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All Music Guide:
When Pseudosix broke up, frontman Tim Perry found himself disheartened by the apathy of the Portland music scene. As a response to the disaffected crowds he faced, he set out to create a band that would work as earnestly as possible to get out there and try to move people, and in 2008 he formed AgesandAges. Recruiting a crew of multi-instrumentalists that included former Pseudosix side player Kate OBrien-Clarke as well as John McDonald, Graham Mackenzie, Daniel Hunt, Rob Oberdorfer, and Lisa Stringfield, Perry assembled a team that would not only be able to realize his intricate instrumental arrangements, but also pull off huge vocal harmonies. Similar to his former band, AgesandAges have a pastoral, psychedelic sound, but the tent revival vocals add a layer of exuberance to the music that can combat even the grayest days in the Pacific Northwest. The band eventually signed on with Knitting Factory and began work on its debut with producer Kevin Robinson. The result was the album Alright You Restless, which was released in early 2011.
Wikipedia:
AgesandAges is an American rock band from Portland which has been receiving positive critical attention because of its upbeat "raw choral pop" sound. Their music features seven-part vocal harmonies accompanied by handclaps, shakers and noise-makers. It is a secular band with a big tent revival sound. The group was voted as a top Portland band by Willamette Week. In 2011, they signed a record deal with Knitting Factory Records and have been touring nationally in the United States.
Music
AgesandAges was founded by Tim Perry when his earlier band, Pseudosix, was disintegrating in 2008; early members were Daniel Hunt and Graham Mackenzie. The group gelled in 2009 with seven members. According to one account, it was Perry's conception for the band be a "joyful and choral" rock group without apathy and drama and with music which felt "good to play and made people move". Members are in their early thirties generally; members share responsibilities such as counting money and managing T-shirts. The band travels nationally in a 12-seat passenger van which has been modified to hold 15 seats.
AgesandAges performed at the South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival in Austin in March 2011. Their song "No Nostalgia" from their first album, Alright You Restless, was previewed on National Public Radio. The album was recorded "almost entirely live" with seven voices singing into a single microphone, according to one account. It sounds like "a group of friends who drive around in a van singing songs wherever anyone will let them sing," according to critic Ryan White of The Oregonian.
The reviewer Kevin Friedman commented on the band's persona, describing it as somewhat like a cult which values "commitment" and with an Up With People vibe and has a "sunny" sound. Friedman quoted Perry about his thinking about the debut album:
Friedman elaborated that the group draws "significant sonic influence from his religious upbringing" and that having seven members helps achieve a "congregation sound" even though the lyrics are basically secular thematically. Perry said the sound was achieved by "all the voices chiming in, that swell and spontaneous movement that grabs you," in an interview. In 2011, they released a video directed by Alicia J. Rose entitled Navy Parade. Their first record was produced by Kevin Robinson.
Reviews
Reviews have been positive from critics in the Oregon press. In addition, their music at the South by Southwest music festival in March 2011 was noted by critics from Boston and Chicago papers. Reviewer Casey Jarman in Willamette Week described the first album as "classic" which "sinks its teeth into a listener within the first five seconds" and which has a "joyful, electric spirit" which "seems almost comically out of place in a city full of down-tempo sad sacks". He described the vocal harmonies as "thick, tight-but-exuberant" and he wrote that "desperation breeds art with a pulse". He wrote:
