.

December 8, Salem, Oregon at the IKE Box
December 9, Seattle/Bellevue, Washignton at Ground Zero Teen Center with WMDintheD
December 10, Olympia, Washington at Le Voyeur with Black Lake FREE
December 11, STILL WORKING ON IT
December 12, Portland, Oregon at Ash Street Saloon with Kieskagato FREE
December 13, Chico, CA at Off Limits with Secret Stolen, Idle Discourse, and TIF!?!
December 14, STILL WORKING ON IT
December 15, Reno or Carson City with Think in French more details coming

anti-anti

2006-09-28T17:36:00.000-07:00

jamie has never posted on our blog
but if he had yesterday
he would have written what he told me last night

anti-anti by snowden is one of those songs that his life
from what? you will have to ask him
but jamie smiling and excited is one of those moods we should all experience

download

anti-anti for free

i really like the song too
neither of us are so sure about the rest of the album

brady

i tried to deny it or act like i didn't need to own it, but...

2006-09-28T16:13:00.000-07:00

the new pornographer's twin cinema
a record i sold within a week of getting it
is pretty fuckin awesome

the songs are tight, catchy
lots of vocals and vocalists
and they have funny lines like "sing me spanish techco"
my favorite music neko case has helped write

thank god i stuck the album on jamie's iPOD before i sold it

brady

ps we are playing tonight EDINBURGH CASTLE (polk and geary) at 11PM. donts at 9PM.

to listen to the new pornographers: audio section HERE

MEWITHOUTYOU's Brother Sister OUT 9/26

2006-09-26T11:30:00.000-07:00

i have never read aboout this band in a blog. no one likes them because they are on a christian label and are supposedly a christian band (i now have the new album, which is decidely god oriented, but they are amazing and this is the first album i have double taked). the only people i know who like them have seen them open up for another band or people who have a friend who has been obsessed with them since they first heard the song bullet to binary. i have no idea if this album is going to be as amazing as i think it's going to be (lord knows akron/family disappointed me), but sam swears the song C Minor is going to make And a Few to Break focus on getting big enough to play with MEWITHOUTYOU this year.

brady

www.mewithoutyou.com

raccoo-oo-oon

2006-09-23T20:13:00.000-07:00

lord
splice black eyes and animal collective
and you might have something that comes close to racc-oo-oon

i bought the cave of spirits yesterday and have already researched the little that is known about this band
read the few reviews, interviews
searched their homepage and record label
these young men from iowa city make music i wish everyone would love
but probably won't because they will be labeled "inaccessible" "challenging" "experimental"

however, if everyone would simply listen to them
they would undoubtedly find something awesome, expansive, free, and silly to describe using words
they pound, scream, play distorted sax solos, chant, loop everything
and they even have a sense of melody
missing in some of their contemporaries

after i finish writing this, what am i going to do next?
figure out how to get a hold of "Is Night People" the other album of theirs i might be able to track down

brady/aaftb

http://www.raccoo-oo-oon.org/
to hear them yourselves: http://www.raccoo-oo-oon.org/music2.html

converge MONDAY and TUESDAY in San Francisco

2006-09-23T20:09:00.000-07:00

you might not listen to hardcore, thrash, metal, whatever
but you be at this show
to see CONVERGE
and Mastodon

most of us will be there
not sure if there are still tickets
but...
these are the best two heavy bands playing music at this point
there might be bands that surpass them
but i haven't heard them yet

brady/andafewtobreak

fog city and new releases

2006-09-22T09:11:00.000-07:00

hello everyone
relatively conscious records has finally been a handed the first demo from fog city.
if you are unfamiliar with fog city, here is the back story.

one man moves to san francisco. searches for band. finds one. ends band. man gets lost in the fog of san francisco. ends up in japan. returns on the wings of the spirits of the the victims of hiroshima.

man halls an upright piano three flights, buys a nice room mic, and invites his friends to play guitar, percussion, sing, etc. over the most beautiful solo piano this side of max reichter, arvo part, radiohead, etc. completely inprovised, cut up, and sampled.

awesome.

new releases this coming tuesday

MEWITHOUTYOU

AKRON/FAMILY

two of our biggest influences

both should be amazing.

