MP3 This Is Ivy League - POP: Beatles-pop

A Brooklyn duo who recorded an album that sounds like an album Belle and Sebastian and The Beach Boys would have recorded in a Brooklyn apartment.

11 MP3 Songs
POP: Beatles-pop, POP: Chamber Pop

Details:
In 1997, Ryland Blackinton moved from Wilmington, Massachusetts to Boca Raton, Florida with his parents and two brothers. An avid guitar player and trumpet player in his school band, Ryland immediately found an acquaintance in Connecticut native, Alex Suarez. Alex played in a local pop-punk band. Ryland came to watch them play at an abandoned house where many of their high schoolâs bands would practice and perform. Alex was a year older than Ryland, which in those days seemed to be a big deal. Neither of them was particularly good at sports or academics but each was passionate about the guitar. Around this time Alex got Ryland a job at the local Jewish Delicatessen. The two became close friends while discovering the joys of Jewish cuisine. Not cut out for the restaurant industry, Ryland soon left the Deli citing culinary differences and became involved in the theatre. Alex continued to the culinary academy.

After seven years Alex and Ryland have lost touch. Alex had been playing guitar with the Florida-based âKite Flying Societyâ while starting a series of short-lived private catering companies. Ryland was finishing his BFA in Acting and playing guitar sporadically with Parliament/Funkadelic keyboard players Jerome Rodgers and Danny Bedrosian. Seeking success in their respective fields, they both moved north to New York City. Ryland acted in a handful of classical plays at the Pearl Theatre Company and Alex was working as a grocery delivery boy in Chelsea. Both struggled with low wages and creative stagnation. One day, the two were reunited on a certain unnamed internet networking service. Coincidentally, they lived just twelve blocks away from one another. After catching up for a few hours they traded music and agreed that they should form a band.

Ryland had written a few songs which were heavily rooted in bossa nova and folk music. Alex quickly learned the songs and brought a cohesive poppy edge to them. The culmination of the two styles produced a folky-pop sound that both were pleased with. This was the basis of their first single, âLondon Bridges,â which was released by indie label Twentyseven Records in 2006. Their debut full-length was released April 1, 2008 on Twentyseven Records.

People who are interested in Simon & Garfunkel The Beach Boys Belle and Sebastian should consider this download.