FORTH WANDERERS – Montclair, NJ
I’m not sure if this is the year of the female singer or not, but I seem to be finding a lot of female-fronted bands, and I’m really digging them. Most of them seem to be alt-rock acts, and the band that came across my plate recently, Forth Wanderers, really fills those alt-rock shoes. I found myself hypnotized by singer Ava Trilling’s voice on the band’s latest EP, Slop featuring the songs “Know Better,” “Slop,” “Nerves,” and “Unfold.” I really enjoyed these guys, Forth Wanderers, and the best part is that they were from up here in Montclair, NJ.
Forth Wanderers are five friends who make some of the most powerfully intimate and emotional alt-rock music pleasing to the ear. The band is made up of singer Ava Trilling, guitarists Ben Guterl and Duke Greene, bassist Noah Schifrin and drummer Zach Lorelli, and despite the fact that every member is under 21, the band has been prolifically creating their original music from the bedrooms in Montclair since 2013. Guitarist and songwriter Ben Guterl said about the band’s formation, “In winter of my junior year of high school I was trying to find a way to talk to Ava, who was a freshman at the time and I kind of had a crush on. I had no intention of starting a band, but I thought sending her a demo would be a great excuse to hang out because I knew she sung from middle school. I sent it to her and nothing came of it. We never got together and I forgot about the song, until eventually I received a demo back from her with vocals on and I just thought ‘Wow!’” This was the kind of story that great songs are written about and led to the band’s debut EP Mahogany, as the songwriting partnership was completed by Ben’s three best classroom friends. They followed Mahogany up swiftly with the full-length, Tough Love, in 2014.
The band’s latest EP, Slop, truly delivers the band on an international level. With only four tracks, the Forth Wanderers manage to create an intense impact with the effortless, earnest melody of Ava’s talismanic vocals soaring above the untampered churns of Ben’s haunting, raw guitars. Forth Wanderers have been building a loyal fanbase plucked from disparate scenes, drawing comparisons from everyone from bands like Built To Spill, Pavement, Mac Demarco and Weezer. To learn more about Forth Wanderers or to find out where they are playing next, visit Facebook.com/ForthWanderers.
NORTH JERSEY NOTES UPDATES:
Steve Bello emailed me recently to let me know that his new CD, Marblehead, is done, and is set to be released on May 15. He sent me two killer tracks to check out called “Time to Fly” and the title track, featuring bassist Chris Davison and drummer Ronnie Mormino from another local band, The Inversion Circus. Chris and Ronnie also perform on all 8 songs featured on Marblehead. If “Time to Fly” and “Marblehead” are any indication of what this CD sounds like, we are in for a sonic treat! For more on Steve Bello and his new CD, Marblehead, visit SteveBelloRocks.com.
My brothers from Dead Fish Handshake recently released their brand new single “Love/Remains” and it is so good! One of my favorite guitar players on this music scene, and not only because he’s a Dallas Cowboys fan, is Dead Fish Handshake guitarist Rob Ferreira. For a one guitarist band, he really makes this stuff sound full as if there are three guitar players playing, and I can’t say enough about singer Matthew Paul’s vocals. “Love/Remains” is a great new song and it will definitely win Dead Fish Handshake many new fans. For more on Dead Fish Handshake and their new single “Love/Remains,” visit DeadFishHandshake.com.
And finally, while I’m on the topic of new music, John Mosco from Sixty Miles Down just posted a brand new song called “Like a Bird Falling from the Sky,” a beautiful piano and vocal song. Now, I’m not really sure what is going on with Sixty MD these days. I mean I do know that John keeps turning out these songs, but who is the band these days besides him? His right hand, Roger Manzo, just joined War for the Crown. Well, it turns out, John is working on making Sixty MD a live band again, as he’s enlisted former Long Gone Day drummer Anthony Coppola to play drums and former Sixty MD guitarist, Dave Chisolm, is back in the band as well. Once they round the band out, look for a new Sixty Miles Down EP and some new live shows. For more on this new song “Like a Bird Falling from the Sky,” visit 60MD.com.
That’s all for now! If your band is from North Jersey, and you want some exposure, send your press kits to Arts Weekly, c/o Tim Louie P.O. Box 1140, Little Falls, NJ 07424, or you can email me at tim@theaquarian.com, where you can also let me know where you’re performing next!
Just remember…We’re all in the same boat, so every little bit of exposure counts!
Tim Louie is the Author of S**t Happens.
NJN Concert Calendar:
4/13—Buckcherry/Another Day Dawns/War For The Crown—Sherman Theater, Stroudsburg, PA
4/14—The Dark Matters (Reunion Show)/In The Presence of Wolves/Reese Van Riper/Comb The Desert/Black Lagoon—Dingnbatz, Clifton, NJ
4/14—Hodera/Have Mercy—SUNY Oneonta, Oneonta, NY
4/18—Life Of Agony/Borgo Pass—Saint Vitus, NYC
4/18—Midnight Hellion/Morbid Angel—Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ
4/19—Life of Agony/Pain Method—Saint Vitus, NYC
4/19—Jason Richardson and Luke Holland/Cryptodira/Sentinels/Divinex/Planetary Alignment/Who I Once Was—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
4/20—Queen V’s Spring Fling—The Cutting Room, NYC
4/20—Don Jamieson/Shiwan Khan/Bionic Monkey/Tilted/Ripped/Johnny Zostant/Second Sin—The Brighton Bar, Long Branch, NJ
4/20—Punchline/The Stolen/Tell Me Tell You/Automatic 253/Owl Kill—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
4/21—Janet Gardner of VIXEN/SINERTIA/Loaded Gun/Sunday Brave/Knightlife/Alden—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
4/21—Lieder—The Parkside Lounge, NYC
4/26—This Curse/Call It Home/A Boy Named John/Indighxst/Hollow Bones/The View From Here/Concrete Dream Music—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
4/27—Psychoprism/Sunless Sky/Legion/Imperial Crypt—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
4/28—Missi Fieretag’s Birthday Bash featuring KILLCODE/Arc’d Angel/Baelfire/Resurge/COMMON WEALTH—Stanhope House, Stanhope, NJ
4/28—Blind Revision/Deadly Nights/Lunatic Fringe/The Nectars—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
4/28—The Return of No Mercy Metal/Sun and Flesh/Robots and Monsters/Throwdown Syndicate/Behind The Bullet/Jaws-NJ—Lucky 13 Saloon, Brooklyn, NY
4/29—Powerman 5000/Lullwater/Deadtide/Riverside Odds/Under Blood Red Skies—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
5/4—Last In Line—Debonair Music Hall, Teaneck, NJ
5/4—Symetria/Arc’d Angel/Obsidion/Voidless/Shutter/Call of Sirens/Conquer At Will—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
5/4—Ace Frehley—Sony Hall, NYC
5/5—Hodera—Montclair Center Stage, Montclair, NJ
5/12—Out of Bounds CD Release Party/Metal Life Crisis/Don Jamieson—The Brighton Bar, Long Branch, NJ