brady

And a Few to Break presents PROCESSION

2006-09-15T23:29:00.000-07:00

the donts

2006-09-15T00:06:00.000-07:00

we are playing with these guys in two weeks time
saw them tonight at hotel utah
they are a nice mix of garage rock and dance music
i couldn't wipe the smile off my face for most of their set
they also have quite a following
mostly women (who like to dance) and clap

ralph carney who has played on a number of tom waits recordings
played with them tonight and on their album
fantastic

the new rapture album
not what i wanted
definitely, objectively, not as good as echoes
but the good songs are so stupidly simple and danceable
and don't leave your mind for days

listening to the newly grizzly bear
certainly pleasant and pretty
the folk movement continues
on an english electronic label

brady

tied for best album of the year

2006-09-12T12:52:00.000-07:00

today

Return to Cookie Mountain is released.

tied with

Procession

and drum's not dead

edinburgh castle

2006-09-11T13:50:00.000-07:00

thank you to everyone who came out on saturday night
for those of you who weren't there
we played one old song with lyrics (used to be a transition)
and we played one new transition (which will soon be a song)
the crowd was awesome
showed up early stayed late
and people were very appreciative

i wanted to have the picture above be of my handkerchief
which i used to wipe up sam's blood after he hit himself with his guitar on saturday night, but i do not have a digital camera
so it will have to wait

other than saturday
we are booking shows for the fall
setting up a joint CD release with our friends the don'ts and we be the echo hopefully

and gettin ready for all the new albums that come out on the next 2 months

tomorrow, september 12th
tv on the radio
mastodon
the rapture
j. timberlake
mars volta

september 26th
mewithoutyou
akron/family

october
converge

november
joanna newsom

THANK YOU THANK YOU

brady

the narrator and mountain goats

2006-08-24T16:50:00.000-07:00

i buy a lot of cds in clearance these days
thirteen dollar chances i wasn't ready to take
i also rummage through my bandmates and friends music collections
these are two cds i wish someone had told me about sooner

(1) the narrator-such triumph
there's nothing new on this album, but does it matter when a band is doing what they want to do and doing well?
the narrator gets all sorts of comparisons (q and not u, sonic youth, etc.), but by the end of the third song "ergot blues"
these comparisons are distant memories

listen to the narrator HEAR

(2) the mountain goats-sunset tree
this is an album i almost bought last january, but something kept me from spending the money. so, when jamie came home with it, i was pretty excited. i had no idea what john darnielle sounded like when he sang. i found it off-putting because it was so nasal, but after i heard the song "this year", even if he wasn't ever going to be my favorite vocalist, mr darnielle immediately became a distant musical personality i couldn't help but root for.

he has a new record out (yesterday) and he is a fine fellow who brought our engineer Aaron Prellwitz on to assist in the recording of the last and new record, Get Lonely, so, i continue to root for him and listen.

listen to mountain goats HEAR

brady/And a Few to Break

Akron/Family and Hamid Drake

2006-08-23T16:16:00.000-07:00

Akron/Family is releasing a new album called "Meek Warrior" on Young God Records in September. Hamid Drake, Brooklyn bassist and composer William Parker's long time drummer, is on the record. The only way for us to top this shit would be to get William Parker on our next record. Jonny cross your fingers.

It's almost impossible to believe that musicans like Hamid Drake would fuck with a band in the indie rock world (on the fringes no doubt).

Nothing is unbelievable in this world. good or bad or both.

by the way
akron/family's "Raise the Sparks" was my favorite song of last year.

brady/And a Few to Break

instrumental music to wake up to/go to sleep to/read to/immerse yourself in

2006-08-23T15:51:00.000-07:00

we spend a lot of time listening to music
for all sorts of reasons

one reason we listen to instrumental music is
because it is amazing to wake up to and or go to bed to
i find that i write lyrics better when i have something driving my thoughts

here is what i/we have been listening to a lot recently

one. tim hecker. haunt me haunt me do it again. (alien 8 recordings)

there is warmth within the hazy darkness. i love putting this record on and writing with just enough light to see, but just little enough that if i want to go to sleep i will slip into my sleep very comfortably.

two. stars of the lid. the tired sounds of... (kranky)

warm drones. all of this is hypnotic. they were/maybe still are on godspeed's old label.

three. talkdemonic. beat romantic. (arena rock records)

much brighter than the records above. more instrumentation. short songs. nothing even approaching a drone, but immensely likable. i got this when i was in portland for the first time and wanted to buy something from portland in portland. right choice. after initially setting it aside, it has made its way into my cd player a couple of times for the past month.

brady/And a Few to Break

www.myspace.com/andafewtobreak

silver mount zion

2006-08-23T15:22:00.000-07:00

three of us went to see one of our idols on monday night
efrim from godspeed you black emperor!

he was playing with his new band, Silver Mount Zion
referring to them as his new band seems sort of silly though
since they are on their 6th or 7th album
(they put out at least two of them during godspeed's reign)

they rarily tour, so we very excited to see them
we'd held off buying tickets, but after an extended drive through the mountains in oregon listening to "this is our punk rock"
we knew we had to go.

