Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Changes

So... we've been laying low since our last show at Bunk Bar in November and a lot has happened since that time, here's a few updates.

Kickstarter. We made our goal and THEN SOME! We were able to raise about 1500 through the support of all of our generous benefactors. A huge thank you to all who gave!

The record. We are in the final stages, mixing is coming up this next week and we are excited have Beau Raymond behind the mixing desk. He's worked with Devendra Banhart, Little Joy, Laura Gibson, Dave Depper, the list goes on and on! He's a great guy and we're really happy to work with him.

So here's the big news... Altered line-up. Corey and Lee have chosen to leave the band to pursue their own musical project Lee Corey Oswald We are proud they are following their hearts and we are all still great friends. We wish them the best, check out their tunes!

Richard, Talia, Chrissy, Michael and I are working on new songs, putting together some great ideas for the new year and we have great excpectations for the year to come. 2010 was incredible for us, touring the West Coast, making great new friends with people all over, Valentines Day Prom with Sallie Ford, playing with so many great bands here in Portland, flying out to New Jersey and performing on A Prairie Home Companion, we've been able to share many great things and we are pushing forward into 2011 with more ambition and hope than ever before. Thank you for all the love and support!

We are playing again on Jan 13th at Holocene w/Arch Cape and Yours! On drums will be Scott Magee (Loch Lomond, Y La Bamba, DJ Cooky Parker) and on piano Alan Singley will be joining us. (Its also the day before my birthday.... unofficial partytime!) It should be a great night and we'll be "unveiling" a couple of new songs!!

See you all soon
XO

Friday, October 1, 2010

Monarques Tour Day 5

The fifth day of our second tour began around 11am when we all awoke in the living room of our mutual friend Jason’s house, scattered on his hardwood floor. We wanted to wake up earlier to check out some sights such as the Oakland swap meet where we all scored sweet deals last tour, but had to exchange our shopping misadventures for burritos and coffee to make the sevenish hour drive to Santa Barbara in time with some sort of nourishment in our systems. We finally ended up leaving around 1:30pm, right as the sun was beginning to drench us in our own sweat and cement our exposed flesh to the seats of our seven passenger van, “Lucille,” that serves as the vessel for the eight members of our party and our bags. I’ve heard about days in hell that were at least ten degrees colder than that day.

Besides the intense “UVs” from the sky the drive was notably smooth. California’s sunset on a clear September evening is strikingly beautiful. Picture a watercolor work of art so moving that it would make any artist never even consider picking up a brush. We drove down the 101 along the coast, gazing at the pinkish orange sky and wondering if we were real. We arrived at the venue just before eight, leaving us enough time before loading in our equipment to chug free band coffee and smoke away our exhaustion from the day’s “Californiadventure”. The show started around 9:15 and the first band, “Gardens and Villas,” started off the evening in an impressive way, throwing together several different modernist indie rock elements into a formula that produced an original and memorable sound. We played after them and it went pretty well. People were pretty responsive for a Tuesday night at a cafĂ©, and danced and sang along when the feeling called for some action. “Jared Mees and the Grown Children” played after us and sounded great as usual. They played a song they hadn’t previously played on our tour with them, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

When we ended up leaving the venue it was after 1:00am and we had to be in Fullerton, a drive that would take about three hours ideally, for a show at 10:00am the next morning. We contemplated throughout the night just leaving after the show, but could not slither out of the Motel 6 room we had previously booked in Santa Barbara. On the way to this particular crash pad, we ended up taking the van and trailer down a dead end street in a residential area. We were a bit frightened for a moment but our comrade and tour enthusiast James displayed dominance of the great beast, taming the old bastard back enough to cut a hard right to the nearest alley. Finally, around 2:00 am, it was lights out with a wake up expectancy of 5:00 am. If the destruction of western civilization doesn’t kill us, this tour is in high running.
Lee

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Day Four: Totes Emosh

Today we woke up (late) at the Opal Hotel in San Fransisco. I LOVE the Opal! Love it. I (Chrissy) tend to be the one booking the hotels and this one is always a pleasure to interact with. The people who work there are amazing. Super friendly, down to earth and hilarious. They have really helped us out twice now. Love them, can't recommend that place enough.

San Fransisco was fantastic. The band parted ways for half of the day and Talia and I had a BOMB brunch in the mission at a place called Boogaloos. We walked over to Delores Park and posted up under the shade of some palm trees. We were fortunate enough to see a buxom lady's breast fall out of her shirt AND run into our tour mates at the park.

