THIS IS YOUR LIFE UK EP
What does your average band do when they’ve suddenly become infamous, ridden the wave of absurdity, splintered and re-formed into a prolific throwback lo-fi band, and finally flagged the attention of some of their most treasured heroes?
.......they find a new Bass player, play a bunch of cool shows and finally channel THAT LIVE SOUND into a recording that sounds and FEELS like a live band.
“This is Your Life” is the live sound of Pasha, captured in audio at last. When you hear it you are hearing the live, natural culmination of the previous 2 years of live performances, simplified into its raw, rhythmic form.
Ben Contois had been a local fixture in the Vermont music scene for a few years before he began learning the songs from this short, energetic recording. A skilled finger style Bass player by trade and Trombone player to boot, Mr. Contois possesses the knowledge of theory and the feel of a solid syncopated rhythm that is necessary for a band to feel like their music is galloping forward..
Meanwhile, Milo Finch had developed a strong rhythmic foundation since switching from Keys and Vocals to the Drum Kit a little over two years before the “This is Your Life” three-piece lineup began playing wherever they were welcome.
A Fujigen factory-made 1964 Teisco VN-4 Baritone (strung with regular guitar strings and near hopelessly out of tune) would provide the counterpoint to the one and three beats with a strummed UPSTROKE on each “and” beat...(not to mention providing each audience with an opportunity to listen to the band’s Banter between songs as Chris would need to tune the Bass-y Tone Machine so often that it had become a running joke between the band members and others in their immediate circle.)
...Chris Partyka had gotten tired of always strumming the guitar on the quarter notes and fell in love with seeing the guitar in his mind as only playing the notes in between the main rhythm...all the while using a clean, reverb-less sound through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe Tube Amp.
Thrown in are catchy MELODIES inspired by the pantheon of Quick Step Galloping melodic pop bands of yore, from the Ramones to the Feelies, The Raspberries to the Posies.
Add these elements together and you get a group of songs that doesn’t stop sprinting for 30 minutes and a serious case of EARWORMs in the days to follow.