we got to the Great American in time to see the opening band
no comment.

review:
Silver Mount Zion were amazing at points. somewhat repetitive. but enjoyable throughout. they are one of those bands i understand if others do not like, but when they're all building and furiously releasing it's amazing.
and the points when all 6 members sang and sang three different parts were chilling.

there is a lot them in what we do. (the same could be said for most of our primary influences) it certainly does make me want to perfect our group vocals, so watchout. disclaimer: we might be singing a capella, but we are not a capella group.

wolf like me by tv on the radio

2006-08-18T12:06:00.000-07:00

probably my favorite song of the year
(other than every song on PROCESSION)
this is what they meant
when whoever in this world came up with the phrase
BANGER

TV on the Radio
Wolf Like Me
off of Return to Cookie Mountain
SEPTEMBER 12th, 2006

streamed audio

edinburgh castle

2006-08-17T10:44:00.000-07:00

hell yeah.

wednesday night in the tenderloin with our friends THINK IN FRENCH and mister vague.

always an experience playing at edinburgh. all your dearest friends show up to help you load-in. you respectfully decline because the first time they bend to pick up an amp a crack pipe falls out of their pocket.

anyway, think in french killed it. tighter than pretty much any band we have played with. great builds. pretty melodies. intensity throughout the set and everyone in the band playing as hard and fast as they could. they are on tour right now. SACRAMENTO tonight. they are playing with our brother band, SWIMS, at Old Ironsides.

we played an awesome set.

intro
gothalo
procession part II
indigo (by request)
if given the option
widowed sound
line of fire
KIS

it felt great. we have hit a new point as a band. we are still a little bit sloppy, but the energy, intensity, and fun is there pretty much everytime we play now. it certainly helped that last night was our third show in six days.

we are working on some dates down south in september and we have a date in san francisco (SEPTEMBER 9th) in SF.

brady/aaftb

www.myspace.com/andafewtobreak (to buy procession/listen to us)
www.andafewtobreak.com

http://www.thinkinfrench.net/
http://www.swimsband.com/

how to travel to an AAFTB show outside of the City

2006-08-15T17:22:00.000-07:00

In case anyone ever accuses us of selling out, how many bands do you know who have taken a tandem bike to the ferry building, a ferry to vallejo, and then packed into a ford taurus to go to a show 45 minutes away? one.

that's how aaftb travels these days. so, if you are considering buying PROCESSION, please do it sooner than later, so we can buy our biodiesel van ASAP.

anyway, we played a salon in NAPA that doubles as an art gallery and show space in NAPA this weekend, it was awesome. the other bands were nice. the crowd came very early and stayed very late. mark rode another tandem bike after the show with an old aaftb fan/friend. lani, our bass player's wife, gave haircuts to the touring band from Texas at 1am. and we got to bed by two thirty or so.

we woke up on saturday. picked up our rental van. received a copmplimentary meal at a 5 star restaurant in napa, THANK YOU TONY!??! and then got on the road to Reno.

this was our second trip to Reno. our man Ryan from Real Eyes hooked us up. Thank you RYAN. He saw us the first time we were in Reno and made everything happen the second time. When we got to Reno, we remembered why it is such a unique and strange place: because you can't play without being in the shadow of a casino or a strip club.

the show went well. small stage meant that we were closer to maiming each other than usual. real eyes played a nice set and then Reno became Reno again. crazy on the inside. breaktaking on the outside (the drive up and out is ridiculously beautiful.)

we got back into SF at 445 am sunday morning. listened to the rapture, mewithoutyou, and neutral milk hotel to stay awake. another memorable and awesome trip.

thank you BLOOM Salon, Ryan from Real Eyes, TONY and Brix, and Jess from the Make Self Machine among others for making the weekend smooth and fun. and thank you to EVERYONE who came out to see us and the other bands we played with.

look for more dates outside of SF soon.
thank you.
aaftb

REVIVAL

2006-08-15T17:15:00.000-07:00

we are going to revive this and make our shit more interactive
so here we go

an update for the first time in over a year

new tracks on
www.myspace.com/andafewtobreak
and
if you want to stream half of our album PROCESSION
www.attnspan.com/andafewtobreak

we are very excited
we have been playing shows inside and outside of san francisco
oh things are starting to happen

the constantines at cafe du nord

2006-06-15T17:12:00.000-07:00

hello. we are trying to make posting a regular thing.
we don't always have news about us, but we do have news about music
and hopefully if you care about us or have taken the time to read this
you care about music.

