w/ These Are Powers, Little Women, Abe Vigoda and More!
In Extra Life, Looker taps into a mesmerizing form of avant-rock raga, repeating words, and shifting into a windswept, entrancing post-punk throat singing. The first song to catch our attenton is opener "Blackmail Blues," which hit us like a darker, heavier take on Dirty Projectors (backed by Torch Of The Mystics Sun City Girls)... these are master works. The album itself is called Secular Works, but this stuff feels somehow religious in its fervor. - Stereogum
Tension and restraint. Adornment and shedding. These are the balances that define Extra Life's fantastic full-length debut, Secular Works... Looker's sense of arrangement and composition melds each sound into a gripping work where fear and urgency loom within each track... It creates an aesthetic so grave and completely realized that it's with the best sense of anxiety that I anticipate where Extra Life goes next. - TinyMixTapes
Scarily focused and ruthlessly complex in a post-prog sort of way, but it also flirts with a dark, sumptuous art-pop vibe. The end product is relentless, enveloping and frequently gorgeous. - Time Out New York
Remarkable for its scope, depth and technical accomplishment, Secular Works is a devastating record that has the power to change minds, if only people hear it. Don't miss out. - DustedMagazine.com
Extra Life is a New York-based band led by guitarist/vocalist/composer Charlie Looker. Formed in 2007, Extra Life combines elements of medieval vocal music, aggressive math rock, dark romantic pop and modern classical composition. For years Looker was a core member of noise/chamber group Zs, and has also worked with diverse bands and artists such as Dirty Projectors, John Zorn, Glenn Branca, Period, William Parker, Christian Wolff and the S.E.M. Ensemble. Extra Life also includes various combinations of the following musicians: violinist Caley Monahon-Ward (Snowblink), bassist Tony Gedrich (Stats), drummer Nicholas Podgurski (Yukon), and saxophonist/keyboardist Travis Laplante (Little Women).
Extra Life's debut full-length CD "Secular Works" was released in 2008 on Planaria Recordings to wide critical acclaim, topping many Best and/or Strangest of '08 lists. The band did a four-week tour of the midwest and west coast, sharing bills with artists including Carla Bozulich, the Dead Science, Excepter, Magik Markers, These Are Powers, Kyp Malone (of TVOTR), Mary Halvorson, the OhSees and Ocrilim. A vinyl-only split EP with Nat Baldwin was also released in 2008 on the Shatter Your Leaves label, followed by east and west coast tours. Plans for 2009 include U.S. and European tours.
Feb 5 2009 Wesleyan University Middletown, Connecticut
Feb 7 2009 Death By Audio Brooklyn, New York w/ Made in Mexico
Feb 12 2009 Hampshire College Amherst, Massachusetts w/ Little Women
Feb 13 2009 the Boat Toronto, Ontario w/ Little Women
Feb 16 2009 Empty Bottle Chicago, Illinois w/ Larkin Grimm + Lichens
Feb 18 2009 Nomad World Pub Minneapolis, Minnesota w/ Vampire Hands
Feb 20 2009 Peanut Gallery Vancouver, British Columbia w/ Certain Breeds + Shearing Pinx
Feb 23 2009 the Tube Portland, Oregon
Feb 25 2009 Auntie Moe's Eureka, California
Feb 26 2009 the Parkside Oakland, California
Feb 28 2009 the Smell Los Angeles, California w/ Abe Vigoda
Mar 1 2009 Radio Room San Diego, California
Mar 3 2009 Rhinoceropolis Denver, Colorado w/ These Are Powers
Mar 4 2009 Box Awesome Lincoln, Nebraska
Mar 5 2009 Lemp Arts St. Louis, Missouri
Mar 6 2009 Oberlin College Oberlin, Ohio
May 29 2009 Primavera Sound Festival Barcelona w/ Throwing Muses and The Vaselines!
For more information, visit:
www.myspace.com/extralifetheband
www.extralifeblood.com
www.planariainc.com
Tension and restraint. Adornment and shedding. These are the balances that define Extra Life's fantastic full-length debut, Secular Works... Looker's sense of arrangement and composition melds each sound into a gripping work where fear and urgency loom within each track... It creates an aesthetic so grave and completely realized that it's with the best sense of anxiety that I anticipate where Extra Life goes next. - TinyMixTapes
Scarily focused and ruthlessly complex in a post-prog sort of way, but it also flirts with a dark, sumptuous art-pop vibe. The end product is relentless, enveloping and frequently gorgeous. - Time Out New York
Remarkable for its scope, depth and technical accomplishment, Secular Works is a devastating record that has the power to change minds, if only people hear it. Don't miss out. - DustedMagazine.com
Extra Life is a New York-based band led by guitarist/vocalist/composer Charlie Looker. Formed in 2007, Extra Life combines elements of medieval vocal music, aggressive math rock, dark romantic pop and modern classical composition. For years Looker was a core member of noise/chamber group Zs, and has also worked with diverse bands and artists such as Dirty Projectors, John Zorn, Glenn Branca, Period, William Parker, Christian Wolff and the S.E.M. Ensemble. Extra Life also includes various combinations of the following musicians: violinist Caley Monahon-Ward (Snowblink), bassist Tony Gedrich (Stats), drummer Nicholas Podgurski (Yukon), and saxophonist/keyboardist Travis Laplante (Little Women).
Extra Life's debut full-length CD "Secular Works" was released in 2008 on Planaria Recordings to wide critical acclaim, topping many Best and/or Strangest of '08 lists. The band did a four-week tour of the midwest and west coast, sharing bills with artists including Carla Bozulich, the Dead Science, Excepter, Magik Markers, These Are Powers, Kyp Malone (of TVOTR), Mary Halvorson, the OhSees and Ocrilim. A vinyl-only split EP with Nat Baldwin was also released in 2008 on the Shatter Your Leaves label, followed by east and west coast tours. Plans for 2009 include U.S. and European tours.
Extra Life Live!
Feb 5 2009 Wesleyan University Middletown, Connecticut
Feb 7 2009 Death By Audio Brooklyn, New York w/ Made in Mexico
Feb 12 2009 Hampshire College Amherst, Massachusetts w/ Little Women
Feb 13 2009 the Boat Toronto, Ontario w/ Little Women
Feb 16 2009 Empty Bottle Chicago, Illinois w/ Larkin Grimm + Lichens
Feb 18 2009 Nomad World Pub Minneapolis, Minnesota w/ Vampire Hands
Feb 20 2009 Peanut Gallery Vancouver, British Columbia w/ Certain Breeds + Shearing Pinx
Feb 23 2009 the Tube Portland, Oregon
Feb 25 2009 Auntie Moe's Eureka, California
Feb 26 2009 the Parkside Oakland, California
Feb 28 2009 the Smell Los Angeles, California w/ Abe Vigoda
Mar 1 2009 Radio Room San Diego, California
Mar 3 2009 Rhinoceropolis Denver, Colorado w/ These Are Powers
Mar 4 2009 Box Awesome Lincoln, Nebraska
Mar 5 2009 Lemp Arts St. Louis, Missouri
Mar 6 2009 Oberlin College Oberlin, Ohio
May 29 2009 Primavera Sound Festival Barcelona w/ Throwing Muses and The Vaselines!
For more information, visit:
www.myspace.com/extralifetheband
www.extralifeblood.com
www.planariainc.com
