Grassfight ‘Please Don’t Tell’ EP released 9 October
EP release: ‘Please Don’t Tell’ by Grassfight
Release date: 9 October 2015
Label: Cold Records
More info: Band website
Sitting on their amps in a Christmas-lit storage unit in Denton back in 2010, Nathan Forster, Tamsi New, and Mark Demiglio felt eerily rooted in their slow-paced Texas environment and decided to move to New York City for a new start.
When they started the band, Nathan had never sung in front of anyone, Tamsi couldn’’t play bass and they both shared an irrational fear of people finding out they were a couple in a band. Undaunted, and heavily influenced by Radiohead, Spoon, BRMC, and LCD Soundsystem, they created a few fuzzy demos, found a drummer, and managed to put on their first ever show.
Mark joined Grassfight in 2010 and after some stormy studio walk outs involving broken bottles, smashed up amps and a few revolving fourth members, the trio to swear off adding anyone else to the mix.
However, after making a splash in the blogosphere with their first two EPs’, Nathan sent a long-time friend and musician some of the new tracks to get an opinion. Andrew Kerr responded to the new songs by booking a one way ticket to New York to join the band, where they set about creating their very own brooding, powerful brand of post-punk magic.
In February of 2014, Grassfight played their first show in a year and a half as a four-piece and began work on the beautifully gloomy, 'Please Don’t Tell'.
The band says: 'Please Don't Tell is the name of a speak-easy style bar in East Village. To get in, you walk into a hot dog shop and enter a phone booth. When you pick up the phone somebody answers and you say the name of your reservation. Then the side wall of the phone booth slides back and you walk into this 'secret' small bar that's decorated like it's the 1920's. There are taxidermy animals with hats and jewellery on, they play a lot of Fleetwood Mac, and the cocktails are awesome, with a Mezcal theme.'
All five of the songs were written on the streets of New York and recorded right before Tamsi and Nathan broke up - with the bass-laden title track telling the story of a miserable suburban couple that stay together to protect their image and the melancholy-laced 'Hallways' examining the dizzying and guilt-stricken thoughts you have when you start to fall out of love.
Press reaction to date
- "These cardigan-clad boys (and girl) have cultivated a new brand of post-punk." - The Owl Mag
- "Blogs quickly began comparing the band's sound to that of Interpol and Joy Division because of its heavy, driving basslines and urgent rhythms, but there's more to this group than just a series of brooding reference points. They've got the songs to justify the gloom." – CMJ
- "Icon, EP2 is arguably the best EP released this year and veritable proof that New York City has a major contender on their hands." - Absolute Punk
- "...delightfully terse, taut with tension, and displays a shimmering resentment - Grassfight has given us much to admire." - Mad Mackerel