Detroit-based rocker Ryan Allen (ex-Thunderbirds Are Now!), needing an outlet for some punk and hardcore jams that weren’t quite a fit for his current energetic power pop band Extra Arms, launched a new project, Big Life.
With a handful of rough demos, he enlisted the help of his best friend Dan Nixon (ex-Negatives) to contribute lyrics and vocals, Sean Gauvreau (Grey Gardens, ex-Black Dahlia Murder) on bass, and Jordan VonZynda (Hidebehind, ex-Due North) on drums.
Big Life sound like 1985 Dischord/Rev Summer bands and are without a doubt influenced by Dag Nasty, Black Flag, Husker Du, Fugazi, and current bands like Praise. Their eight-song, self-titled EP comes out on April 21 via Setterwind Records. It was recorded with Chuck Huber at Drifting Sun Sound and mastered by Paul Miner at Buzzbomb Studios.
“The PR blurb for this debut recording compares this new Midwestern band with 1980s Dischord Records material. ‘Yeah, right,’ I thought. I’m a huge Dischord fan, and there’s no way a modern band could replicate the magic of Revolution Summer and all the bands that were making music in our nation’s capital at the time. And particularly because Big Life counts Ryan Allen of Extra Arms in its roster. No slight against Ryan, I love his music, but he’s mainly known for his excellent power pop records. But damned if the PR isn’t right! This stuff fits in so well to the mid and late 80s DC sound so well that if these guys found a time machine and travelled back there, Ian and Jeff would be putting their records out.” – Paul Silver, Jersey Beat
The band recently shared their video for the single Your Truth. You can watch it via YouTube below.
Catch the band this Summer and order their EP here.
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