This Friday in Columbia, SC we’re performing one of our yet-to-be-released EPs in its entirety. We’ll play all five new songs from the EP back-to-back, sandwiched between some familiar tunes.

If you’ve been coming to our shows in the last few months you may have heard us talking about the “no one dies” rule we established for the narratives of this project. Well. That didn’t exactly pan out. We’re not going to lie, this is not the uplifting EP of the bunch. Nevertheless, we’re excited to share these five new songs with you and their story. You’ll meet Diana and Roman Bright; a family of rumored Pagans living in seclusion in the Lexington woods of 1952, until a grisly crime thrusts them into the spotlight and turns the community on its head.

Not to disappoint or mislead, the EP will not yet be for sale at this show. This is a live performance preview of songs slated to be recorded in May for a release later in 2012.

We’re also very excited to be playing with Timshel, an eclectic Columbia band whose trombonist, Catherine Allgrim, will be joining us for a few songs on Friday. Opening the show is the charming Nashville, Tennessee’s duo, Channing & Quinn, who will be bringing us to Nashville for a show on August 3, 2012.

We hope to see you there!

- The Restoration

The Restoration, Timshell, Channing & Quinn
April 27, 2012 | New Brookland Tavern
8pm | $7 over 21, $10 under 21 | RSVP on Facebook

This Friday, March 9, we’re releasing “You Know What to Do” at the Scene SC Sampler Release. It’s our first new song since Constance came out in 2010.

The song is already available to stream and download on bandcamp, but Friday it will be out on CD, professionally packaged, bearing Nate Puza‘s phenomenal artwork and bundled with twenty other fantastic regional artists.

At the helm of the recording is Cory Plaugh, an accomplished producer who has recorded hundreds of regional artists and recently completed a national release for Universal Records. Cory, who mastered Constance, recorded and mixed “You Know What To Do” from an unaltered live performance by Adam, Aleks, Daniel and Sharon at his Plaugh’s House studio. Lauren’s violin part was recorded separately in a single take.

Paying homage to the technique Phil Spector made famous in the 1960s, Cory and the band achieved all reverb and echo effects by blasting the dry mix from a set of speakers and recording the sound from a mic in the studio stairway.

“You Know What to Do” is the first single from our upcoming Triple EP project, due later in 2012, and the next installment in our series of concept albums about the American South and its infamous brand of social tension. The single belongs to the EP set between the 1960s and present day. Songs from other EPs in the project will stretch back as far as the early 1800s and utilize a range of aesthetics, from clawhammer banjo and lone vocal balladry, to Delta Blues and rock ‘n’ roll.

We hope you’ll stay tuned! If  you haven’t heard “You Know What to Do” yet, you can listen right here:

Talk soon!

- The Restoration

By Jordan Lawrence

David Stringer, the irrepressibly ambitious and consummately kind leader of S.C. music blog Scene SC, knows his state. He’s also quick to defend it. In December when Shuffle released our top albums of 2011 Stringer quickly bemoaned the lack of a Palmetto presence — only two albums from the lower half of our coverage area made the cut. I will continue to defend that list and the editorial process behind it, but I respect his rebuttal. Every state should have a Scene SC. They’ve grown into a sort of kindhearted watchdog, a robust and enthusiastic music blog content to expose the interesting artists that operate in an underrated musical state. Their constant stream of news posts, interviews, concert reviews and album write-ups are a a valuable resource for anyone looking to keep up with the state’s music scene. South Carolina is Scene SC’s focus, and while their view on it sometimes has a rosy tint, they’re more on top of it than most any outlet around.

A focal point of this endeavor is the site’s annual sampler, the newest of which debuted today for pay-what-you-want download. Like its predecessors, it’s an exhaustive collection — 21 songs and 80 minutes worth of easily accessible S.C. jams. Notable names include Charleston outfits The Explorers Club and Shovels and Rope, Columbia’s Those Lavender Whales and Lexington’s The Restoration. As an entry point, it’s pretty wonderful. It’s almost entirely rooted in indie rock of the catchiest variety, riff-fueled rave-ups transitioning into well-twanged bar ballads and on to fetching synth-pop. It’s a touch monochromatic and a little bit exhausting, but for anyone in need of some infectious new tunes, there’s an overabundance here. Still, it’s not a complete picture of what’s going on in South Carolina. The rich fuzz pop and experimental rock scenes are mostly bypassed (They get their due on Post-Echo’s 2011 Future: YALL compilation), and some of it is a little old (Seriously, that Shovels and Rope song is from 2008), but there’s a lot to like here regardless.

To help you wade through it, here are five must-hear cuts from the compilation:

1. Company – “Opening Night”

“Opening Night” is the fourth cut from Dear America, a strident and purposeful slab of shimmering guitar rock and the second LP from this Charleston outfit. The selection is a fairly representative sample, alive with sparkling, Big Star-inspired guitar licks, potent hooks and a cheeky chorus about nervously taking the stage for the first time. The song is more composed than that premise might suggest, but it still moves with youthful energy.