The rest of the day involved ice cream cones and our favorite Oakland resident Mr. Jason Thomas Romero taking us up to twin peaks. We chugged the van up those San Fran hills and were rewarded with TOTES EMOSH views of the city and the Pacific ocean.

We piled back in the van and headed across the bay bridge into Oakland to reassemble the band and get set up for our show at Kermit the House. As we took the stage that night it was very apparent that out normal band vibe was NOT there. On every tour there seems to be a night where reality sets in and you realize that you are not invincible, that drinking whiskey, staying up late and sweating all day in a van is not what your body wants. Last tour this happened in Vegas. This time it was Oakland. I'll just say that the Oakland show was not our best. Memorable, but not our best.

BUT! All was not lost. The aforementioned Mr. Jason Thomas Romero saved the (my) night by giving me a glorious tandem bike tour of his neighborhood. So fun. Big thanks to Jason for his hospitality and general awesomeness. Thanks to Kermit the house for having us. Thanks Bay area for being rad.

And the van rolls on.

Hearts and Sparkles,

Chrissy

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Welcome to the Jungle. Caspar -> SFO

Descending into Caspar by van last night, the road had everyone in the band clutching their seats, wide eyed, preparing to shuffle the mortal coil. The road out of Caspar was no less dramatic, but after a truly jubilant night at the Caspar Inn, the gang seems less concerned about the realistic possibility of the van, the gear, and the Monarques themselves descending unwillingly into the Pacific. Lee sits on the swaying van’s floor with his headphones on, staring off, an actual living saint. Feet with their newly painted toenails are out in the breeze. We pass through Mendocino as a silly, zany, disheveled breeze and refuel ourselves in this little town set up above the sea. As we follow 101 south into a California heat wave, the folks in the sweltering back seat are reduced to wearing far more skin than clothes, and we sleepily roll through the Golden Gate’s sunny arches thanks to Rich’s unfailing skills behind the van’s giant wheel.

Photobucket lee wakes up

Photobucket Talia

Photobucket Mendocino

We’ve got a downtown hotel and rush from check in to the venue (Hemlock). After a few days and nights on the road, this is usually the point where you lug everything in, set it up, and just get it over with, but Jared & the Children prove that they are completely bigger than anything and bring a super energetic set that gets the night going on the right foot. They’ve got pro gear, they’ve got gigging experience, and dammit, they’ve got a pro ‘tude. These nights are becoming a spending mess of tambourines and microphones as Monarques and the Grown Children share the stage, and it’s simply good clean fun. (The author has to confess that he missed Social Studies’ closing set in order to trade his drink tickets for something from the top shelf, but regrets this choice after hearing from everyone else that they were great and completely sounded like angels.)

Photobucket Jared Mees Feets

Photobucket Hard Cor Cor

Photobucket Josh looks like Costello

In a maneuver that you shouldn’t try at home, after packing the gear out of the Hemlock, Rich backed the van, with trailer, down a one way alley into a four lane San Francisco avenue. If you’ve ever driven with a trailer, you might know that this is totally impossible and that I’m a liar, and that’s just fine if that’s what you want to think. Both touring bands pile into the incredible Tender Loving Empire ultra yellow airport shuttle bus machine thing, and after a sloppy but splendid rendition of The Lion Sleeps tonight, head to Beauty Bar to mingle with Portland musical comrades Y La Bamba and Typhoon, who also had shows in San Fran tonight. The bar is full, the energy is huge, everyone is struggling with mixed success against the fatigue, and San Franciscans doing things in the photo booth that I will not honor with the written word. By the time that last call forces everyone into the streets, a very patient police officer is needed to get everyone going on various their paths home. Javier of the Grown Children has the good sense and willpower to return to the bus using only cartwheels and proves that he lives his life just like he plays on stage.

There’s almost enough beds to sleep on. Most members of the band are accountable for. We made it here and made it through the night alive in one big, messy piece. This is fun.

- James

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Day 2-- Birthdays and Whorehouses

Today is the second day of tour, and more importantly—you know what? It’s my Golden Birthday. The big 2-5. I was initially skeptical about spending it on the road, but it has turned out to be pretty amazing. Everyone has made it that way by giving me champagne and whiskey and a tiny crown and-- best of all-- A GOLD SPARKLETOWN TAMBOURINE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD. Jared Mees and the Grown Children even sang me a birthday song. It went like this: “Biiiirthdays, birthdays! Everybody’s got a birthday. Birthdays, birthdays… TALIA CAME OUT OF A VAGINA!” Needless to say, I have a pretty big crush on all of them.