so, two of our members attended the constantines show in san
francisco. the constantines are from ontario and on subpop (nirvana's
old label and current home to iron and wine, the shins, wolf parade,
etc.). they are known as a post-punk band fronted by bruce
springsteen.

we're not sure how true this is. from what we saw live, they are a
good rock n' roll band that writes amazing guitar parts depending on
what song and has tight stage presence--nothing showy, but they
certainly do not stand there. they have an incredibly tight drummer
who in another life was probably a goaltender for the edmonton oilers.
a keyboard player who plays the keys with all sorts of effects pedals
and with his ass much of the time.

at the end of the night, the thing that impressed me most was the lead
vocalist/guitar player. i could have watched him sing and play by
himself all night. he has one of those voices you don't expect to be
as good live, but is. there was nothing about it that seemed affected,
he never seemed like he was straining.

track recommendations:
shine a light. night time, anytime. on to you

brady and jamie/andafewtobreak

LIARS at BOTH june 5th

2006-06-06T17:01:00.000-07:00

three of us attended
two of us were about as close as we could get to them
it was incredible
the sound was so crisp
the drumming was lock step, pounding, driving, and simply inventive
the chanting and the group singing/shrieking was sublime
i can't figure out if it is the australian twang in their lead vocalist's voice or what, but he can make anything sound twisted, dark, distant, demonic yet playful and fun to chant

if you live in oregon and washington state (or utah, colorado)
www.liarliarsliars.com/livedates.html

our blog is active!
see you at the constantines (cafe du nord, june 9)
brady/aaftb

End of February wrap up

2005-03-01T09:33:00.000-08:00

okay
it has been a while. first of all, the cd is finished and beautiful. if you would like a copy, email us at andafewtobreak@gmail.com for a copy. thanks to seeded skies and the always amazing tera melos for an awesome show on saturday. and thanks to sergio and francis from From Monuments To Masses for showing up and buying a CD. we had a great february and march will be even better. thanks for reading. peace
sam/andafewtobreak

oh shit, that motherfucker is 24...

2005-02-16T11:49:00.000-08:00

That's right. Today, guitar virtuoso Sam turns 24.

To Our Dedicated Fans

2005-02-10T13:31:00.000-08:00

I would first like to thank all of you who visit this site and read these posts. We truly appreciate your interest in our lives. I have so much good news to spread today...where should I begin? The EP is almost finished, for starters. We have to put some finishing touches on the mix and then coordinate the packaging and art. Our wonderful friend Joshua has produced a fucking kick-ass drawing of the five of us, adapted from live photos and assembled into a beautiful collage of captured (e)motion. The first song, INDIGO, is up on our myspace page. Listen to it at www.myspace.com/andafewtobreak. As always, we are working on new material, which I am inevitably more excited about than the song we wrote last week...this new one is a fucking killer. We will hopefully get it ready for the Hotel Utah show on FEB 26th. It will be the one with extended hand-claps towards the end. You will know it by the way your hands are compelled to rhythm.
In our most exciting new news, we are currently planning a trip to the east coast for some shows. We are going to try and hit up DC, Philly, NYC, maybe Baltimore, Vassar College, Haverford College, maybe Boston, Woucester, and Portland. If you have any hook ups, let me know immediately at andafewtobreak@gmail.com. We will hopefully be playing at least one show with our friends The Failed Alliance, fronted by the ever elusive Jeremiah Tattlebaum. You can and should check them out at www.thefailedalliance.com. If you live on the east coast like we used to, get in touch for show info. peace for now. Don't forget to read books...lots of them. sam/andafewtobreak

"...And I rant, and I rave..."

2005-02-04T13:09:00.000-08:00

Brady, with the help of count D-RACula, started work on the vocals for our upcoming EP, provisionally titled "Fear of Freedom". The unofficial track list/order is now less unofficial than it was two days ago, but still too unofficial to call it official:

1. Indigo
2. My Eyes Are Left Salted
3. The Middle Passage
4. I Couldn't Touch Unless I pUNCHED
5. Half-Mast

It was a trip hearing Brady scream a capella in our stairwell while cooking dinner last night. I imagine the neighbors worried themselves sick about domestic dispute. Tomorrow, also known as Saturday (thank fucking God), Brady and count D-RACula will hopefully finish the vocals and then we will collectively do some mixing. For those of you on the edge of your seat, the EP will be available, at the latest, on February 26th. We have not yet determined a price, but it will be cheap, oh so cheap. Very worth the money. I will say there is a suggested donation of $2-$5 depending on how generous you feel and/or how much money you have in your pocket. peace/andafewtofuckingbreak

EP Progress

2005-01-31T11:59:00.000-08:00

I think we all surprised ourselves yesterday. We ended up recording 5 songs at Slack Studios in around 5 hours, which, for those who find math difficult, averages to about a song per hour. We expected 2-3, as I last posted. So, the instruments are all down (they were recorded live, mind you). The remaining steps are to record the vocals, which Brady and Danny will get to mid-week and then mix and master everything. We should have a finished audio product by late this weekend. The set-up Danny used was fucking awesome, and even the raw tracks show a hint of audio brilliance for such a DIY project. I expect really good things.

The songs we recorded are:
1. The Ballad of Jonny Knapp
2. Indigo
3. My Eyes Are Left Salted
4. Half-Mast
5. The Middle Passage

The track order is not determined yet, but that doesn't really matter since none of you fictitious readers even know what these songs sound like, let alone who we are, why we matter or do not matter, or when we are playing next...actually, now you will.

February 26th
The Hotel Utah Saloon
w. Tera Melos and Seeded Skies
$6 9 PM

We will have copies of this as yet unnamed EP available at the show. It rocks hard. Peace for now/andafewtobreak

And A Few To Break EP

2005-01-27T11:22:00.000-08:00

We are headed up to Napa to record a 2-3 song demo this weekend at Slack Studios. Given past studio experiences, we will probably accomplish less than half of what we intend to, so lets just say we are going to record a 7 song 55 minute album and we should come out OK. We will get vocals done soon and will hopefully have stuff online for free in the next two weeks. For the time being, we still have a live version of "My eyes are left Salted" at www.myspace.com/andafewtobreak. Keep listening and writing to us. For you Bay Area folks, take the time to come out on the 26th and hear us play at the Hotel Utah Saloon. Peace, andafewtobreak

Edinburgh Castle

2005-01-21T14:59:00.000-08:00

We would, first of all, like to thank everyone who came out to the show last night. Your support was wonderful. Thank you to Chinese Radio, Plot Against Rachel, and Parker Street Cinema as well. We had a fucking blast last night. It was only our third official show in San Francisco (and basically in general), and we feel as if we are growing as performers and musicians with each one. It is a long time to wait for the next show, at Hotel Utah (Feb 26th) with Seeded Skies and Tera f'n Melos, but we will hopefully be back with a bunch of new material and a 2-3 song CD. peace and love
andafewtobreak

Tera fuckin' Melos

2005-01-18T20:01:00.000-08:00

...are playing a show tomorrow night with DESA at Balazo Gallery in the mission. Check www.myspace.com/teramelos or www.myspace.com/desa for more details. Both these bands are awesome, so check it out.

Show Update / Good News

2005-01-18T13:44:00.000-08:00

Hello everybody (or nobody, perhaps more appropriate at this point in time)
As you know, we are playing the Edinburgh Castle on January 20th with Plot Against Rachel, Parker Street Cinema, and new additions, Chinese Radio (www.chinese-radio.net). It should be a great time.
Also, the good news is that instrumental duo SWIMS (featuring our wonderful bass player Paul and the boy genius Mark on drums) have recently been signed to Gray Scale records out of Chicago. This is extremely exciting news for them and we suggest you check their shit out at www.myspace.com/swims. It is sick. That is all for now. We will see YOU on Thursday. Bring ear plugs because we will make you deaf if you don't. Peace, andafewtobreak

2005-01-17T11:39:00.001-08:00

Sam.

2005-01-17T11:39:00.000-08:00

Paul.

2005-01-17T11:38:00.001-08:00

Mark.

2005-01-17T11:38:00.000-08:00

Jamie.

Welcome to our BLOG

2005-01-14T15:46:00.000-08:00

This is the ofishul And a Few to Break BLOG. We have absolutely no idea what that means, so we are just going to post rants and raves and show info and stories, of which we have none at the moment.

We are playing a free show at the Edinburgh Castle on January 20th at 9PM sharp. The Castle is located at 950 Geary St. in downtown San Francisco. We are playing with two bands, who are good musicians and nice people: Parker Street Cinema and Plot Against Rachel. As this day coincides with Inauguration Day, please go to the protests and then come see us play! Let's celebrate the fact that we have one another to depend upon.

Peace for now.

Oh, and SWIMS (our bass player's astounding drums/bass instrumental duo) is playing in NAPA tonight with the fucking insane Tera Melos. Check out www.myspace.com/swims and/or www.myspace.com/teramelos for more info.