“Like the rest of the album from which it originates,
the track has no cymbals, just carefree guitars and banjo.” Hear “Bulletproof”
streaming now.
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Cantina (L-R): Marcus Hollar, Jason Garner, Philip Peeples,
John Dufilho, Andy Lester. Photo credit: Karlo X. Ramos.
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PLAY, POST
& SHARE
Hear
“Bulletproof” from A Sea of Keys, the
debut album by Cantina via Consequence
of Sound
+++
“We are basically a band of drummers,” says John Dufilho of Dallas-based group, Cantina.
Accurate, but when considering that Dufilho (guitar, vocals) also plays
with Elephant 6 co-founders The Apples In Stereo (as well as his
beloved solo project, The Deathray
Davies), bassist Jason Garner (Dufilho’s friend of a quarter-century)
can be found among the throng that is The
Polyphonic Spree, and Philip Peeples
(the only drummer in Cantina who
actually drums in Cantina) is member
of The Old 97’s, maybe not basic?
Rounding out Cantina’s lineup is Dufilho’s Deathray Davies cohort Andy
Lester, along with banjo player, Marcus
Hollar (late of Dropkick Murphys
singer Mike McColgan’s punk band, Street Dogs.)
Cantina, having previously released two albums under the name
I Love Math before the addition of Hollar, will now bring out its debut
album A Sea of Keys on July 22nd
via Dallas-based We Know Better Records.
Dufilho notes that while 60% of the
members of Cantina are drummers
(“three of us make a living playing music, the other two are the smart ones”),
as a hard and fast rule, no cymbals are ever used on A Sea of Keys. So, don’t
listen for that, and don’t listen for these guys to perform “that song” from “Star Wars” either.
Seriously, A Sea of Keys arrives with a
pedigree: AllMusic previously
referred to the band as a “supergroup,” and the masterful sensitivity of the
songs on A Sea of Keys do little to detract from that notion. Dufilho’s thoughtful tunes – the Austin Chronicle previously described
him as “a ravenous songwriter working without a net” – take cues from
country-rock, power pop, and the charming harmonies of the Everly Brothers. The songs never overstay their welcome; each is a
conversation that never suffers an awkward beat. No pun intended.
A perfect example is the album’s first single, “Bulletproof,” which captures both the
ability and the obvious humor of this band. Hear
it now via Consequence
of Sound.
Dufilho explains, saying, “I woke up drunk, with the worst
cold I can remember. So I did what I always do when my voice is much lower than
usual – I started singing Johnny Cash
and Magnetic Fields songs.” Before
sobriety could kick in, Dufilho hit
play on a banjo riff that Hollar had
sent the day before, then hit record on his vocals, and presto, “it was ‘Bulletproof.’ Start to finish, a first
and final take. I got in my car and drove home and I’ve never been able to sing
it in that key since.”
No need, as the song is perfectly captured in its raw
state here forever, along with fourteen other similarly free-jamming gems.
“A lot of these songs are based on a short story I
wrote, also titled “A Sea of Keys,” Dufilho explains, making sense of why
these tunes sound so intimate. It’s an effortless listen from a band that,
despite its modest claim, isn’t basic.
A
Sea of Keys by Cantina arrives on July 22nd, 2016. Members
of Cantina are available for
interviews. Contact
Josh Bloom at
Fanatic for more information.
+++
Cantina
A
Sea of Keys
(We Know Better Records)
July 22nd, 2016
Track Listing:
01. Lucifer
03. Hypnotic
04. A Sea of Keys
05. A Letter of Rejection
06. Sympathy For The Strikers
07. I Keep Floating
08. God Is The Sun
09. The Wedding Under The Bridge
10. These Machines
11. A Suitcase Full of Plans
12. Snowman
13. Black Cat
14. Wedding Theme
15. Hallucination
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Cantina Links
+++
Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion
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