So. Last night. We slept 6 people in a room about the size of a bathroom. We’re getting pretty good at these situations. We have to, with 8 people traveling around in a 6 passenger Dodge Ram and all. Everyone woke up in a great mood today. We can probably attribute it to James (Luce), our roadie/photog/bestie/sanity coming trotting up from the van in a Monarques shirt and the tiniest shorts imaginable to wake us up. The good mood lasted all the way up until we hit HW 1 and had to navigate a 40 mile downhill, hairpin-turn-filled nightmare. Our van is old. Our brakes are questionable. Our trailer, “The Last Resort,” tends to act a little sketchy. Chrissy and Rich did a gret job driving, but we basically collectively held our breaths for about 2 hours.

Our destination was the Caspar Inn, a former whorehouse-turned-bar-and-hotel outfit that was straight out of a David Lynch movie. It could be decribed as “eclectic” or “charmingly kitschy” on a charitable day and “nightmarishly tacky” on any other day. That’s where I’m writing from currently, nestled in leopard print sheets. To give you an idea of how schizophrenic this place is, I should note that the two other beds in the room have Spongebob Squarepants and sheep-printed sheets, respectively, and that the vintage Art Deco print above my bed faces a framed Superbowl ‘87/Amstell Lite ad on the opposite wall.

There’s this thing about people in small towns. It’s as if the people who live in them make up for the low population by having the biggest and most bizarre personalities possible. Or maybe characters just blend in better in the city. In any case, they came out strong for our show. I could describe them, but you might not believe me. Truth is stranger than fiction. We managed to play and get upstairs into our beds without incident, and we’re now on our way to SAN FRANCISCO!!!! Stay tuned.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

TOUR DIARY DAY 1

Okay. So, I am writing this early on day 2 of our tour. We left yesterday at about 1 PM and headed for Ashland, Oregon. The vibe in the van was SO posi the second we got in. We are all super excited to be on the road together again. We are also really, really stoked that our good friend James Luce is with us. He is our number one, favorite photographer EVER, and a real sweet guy to be around. Our vibe was almost funny... Every hour or so someone would yell out something like, "It's so rad to be here together again." or "Fuck yeah! We're on tour again!" Ha, I guess sometimes we really like each other... At one point, I looked up from my sewing project and saw Lee and James adorably sharing one pair of headphones and rocking out to Mineral, Talia was reading a book version of the 1970's gang movie "Warriors", Mike was sleeping with his mouth open, Josh was taking care of something "important" on his computer, Chrissy was sprawled across the floor, and Richard was driving. I realized how different we all are. Maybe that's why we don't ever get bored with each other.
Next, James took pictures of us being insane. We immediately started making jokes and calling each other "princess". That passed the time nicely... When we arrived in Ashland we were ready to party. Alex's, the bar we were playing, was kind enough to put us up in a decent motel. So, we settled in, met up with our pals Jared Mees and the Grown Children (our touring buddies) and headed to the bar. We were greeted with huge bowls of salad and gourmet pasta! They even took care of the vegans! Free food is awesome... We all looked at one another and thought, "How could this get any better?" Both bands shared in the community dinner, and whenever someone stood up, everyone would yell, "Speech, speech!" It really wasn't THAT funny... but on a side note, let me tell you something that WAS funny..
- Wait. let me explain...
We were having a conversation about different ways to use corn, which led to different ways to use porn, which naturally led to talking about eating Playboys and discovering bits of naked women in your poo. This is a situation that Lee referred to as "Poo Hefner."
So anyway, the show was pretty cool. There were a decent amount of people there and both of our bands played well in the small venue. But man, did we get DRUNK. At midnight, Talia turned 25, so you could imagine that we got good and smashed. James even bought everyone a shot. That's like, um, $60 or something. (editors note - who cares about $60??) At the end of our night we carried Talia to the van and headed to the motel.. That's about the point where my memory draws a blank... I do know that James, Mike and I woke up in the van with my keys in the ignition with the van's battery dead. Also, half of my body was inside a pillow case... Anyway, we all agreed that it was a pretty great first day of tour!
We are currently driving over the boarder into California. We hid our three boxes of exotic bananas and braved through the fruit inspection point. Mendocino, here we come!
P.S. - Josh claims that he is going to write a new song on everyday of the tour. That's about as realistic as me actually updating this blog everyday of the tour... totes loves everyones forevs. -- Corey Ciresi

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

WE ARE COMING TO YOU!!


