"they record vivid little tantrums that produce a whole lot of tension and foreboding from very elemental sounds...avisceral surprise every time." - Pitchfork
"Ed Schrader's Music Beat have come a long way..'Dunce' is cocky and sneering, sick of being second fiddle against others who don't have what it takes...In an era filled with privileged obliviousness and idiot princes, it feels like a welcome corrective." - Stereogum (Best Songs of the Week)
"'Dunce,' the lead single of the long-awaited Ed Schrader's Music Beat record Riddles, is a densely produced (by Dan Deacon), moody alt-rock smash hit...and it only gets stranger from here." - Noisey
"It's truly refreshing to hear a band not fuck around and bring their formidable talent to the front of a record...irresistible, in-your-face post-punk" - SPIN
"Equal parts sonic chaos and minimal bliss...[Ed Schrader's Music Beat] masterfully blends mixed tempos and shock hooks in an unexpectedly visceral, enjoyable fashion." - Dazed
"go see Ed Schrader's Music Beat immediately - total surprise of the night." - Brooklyn Vegan
"Baltimore's Ed Schrader's Music Beat...waste little time in setting speakers ablaze with a fierce and breakneck post-punk juggernaut that's sure to blow an eardrum or two." - Consequence of Sound
Baltimore-based post-punk band Ed Schrader's Music Beat recently announced their third full-length record and their Carpark Records debut entitled Riddles. Today the band shares the Dan Deacon-produced album's second single and title track. "Riddles" starts with a gorgeous and entirely unexpected piano introduction that threads throughout the soaring, cinematic song, showcasing the band's sonic expansion on this forthcoming album. Listen to "Riddles" HERE.
Ed Schrader on "Riddles":
"To me this song is about shaking the ghost of an ever-present teenage self, only to realize you are only 'that ghost' and nothing more. You've been asleep in your head and you wake to a shattered present which makes that over-romanticized 'ideal' past all that more alluring. Even with its monsters, you run back into it and pull the covers over your head.
"This was where my head was at the time I got a voicemail that my Step Dad died. He was a larger than life character who I had very mixed and unresolved feelings about. Learning of his death was like waking up and suddenly the mountains were all gone. Gravity shifted, and it kicked up all the dust bunnies of a damaged past along with its rich, dark beauty."
Riddles comes out March 2nd - pre-order the album (and Ed Schrader's Music Beans, bags of coffee roasted by ESMB's resident coffee connoisseur Devlin) at Carpark or on iTunes, and pre-save the album onSpotify.
Ed Schrader's Music Beat will take Riddles out on the road this Spring - see below to find a show near you, and get your tickets HERE.
Ed Schrader's Music Beat needed to make this record. Nineteen tours in the U.S. since the Baltimore-based duo's formation in 2010, from headlining underground spaces to opening massive venues for Future Islands, had left vocalist Ed Schrader and bassist Devlin Rice exhausted - and hungry to take their music to the next level. ESMB originally worked in a maximalist drums, bass, and vocals mode, releasing the noise-rock full-lengths Jazz Mind (Load Records, 2012), and Party Jail (Infinity Cat Recordings, 2014). However, Ed and Devlin dreamed of a fuller sound - layered, breathing arrangements their early rapid-fire compositions always seemed to imply, without yet having the tools to realize.
On Riddles, their first release for Carpark, the Music Beat begins their new life.
In search of a fresh direction, Ed and Devlin invited their close friend, electronic-pop maestro and fellow Baltimore-based artist Dan Deacon, to expand their sound and experiment with them as the album's producer, arranger, and co-writer. Working steadily in Dan's studio for two years in total collaboration, three evolving musicians pushed through an intense period of personal tumult and found purpose in the sounds they were committing to record. The result: a polished and passionate masterpiece of nuanced alt-rock.
Dan, Ed, and Devlin all poured emotions produced by major life changes into these sessions. While in Puerto Rico on a rare vacation, Ed learned of the death of his stepfather, a charismatic but abusive figure who'd cast a dominant shadow on his formative years. Devlin sat at the bedside of his brother, who'd long lived with a terminal illness, as he saw through his choice to die with dignity. And Dan's longest relationship, which had stretched across his entire career as a musician thus far, came to an end. "I looked forward to these sessions when everything else in life was a shit-show," recalls Devlin, who began the record commuting from Providence to Baltimore, but moved into Dan's studio as it neared completion.
"For me, the album parallels feelings of confronting the past, resolving it, facing the music, and blasting out of it," says Ed. "It's the album our hearts wanted us to make." Riddles is a full-length collaboration between Ed Schrader's Music Beat and Dan Deacon. All three people invested their souls into this record for two full years, and it shows.
Tour dates
3/1 - Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery
3/3 - Washington, DC@ Comet Ping Pong
3/4 - Raleigh, NC @ Kings
3/5 - Asheville, NC @ The Mothlight
3/6 - Knoxville, TN @ Pilot Light
3/7 - Nashville, TN @ DRKMTTR
3/9 - Atlanta, GA @ Mammal Gallery
3/13 - Dallas, TX @ Transit Bicycle Company
3/14 - San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger
3/15 - Austin, TX @ SXSW
3/16 - Austin, TX @ SXSW
3/17 - Austin, TX @ SXSW
3/18 - Austin, TX @ SXSW
3/19 - Hot Springs, AK @ VOV Fest
3/20 - Lawrence, KS @ Replay Lounge
3/23 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
3/24 - Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Fest
3/26 - Reno, NV @ Holland Project
3/28 - Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon
3/29 - San Francisco, CA @ Make Out Room
3/31 - Portland, OR @ The Know
4/4 - Sioux Falls, SD @ Total Drag Records
4/5 - Minneapolis, MN @ Kitty Cat Klub
4/6 - Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews
4/7 - Milwaukee, WI @ Quarters Rock N Roll Palace
4/8 - Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
4/10 - Toronto, ON @ Baby G
4/11 - Winooski, VT @ Monkey House
4/12 - Providence, RI @ AS220
4/14 - Philadelphia, PA @ Everybody Hits
4/15 - Brooklyn, NY @ Baby's All Right
5/1 - Edinburgh, Scotland @ Sneaky Pete's
5/2 - Glasgow, Scotland @ The Hug and Pint
5/6 - Manchester, UK @ Sounds from the Other City Festival
5/7 - London, UK @ Moth Club
5/8 - Paris, France @ Espace B
5/10 - Madrid, Spain @ El Sol - Sound Isidro
5/14 - Lyon, France @ Grrnd Zero
5/16 - Lausanne, Switzerland @ Le Bourg
5/17 - Esslingen, Germany @ Komma
5/18 - Prague, Czech Republic @ 007 Club
5/20 - Berlin, Germany @ ACUD Macht Neu
5/23 - Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Cinetol
5/25 - Rotterdam, Netherlands @ WORM