FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 11, 2014
STATES AND EMPIRES TO RELEASE EP IN OCTOBER
Former members of Attack! Attack! UK
turn up the ’90s grunge vibe in new band
Many were sad to see Welsh band Attack! Attack! UK split in early 2013, but band members Neil Starr (guitar/vocals) and Will Davies (bass) wasted no time in forming States and Empires with Evita drummer Johno Fisher. They are set to release a three-song EP, Revolution, in the United States on October 7, 2014 via Rock Ridge Music. The three songs (“Revolution,” “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah,” and “Say Anything”) also appear on the forthcoming album, Freedom (which will see an early 2015 U.S. release), and serve as a taste of what’s to come from this trio. Influenced by early ’90s grunge, States and Empires manages to seamlessly blend instantly memorable, melodic hooks with pummeling drums and massive guitar riffs that have the capacity to pack as much of a punch in an arena as they do in a club.
Says Starr of the new band: “We became a three-piece, which has made a big difference to the recording process. The songs, we think, are a lot more stripped down and raw, both live and on the record. From the shows we have done so far, people are comparing us to Nirvana, which for us is insane as we love that band. We are happy that people are into it.”
To work on the material for Revolution and Freedom, the band locked themselves in a rehearsal room in Taffs Well in South Wales until they had an album’s worth of material. The songs were recorded partly in Cardiff, Wales and partly in Florida with producer Stuart Richardson (ex Lostprophets, now No Devotion). The forthcoming album was named Freedom as a reflection to the current state of the band: the musicians feel they can do what they want since they’re not tied down to any management, booking agents, or exclusive record label.
“It’s been really refreshing to be able to have total control in what we do,” says Starr of the DIY mentality they’ve embraced. “Of course it means we have to put a lot of time into preparations and organizing, but right now we are happy to be in this situation.”
UK-based Über Röck wrote early praise for the forthcoming States and Empires music, saying that “the… tracks on offer have taken the shiniest, most valuable parts of Attack! Attack! [UK] (and Starr’s other band, Dopamine) and reworked them, seemingly by having them fawned over by cherubs and kissed by angels, such is the gorgeous nature of most of them. That’s not to say that this… is a sickly sweet medicine that’ll make you feel good for a while then let you fall back into the abyss: no… as hook-laden as it is, is a thorn on a rose cutting, a sugarcoated arsenic capsule, melody-soaked melancholy that never lets you forget that you’re, we’re, teetering on the brink, and that life has teeth. …Want the negatives? Well, there are none.”
The recordings were funded by the band itself, and the CD/LP was financed by a successful Kickstarter campaign. States and Empires then teamed up with Rock Ridge Music and White Russian Records to help them give the album the release a great heavy rock record deserves. To support the release of the album in Europe this fall, States and Empires are embarking on a 30-date European tour in September and October 2014. All of the shows in the UK will be free for fans.
The band’s blistering live performances have already created a huge buzz across mainland Europe with the band racking up over 50 live gigs by early 2014, including two sold-out tours with Californian pop-punks Zebrahead. Their German fanbase in particular earned them a place on John Coffey’s tour at the end of April in 2014.
Revolution, and the forthcoming album Freedom, are the follow-up to their four-track EP, Giants, which was released outside of the United States to critical acclaim. “We are really excited to put this music out there and to hear the reaction of the fans,” says Starr. “We have been writing and recording for this band for over 18 months now, so it will be a great day when the music is finally released in the United States.”