Eternal Summers, Savak, Pinact, Bird Courage

"I've never thought too hard about what our albums should sound like before they are written. I just trust instinct to lead the way." That is the philosphy of Nicole Yun of Roanoke, Virginia based noise pop, power rock trio Eternal Summers. And if you haven't heard of Eternal Summers, you'll have a lot of catching up to do. On June 2, 2015, they will release their fourth full-length album "Gold and Stone" due out on their longtime label, Brooklyn based indie, Kanine Records.
Having formed in 2009, Eternal Summers has now been operating as the trio of Nicole Yun, Daniel Cundiff and Jonathan Woods longer then they did as a duo without Jonathan. Long gone are the days of the Roanoke based collective known as the Magic Twig Community that saw the handful of like-minded indie artists working together; but what has grown in place is a band that stands on its own, in the words of All Music, "The kind that other bands will look to for inspiration 20 years later."

With several previous releases, there has already been a lot said about Eternal Summers music. From the crafty minimalism on their debut Silver, to the dream punk sheen on 2012's breakout Correct Behavior, to the guitar driven power on The Drop Beneath, the evolution of Eternal Summers marks a band that embraces both anthemic rock and bittersweet ballads - a band that is grounded in jangle pop but with an added depth that rewards on repeated listens.

Last year's The Drop Beneath marked Eternal Summers first full length created entirely outside Virginia and as Pitchfork noted: "The Drop Beneath is the most pristine sounding thing that Eternal Summers have ever recorded" and "indulges their more anthemic side, and the results are solid." According to Paste Magazine, "Their brand of loose-hanging, guitar driven, hook-filled pop has tightened into a fist."

For Gold and Stone, Eternal Summers returned to the site of last year's well-received The Drop Beneath, Resonate Studios in Austin, TX and back into the very adept hands of engineer and mixer Louie Lino to create an album that ventured beyond the pop immediacy of their previous albums. Nicole says, "On this self-produced album, we wanted to target more lush and radiant textures, some classic rock riffs, some jazzier elements and some full-on punk snarl."

Nicole isn't exactly sure how influence happens, "Whether it creeps in or just bashes you on the head, I think we made it a point to be as open as possible. We love to listen to bands and think about how their albums came together. We were listening to a lot of Blur, early Radiohead, And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, Echo and the Bunnymen, Ryan Adams, Lush, Dinosaur Jr., Cleaners from Venus and Stereolab in the van on tour before writing Gold and Stone." You'll have to give Gold and Stone a spin to see whether you can pick out those influences or even find traces of the early Eternal Summers "dream-punk," but regardless, it's evident Eternal Summers shall not fade.

Eternal Summers never ending tour cycle has seen them play with The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Surfer Blood, The Presidents of the United States of America, Cheatahs, We are Scientists, Nada Surf, amongst others. They look forward to presenting Gold and Stone on tour throughout 2015.


Good evening and welcome to the cramped but official control room of SAVAK, an almost unprecedented contemporary rock music happening that began unceremoniously on the fetid bank of the Gowanus Canal (in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, on the westernmost portion of Long Island).

SAVAK formed in mid-1963 [2015 -ed.] by poets Michael Jaworski and Sohrab Habibion with Greg Simpson on bass guitar. Soon afterward, they were joined by drummers Matt Schulz and Benjamin Van Dyke (FYI: no relation to the other, more famous, Van Dyke) of the Rafael Nadal Singers. Habibion suggested the band name from an in-group euphemism for "hated and feared" from a previously misread line in Sue Grafton's internationally best-selling thriller, "A" Is for Albini.

The band's original core members have been joined at various times by a number of others, some of whom have played instruments before and even been members of other bands, including Dank Chuff, Thee Overheard Moans, Wonderfunk Soulpatch, Cuckoo's Nest Egg and Extreme Clapping. And their Wednesday night "Freshen-Up!" jam sessions shouldn't go unmentioned considering regular drop-ins from the the likes of Mr. Dranx (powered pedalboard), "Phil" Hamilton, DDS (trumpet & sax), Flemish Wish (rototoms), and P-cmd ©1975 (African bass harp).

Currently finishing up the last round of player piano and kick drum overdubs in Uncle Junior's private studio, SAVAK is looking forward to shopping it's debut album to the industry's top lawyers, local plumbers, and possibly a few well-heeled podcast enthusiasts, hoping to find the lowest royalty rate in the history of western civilization. Forging a kind of rock-biz synergy with earthy professionalism and a raw food diet, the boys should be enjoying a cultural unpacking so transcendent that even the quasi-desperate fling of an as-yet-unnamed executive at the online dating app that dominates the UK dating scene should be versed in SAVAK-itutde by Q2 2016.

In a scene filled with satire, self-satire, unintended satire, and the occasional satyr, SAVAK's often frank and emotionally political lyrics have caused a hostile reaction in some quarters, most notably the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The group may soon be referenced several times in the FBI file on the D-beat of Discharge, where an excerpt might mention ten or eleven songs from SAVAK's First Album that are "vulgar and repulsive." But the band remains unruffled and unflapped. They march on to the steady aerophonic pulse of their own didgeridoo with the exuberant sensitivity of a troop of eleventh-century Indian Buddhist sages.
"Nobody who lived through the '90s thought the '00s could've existed. So there's always hope."

SAVAK—often redacted, never paraphrased.

Michael Jaworski – vocals
Sohrab Habibion – vocals
Greg Simpson – vocals
Matt Schulz – vocals, conga
Benjamin Van Dyke – fiddle, harmonica, vocals


Bird Courage met in dark spaces under New York City and together are now forging a new pastoral-astral sound that is drawn from the heart, the land, and the stars. From seeds carefully planted in the heart of Brooklyn, their following is spreading quickly through the North East of the USA and across the Atlantic to the UK and Europe.

"Already raising comparisons to Simon and Garfunkel, Bird Courage play stripped down folk with earthy overtones. The band has an assuming presence with gentle strength in songs like “Blind in Both Eyes” and “Wind and Oak,” both of which conjure images of a gray, wooded forest in winter’s eve."
- Devon Antonetti, The Deli National.

“A Promising Flee is precious and delicate, moving and passionate. Each song is a pleading ode, a woeful cry, full of intricate acoustic guitar work and vocal harmonies so beautiful and gentle they seem to float away like big, airy clouds. If you like Fleet Foxes, you will love Bird Courage"
- Michelle Geslani, The Music Ninja

“…masterful acoustic guitar is present, as is the stripped-down yet musically rich folk sound the tracks showcase…The dual vocals lend variety to tracks, as the two alternate taking lead, joining together in rich, Simon and Garfunkel style-harmony.”
- Lauren Sloss, Indie Shuffle

" Like the exquisite marriage of Iron and Wine and The Tallest Man on Earth, their earnest folk instrumentation and introspective lyrics meld to form a sound that is warm and welcoming…"
Charity Painter, The Wild Honey Pie