Our second West Coast tour starts on Friday! We've been super busy all month recording our new record, playing and hanging out at MFNW and now we are ready to hit the road!! We will be travelling with our good friends Jared Mees and The Grown Children from Portland and we will be in your town SOON.

Sep 24 Alex’s - Ashland, Oregon
Sep 25 Caspar Inn - Caspar, CA
Sep 26 Hemlock Tavern w/Social Studies - San Francisco, California
Sep 27 Kermit the House - Oakland, California
Sep 28 Muddy Waters Cafe - Santa Barbara, California
Sep 29 UC Fullerton (day show) - Fullerton, CA
Sep 29 Ace Hotel and Swim Club - Palm Springs, CA
Sep 30 San Diego - TBA - San Diego, California
Oct 1 El Dorado - Long Beach, CA
Oct 2 House Party w/ Olin and The Moon - Laurel Canyon, CA
Oct 3 Cafe Flo - Chico, California
Oct 5 Rotture with The Like (LA) - PORTLAND, Oregon
Oct 7 Baby Bar - Spokane, WA
Oct 8 Red Room - Kennewick, WA
Oct 9 Neurolux Lounge - Promenade Festival - TLE Showcase Boise, ID

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Progress


MFNW starts today!! This means we have been a band for one year... officially. We played our very first show all together for last years' Bladen County Records Showcase at rontoms and we'll be playing the BCR showcase again this year, this time at the newly christened BUNK BAR on Water Ave and Taylor. It's going to be a great show so come by and see all the great bands playing this Saturday. Here's the lineup:



7pm Sean Flinn and the Royal We
8pm The Parson Red Heads
9pm The Glib
10pm Ages and Ages
11pm Anders Parker
12am Monarques

The show is only $10 if you don't have a wristband so come down, eat Bunk sandwiches and watch awesome music!


Recording is going well. We start the second half of the album today. Paul was outta town for about a week and we had a nice break, but now it's time to dig in. We've got a couple of brand new songs that are shaping up really well and I cant wait for everyone to have a chance to hear what we are working on! The newest song, "All Night Long" is gonna have a full mini orchestra on the recording it's gonna be nothing less than epic.

We shot a live music video with our friends at Into The Woods last week and you can see the video HERE We perform "I Wont Cry" and "No Good" on the MAX train (Portland's light rail train). It's part of a MFNW series the guys are doing and it's great! The Y La Bamba video in the series amazing.... check it out while you're there!!

We have a show coming up at Doug Fir next week on Thursday September 16th with And And And & The Shivas. We are bringing the mini orchestra and it's going to be awesome!!! Cant wait!!

Lastly... we are broke!! We will gladly accept any help anyone is willing to offer us in recording this album we are working on. There are several "rewards" you can get from us for contributing... including dinner and a sunset watching session!! Check out the project HERE

Hey California, see you soon!!

XOXO

Friday, July 30, 2010

We got us new guy


So it's official. For those of you who don't know, our guitar player Jon has decided to pursue other interests and leave Monarques. We are sad to see him go but it's what he wanted and we wish him the best!! Taking his place on guitar is Michael Slavin (pictured). We've been working out new arrangements and things are taking shape really well. Come out this Wednesday - August 4th - to Mississippi Studios where we're playing with Yeah Great Fine and Olin and the Moon (LA) and check out what we've been working on! We go into the studio just a few days after the show to start our new record!!!!

xo

Sunday, July 25, 2010

RECORDING STARTS IN 3 WEEKS!!


RECORDING
It's been a while since I've updated the Blog or sent out an email (which is what I'll be doing later) so there are a few things to talk about. First off - we are getting ready to head into the studio with our good friend Paul Laxer (pictured). He recently engineered and co-produced Typhoon's "Hunger and Thirst" if you haven't heard it - well you should, right now. Amazing album. Anyhow... we're really excited to get going on the full length! We'll be spending the month of August writing arranging and recording, so come out to all the shows to hear the progress - we're really tearing the songs apart and trying to make them better.

MFNW
We are playing Musicfest Northwest again this year! Last year we played at Rontoms and it was our first real show, we played at three o'clock in the afternoon, it was great even though there were hardly any people at the bar. This year we'll be helping to christen the brand new Bunk Bar (Bunk Sandwiches)! It's gonna be a wonderful show with The Parson Red Heads, The Glib, Ages and Ages, Anders Parker and us! MFNW is one of the best times of the year and I'm especially looking forward to this year's festival. (We play Saturday Sept 11th)

TOUR
Right on the heels of MFNW we'll be hitting the road for THREE WEEKS with Jared Mees and The Grown Children. We are heading all throughout California, Washington and Idaho! So excited. Last tour was amazing and we made a ton of friends, I cant wait to go out and do it again. Hopefully we'll be hitting the road with a tour ep of some of the new material... Both bands are going to be playing shows at Doug Fir in the weeks leading up to tour, we are playing DF on Thursday Sept 16th with And And And & The Shivas - both bands are great!! Upon our return we'll be doing a show together with Jared Mees and the Grown Children at Rontoms on Sunday Oct 10th!! Mark your iCalendars.

UPCOMING SHOWS
WEDNESDAY AUG 4TH - MISSISSIPPI STUDIOS W/OLIN AND THE MOON (LA) & YEAH GREAT FINE

SATURDAY AUG 14TH - CHIMPFEST 2010 - Laughing Planet Woodstock Parking Lot 12pm-8pm This is a benefit for Sonaga Yong Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Cameroon - there will be music all day!!

SUNDAY AUG 15TH - RONTOMS W/DIRTY MITTENS AND RAMONA FALLS!!!

THURSDAY SEPT 16TH - DOUG FIR W/ THE SHIVAS & AND AND AND!!

XO

Friday, June 11, 2010

HOME.


We made it safely back to Portland on Monday, the van only broke down once and we had an amazing time! Thanks to everyone who let us sleep on their floors, showed us around, bought us beers, came to the shows, bought our shit, and partied down with us!! We are happy to now be friends with all of you.

For those we didn't encounter on the road, here's the scoop...

Highlights included:
Piedmont Cemetery in Oakland
Oakland house show with Shannon and the Clams
Winning $100 in Vegas
Underattended pool party/bbq in Vegas (pictured above)
Driving for 14 hours through the Mojave Desert to get to San Diego from LV in 100 degree weather
The beach in San Diego
Rich's birthday party shut down by the LAPD
Griffith Park in L.A.
Whole grilled chicken with homemade corn tortillas, black beans, roasted tomato salad at Midnight Tacos in LA
Rooftop Karaoke
Beachwood Canyon
San Francisco - The Paris of the United States (thanks Jeffrey)
Fuel pump bursts open and gas spilling onto the highway
The van doesn't explode!
Miss our Saturday night show in Chico, instad we spend the night in a crappy motel
Rich and Jon get us back on the road in one day and for $50
Make up for missing Saturday and head to Chico to play anyway
Drive all night
HOME.

Pictures are coming SOON!!

XO

Monday, May 17, 2010

TOUR HERE WE COME!

Tour dates (almost) officially announced NOW!

May 27th - Sophias - Davis, CA
May 28th - Kermit the House - Oakland, CA
May 29th - Bunkhouse - Las Vegas, NV
May 30th - Pool Party - Las Vegas, NV
May 31st - Tin Can Ale House - San Diego, CA
June 1st - TBA - Los Angeles, CA
June 3rd - McWorld - Los Angeles, CA
June 4th - The Parkside, San Francisco, CA
June 5th - Cafe Flo - Chico, CA

A house party in Oakland, a pool party in Vegas and 3 days in LA? NICE! We are really, really excited to play each and every one of these shows - if we end up near you come see us and say hello!

Our friend Jeffrey Dillon is coming along to take photographs, film and help out with merch etc... this is good news for everyone.

This week we're filming at the 28 Days in May house with some friends - we'll keep you posted on how it goes! I have good feelings about it.

ALSO on Friday we're playing at BACKSPACE with Shivas and Midnight Callers!! Don't miss this one - we've got new songs and it's ALL AGES!! Hell yeah.

The West Coast is the Best Coast!!

xo

Monday, May 3, 2010

Free Show this week!!


"Monthly parties in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, San Diego, Austin, Las Vegas and New York."

THE RUMBLE sends new bands on tour throughout the country providing good shows in good venues - it's a great way for young bands to get some exposure and get out in the world! Ferocious Few from San Francisco is the band on tour, joining them will be us and 1776 - also from Portland. Should be a great show and it's FREE!! Come out and say hello!!!!!!

THIS TUESDAY - MAY 4TH - HOLOCENE - 21+

xo

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Live from New Jersey...

Here's a video of us rehearsing "I Won't Cry" for "Prairie Home Companion"

I Won't Cry from Josh Spacek on Vimeo.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

NJ/NYC pictures NOW!


