Like a young, punch-drunk Ray Bradbury, Timothy Monger wraps verses of nostalgia and romance in a haze of lush summer pop laden with weepy baroque strings and complex vocal arrangements.

9 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Psychedelic, POP: Folky Pop



Details:
Timothy Monger writes radio songs you've never heard. They spin mercilessly across the universe making you heady with the nostalgia of summers passing you by. They spill out of your glove compartment like long-forgotten mix tapes and coffee stained road maps. Ornate, austere folk-pop anthems lovingly crafted for you by a Michigan boy with a heart in the past and the past on his sleeve.

As one-third of a team of songwriters in Michigan's eclectic rock group The Original Brothers and Sisters of Love (TOBASOL), guitarist/vocalist Timothy Monger gained national attention with two stellar releases on the Brooklyn, NY label Telegraph Company. He founded the band with his older brother Jamie in 1996, inspired by other sibling bands like Minneapolis' Trip Shakespeare and the legendary Beach Boys. They bent their focus on intelligent songwriting, vocal harmony and intricate arrangements. Their debut album, The Legende of Jeb Minor was released in the Spring of 2000 to critical accolades and college airplay all across the United States. The All Music Guide raved, "Though elements of Tim Buckley, Van Dyke Parks, the Beach Boys and Harry Nilsson are unmistakable, the Ann Arbor, Michigan six-piece is too unique for any direct comparisons."

The band's sophomore release, an artful love letter to their native Great Lakes called H.O.M.E.S. Volume One was released late in 2001. TOBASOL continued to tour in support of the album and eventually showcased at several of the nation's top festivals including Austin's South by Southwest, New York's CMJ and Boston's NEMO festival. Of the album, the Iowa Press Citizen wrote "The resulting "TOBASOL Sound" is a shimmering blend of '60s-era Fairport Convention, "Odessey & Oracle"-period Zombies, Austin's The Gourds and a dash of XTC."

During breaks from the band, Monger continued to perform solo acoustic shows as he had been doing since the age of 16. With the excess of personal material that comes from working within a multi-songwriter band, he began to lay down tracks for a solo album in his spare time. The songs he had been saving were more notably based in the pop realm than TOBASOL's avante folk-rock. Producing the album and playing a bulk of the instruments himself, Monger has arranged a dense pop record filled with lush strings, vocal harmonies, sound effects and hooks around every corner. His solo debut "Summer Cherry Ghosts" was released in July 2004. He is currently touring as a solo artist.