Albums : DRGN KING : Paragraph Nights
Albums : DRGN KING : Paragraph Nights
Listen To DRGN KING : Paragraph
Nights
Who is DRGN KING?
“You don’t just get there
straight out of the blue; those haunting humming synthesizers at the beginning
of “Paragraph Nights,” the melancholy piano chord changes, the emotional pull
the song has on your psyche. It’s a process, you know? It comes from years of
growth, experimentation, revision, looking at the scene from another angle,
considering the possibilities. “Take a picture, make it last, make it
different,” sings Dominic Angelella. And that’s very much the road DRGN
King has taken.
Our story opens with Angelella
onstage at a North Philadelphia rock club, his hair flailing, his guitar
strings rattling, hisface beaming. It’s 2009 or thereabouts, and he’s
performing with one of his old bands, a punky Americana group with such high
energy, folks are hanging outafter the show to shake his hand. A couple months
later, a different venue, a different scene entirely – an eclectic hip-hop outfit,
and there he is again, playing guitar. Later still, Angelella’s face keeps
showing up in band photos, on show flyers and venue websites. His enthusiasms
run the gamut – experimental lo-fi psych, indie rock soul, arty grunge
throwbacks. The question has to be asked - are you in every group in
Philadelphia? He laughs, responds: No man, just a bunch of projects.
Meanwhile in South Philly, Brent
“Ritz” Reynolds was holed up in a studio, making a name for himself as a young
hip-hop producer. He cut tracks for The Roots, worked with Mac Miller and State
Property alum Peedi Crakk. Reynolds knew his stuff and had the moxy for thehard
haul of being a freelance recording guru. In early 2010 he and Angelella
connected in a chance recording session, and the doors of possibility were
blown open. Angelella’s songwriting would become a prototype for Reynolds to
test out his lush, imaginative production skills into the rock world.
Conversely, Reynolds’ studio alchemy would place Angelella’s broad-spanning
tastes and musical interests under a single umbrella. You don’t have to be in a
dozen different-sounding bands and call them a dozen different things. You can
do it all, and call it DRGN KING.
DRGN KING debuted in a
well-received warehouse show that fall. Angelella and Reynolds deemed the
experiment a success, and kept it moving. Various musical collaborators were
brought in, shows got played and new songs were written. Then they retreated
into the studio, recorded, refined and recorded some more. Paragraph Nights comes
after two years of nose-to-the-grindstone work, and its song are bursting with
life, excitement, self-discovery, possibility. Listen to the pensive,
introspective electronic pop of “Warriors.” It’s a nod to the community of
artists and musicians in Philadelphia, and ruminates on crafting an identity
through art: “People tell me I got no purpose,” Angelella sings. “They’re not
wrong but it’s allright.”
Skip around and you’ll find a
variety of tones and moods. The fierce industrial juggernaut “Barbarians” rushes
at you with a surreal account of nightlife as a rite of passage, as well as a
possibly damaging pursuit that just might fray one’s sanity. With haunting
half-whispered, half-howled vocals and hammering drumbeats, DRGN King pushes
you to the edge, then carries you back. Earlier, the power pop riffage of “Holy
Ghost” laughs and makes an anthemic march out of people projecting an identity
onto Angelella – telling him he looks like the Christian Jesus.
With a massive beat and blissful
refrain, “Altamont Sunrise” is a soaring number to carry you on your way – to
other cities, to other countries, worlds apart from where we are today. A
snapping snare drum and juggling bass line are your guides, while Angelella
sings loudly and joyously with everyone in the room about taking the lessons
learned and making something bigger and brighter on top of the ruins.”-John
Vettese, WXPN
Paragraph Nights Review
DRGN KING hail from
Philadelphia, where Dominic Angelella and Brent “Ritz” Reynolds found their
paths crossing in a chance recording session in early 2010. It didn’t
take long for Angelella, a versatile singer-songwriter and Reynolds, a hip hop
producer (The Roots, Wale, Mac Miller), to find common ground and start producing
deliciously unique music.
Thier debut album,
Paragraph Nights , set for release in January is nothing short of a true
reflection of DRGN KING’s eclectic roots. There’s no doubting the hip hop roots
of one half of the band – but at the same time, some tracks such as “Holy
Ghost” have almost a rocky, Black Keys style feel to them. The end result is an
eclectic feel to the music which keeps you listening again and again.
‘Paragraph Nights’, the title
track starts the album off with a slow, haunting combination of vocals, piano
and guitars, culminating in almost ethereal pauses before moving on.
Other tracks, such as ‘Wild Night’ and ‘Menswear’ are far more upbeat and
grimy. But for me, the real gems were ‘Altamont Sunrise’ and ‘Warriors’
because these are the tracks where the hip hop influence really emerges,
transforming this from being an excellent album with music for all occasions to
an outstanding, truly eclectic work of art.
In short – I’m hooked. If an
album is too samey or doesn’t bring back memories then I probably won’t listen
to it much. But if it’s different, takes on board different styles of
music and isn’t afraid to take risks then I’ll listen to it over and over –
which is what I’ll be doing with Paragraph Nights. Have a listen – you won’t be
let down.
Catch DRGN KING on tour
December 6th – Shea Stadium,
Brooklyn NY
December 7th- The Orphan
Gallery, Boston, MA
December 8th – The Candy Barrel,
New Brunswick, NJ
Contact DRGN KING
Contact Secret Sound Shop
Sources : DRGN KING Photo | Listen To Paragraph Nights | DRGN KING Biography | Paragraph Nights Review
0 comments: