Friday night, April 25, is the album release party for the new collection from Rotary Downs, Traces, at Gasa Gasa. Anti Gravity reviewed the new album and said, “….a record that seems poised to take the band to new sonic heights.” Their previous work has been described as, “a stunning collection of psychedelic art pop,” by NPR and “perfectly New Orleanian” by Filter magazine.
The band actually premiered the first song, “Flowers in Bloom” accompanied by an interesting look at the band members’ vinyl muses right here at TVD three weeks ago.
Inspired by traveling abroad and experiencing the thrill and the isolation of spinning through worlds far from home, Traces journeys down the similar experimental rabbit hole as the band’s previous work, but is musically tighter and sharper than ever before. The tone of the record has a darker element than past records but has an overall warm, unfocused quality of distance—an almost romantic alienation.
Rotary Downs has undergone several changes in its decade-long history, from the ramshackle recording project that created the band’s first three releases—Rotary Downs, Long After the Thrill, and Quitters EP—to the polyrhythmic web of melodic guitars, keys, and trumpets that comprised Chained to the Chariot and, most recently, Cracked Maps & Blue Reports.
Rotary Downs began with guitarist/pedal steeler Chris Colombo and vocalist/guitarist James Marler. In 2004 drummer Zack Smith and bassist Jason Rhein joined, laying the foundation for the group’s current sound.
The most recent addition to Rotary Downs is multi-instrumentalist Alex Smith (World Leader Pretend, Mojave 3, Theresa Andersson, and Neil Halstead). Rotary Downs is now Chris Colombo, Anthony Cuccia, James Marler, Jason Rhein, Alex Smith, and Zack Smith.
This is a post Jazz Fest show. Doors are at 9 PM. Showtime is 10 PM. The Mike Dillon Band will open.
Enter to win our pair of tickets by commenting with your favorite Rotary Downs track. We’ll choose one winner on Friday morning, 4/25!
