The music of Berry is a strange animal. But writing and recording over 100 songs in 7 years will do strange things to a band. In Berry's case it has resulted in some dense, delicate, graceful pop songs with a certain "Searching for Bobby Fisher" mentality.
After forming on Martha's Vineyard in 2002, Berry moved to Chicago in 2007 and made a pact to write and record one album every 2 months for an entire year - and offer them for free on the band's website. This nearly masochistic approach to music composition has resulted in an extensive catalog: Sunday Morning Radio EP (2003), The Manor EP (2004), Marriage (2004), Empathy EP (2006), Recovery (2007), Floundering (2007), Advent (2007), Deanimminevitabilitated (2008), InFORMATION (2008), Covery (2008), and most recently, Blue Sky, Raging Sun (2010).
The band's first for Joyful Noise, Blue Sky, Raging Sun, came about in an odd way... After years of touring in a standard-issue 15-passenger van, Berry decided to scrap it, and do something that seemed like a neat idea: tour by train. They took only what they could carry in their arms and on their backs. Along the way, they found an exciting new sound. At once other-worldly and classic, the album seems to bridge a gap between White-Album-era Beatles and the forward-thinking indie-rock of bands like Joan of Arc or Granddaddy. 
NEWS JNR welcomes Berry to the roster! (March 1, 2010) MAGNET MAGAZINE POSTS EXCLUSIVE MARMOSET SONG (July 31, 2009) |