We had a blast on the East Coast. Check out our flickr page for the first installment of pictures from the road!

Sunday, April 11, 2010

N.J. Here We Come!!

So on Thursday we're flying out at 7am to Newark N.J. for Prairie Home Companion's Battle of the Bands. We've got our songs picked out and we're ready to give Jersey hell!

Honestly this whole thing has been really interesting. I've never been involved with such a large production - we've been sent detailed itineraries, instructions and further instructions. It's a little crazy. I'm excited to meet Garrison Keillor. I'm really looking forward to getting on a huge stage and playing our songs to thousands of people. I've always wanted to do that... I don't really care if we win or anything, it's pretty incredible that we get the chance to do this show in the first place. I'm really happy to have such a great band, we have a pretty good time together, and I'm stoked to get the chance to perform on an American Institution.

Stay tuned for travel updates, pictures and video from the trip!

Wish us luck.

Josh

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Check out the Competition!


Prairie Home Companion announces the contestants for this years "BATTLE OF THE BANDS"

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Garrison Keillor and Monarques pt. 1


So I just got off the phone with a woman who works for Garrison Keillor and Prairie Home Companion. Monarques is one of 5 bands chosen to perform for GK's "Battle of the Bands" at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center live on NPR on April 17th. WHAAAAATT!!?? Yeah. We get to play 3 songs in front of 3000 people and be broadcast around the world. This is craziness.

if it's good enough for Elvis Costello...

xo

Monday, March 29, 2010

TED talks

TED.com has an endless supply of new ideas presented by top thinkers and innovators from all over the world. They record the talks from the various conferences TED holds each year. Technology. Entertainment. Design.

Really fascinating and inspiring website.

Here's a link to the talk I just watched from young Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie.

"The danger of a single story"

xo
Josh

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Things I like

I'm going to now to use this blog for more interesting things than self promotion.

#1
Vice Magazine finds the last two people living in a remote area of Northeastern Alaska. Pretty non-intrusive as far as Vice style goes and really cool guy for being a weird isolationist survival dude.

ALASKA IS BEAUTIFUL. BEARS ARE SCARY.

xo
Josh

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Mercury Love!

"Portland's Monarques churn out sunny bubblegum pop that would feel equally at home in a '50s sock hop as it would in a cramped basement show in 2010. What's most impressive is that Oh Captain, My Captain's Josh Spacek pulled the whole project together in just a matter of months. The seven-piece—which also includes a couple of female backing vocalists—takes the squeaky-clean elements of early rock and roll and sullies it up with a salty dollop of punk gruel. Monarques have been keeping busy with live shows, and released a self-titled EP filled with jangly guitars, piano, and harmonies that can make the sun shine in the deepest Portland basement. It's enough to make you shed your cynicism and take to heart what Danny and the Juniors proclaimed way back in 1958: "Rock and roll is here to stay." MARK LORE

Mercury loves us

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Cut of the Day - Local Cut


Some kind words from Local Cuts' Zack Klassen in yesterday's Cut of the Day Section of the Willamette Weeks Music Blog!

http://blogs.wweek.com/music/2010/02/19/monarques-angel-eyes-monarques-ep-self-released/

"Featuring playful piano, hopping malt shop guitar, and doo-wop harmonies, Portland’s Monarques effortlessly bring “Angel Eyes” from past to present."

Nice!

xo

Monday, February 1, 2010

New photos!

Thanks to our great friend James Luce for the photos!!



Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Willamette Week Review.


Rotture | 315 SE 3rd Ave., 234-5683 |
[OLD-FASHIONED ROCK 'N' ROLL] The rollicking pop songs of Monarques—the new venture for Oh Captain, My Captain’s Josh Spacek—don’t sound like they belong in the 21st century. On its debut self-titled EP, the band mines the piano-led luster of classic rock ‘n’ roll from the 1950s, coming off like Buddy Holly collaborating with Beulah. Spacek’s croon is perfect on tracks like the bouncing “Oh No,” and provides just enough drama to slower numbers like “Cold Cold Heart.” The Monarques have only been playing shows since September, so the fact that the band already has such a defined aesthetic is proof that sometimes all you need is a good song or two. MICHAEL MANNHEIMER. 9 pm. 315 SE 3rd Ave., 234-5683. $7.

Some of the details of this show got switched around, but that's OK!!

Our friend Jen Moon is playing now... (sadly the Nice Boys couldn't do the show)

Come out and enloy!!!

xoxoxo
Monarques