2. Those Lavender Whales – “Exist”

Indie folk doesn’t come more charming than this. This choice cut from the Whales new Tomahawk of Praise LP will appeal to fans of twee and freak folk in equal measure. The shambling acoustic shuffle is propelled by banjo and upright bass, and its tone is cute and sweet. But the lyrics question our very existence, exploring the existential dilemma with winningly psychedelic metaphors. Sticking the landing between silly and serious, this song is sure to please.

3. The Restoration – “You Know What To Do”

In advance of their upcoming triple EP, The Restoration offer this new cut of revved up bluegrass bliss. Unlike most cuts that kick up Appalachian tempos with drums, this song doesn’t run ragged. Piano wonders through with erratic jazz energy as a precisely strummed banjo adds a double-time counterpoint to loud, lumbering drums. It starts as a bittersweet love song but soon contorts into a menacing break-up song that plays like a funeral march.

4. The Sea Wolf Mutiny – “A Watery Grave”

Columbia’s Sea Wolf Mutiny is among the more exciting new bands in the Carolinas. Their ability to marry arena-sized piano pop to dense, sparkling experimental rock is truly a thing of beauty as evidenced by their two 2011 releases — The Last Season LP and The Apple Tree EP. “A Watery Grave” is a standout from The Last Season, building from a macabre lounge number into darkly tinged stadium pop. If you’re looking for a “Next Big Thing,” the Mutiny is a solid contender.

5. Run Dan Run – “Box Type Love”

The rock of Charleston’s Run Dan Run is full of synth-accented tension, and they’ve never been better at it than on the new LP Normal. “Box Type Love” is one of the album’s best songs, grafting angular indie rock distortion onto a driving new wave beat, the cut is nervy and melodramatic in a way that actually feels real.

We’re excited to announce that The Restoration is releasing a triple EP in 2012! The first single from the project will be released on the Scene SC 2012 Sampler, out March 9.  The sampler release party (also on March 9) at Conundrum Music Hall in West Columbia, SC will feature performances by ourselves, Elonzo, and Co.

The 2012 release date for our triple EP will be announced in the coming months. In the meantime we are pleased to report that writing is nearly complete and our production team has been confirmed.

Each of the 3 EPs will tell a story from a different era of Lexington, South Carolina—the same fictionalized version of our hometown that served as the setting for our debut concept album, Constance. Though the project is not a sequel or direct continuation of Constance, one of the stories sheds more light on Reverend Samuel Harper, exploring his journey to the Lutheran Seminary in the 1850s, the burning of St. Stephens church, and the aftermath that bridges the gap between the 19th and 20th centuries.

The other two stories introduce new characters inhabiting eras stretching from the 1940s to present day. One focuses on a mysterious 1950s family living deep in the Lexington woods. Though gossip circulates among Christians in the town that the family participates in strange Pagan rituals, a grisly crime and highly publicized trial reveal the true nature of the family’s activities. The final story introduces Jim, a man living in 2012, and recounts his 1960s youth and long path to self-acceptance.

Stephen Russ, producer of Constance, will return to produce the project with The Restoration. Collin Derrick returns as engineer and mixer, along with Cory Plaugh. Each EP will be produced, recorded, and mixed to evoke the time period of its respective narrative. To prepare for these sessions, we’ve spent most of 2010 and 2011 recording live demos of our new material. The final versions of the songs on these EPs will feature mostly live performances and a combination of historical and contemporary recording techniques.

We can’t thank you enough for the words of support you’ve given us at shows, in emails, and Facebook and YouTube messages regarding Constance. When our day jobs and other responsibilities have worn on us, your support has helped energize our efforts. For those who have asked when our next project will be finished, we’ve appreciated your patience—since we’re fortunate to not have financial pressure from a record label or other third party, we’ve taken as much time as we felt we needed to write a followup that met our expectations and those of our production team.

Now that the project is in full swing, we’re excited to be able to check in often with our progress. Expect more videos, blog posts and tweets. Please leave questions or comments about the project below.

Thank you for your support and talk soon,

The Restoration

By Michael Staton

From the first few seconds of The Restoration’s latest album, “Constance,” one can tell it’s not the average Americana outing from a group of Southern musicians. “Thy Sword, Thy Shield” is the opening track, an acapella hymn that serves as an intro for the rest of the album, which proceeds to be a strange hybrid of rock, bluegrass and country.

The twist is the album is a concept piece that both celebrates and critically examines the culture of the South for better and worse. Subjects like racial prejudice are examined with regret but in a way that seeks to understand how these things can be understood and overcome. The Restoration will play most of “Constance” at McGee’s Irish Pub this weekend and vocalist/guitarist Daniel Machado looks forward to presenting stories that sound like they’re straight from the nineteenth century but are just as applicable today.

“I got to a point where I realized I had witnessed much more racism than I thought as I was growing up,” Machado said. “There are reasons behind every ideology, but I wanted to find out why the attitudes and language during William Faulkner’s time haven’t changed that much.”

“Constance” is storytelling music at its most literal, a collection of tales told through the eyes of several different characters that all disagree. Machado said he and his band take full responsibility for the music and lyrics contained within “Constance,” but he hopes audiences keep in mind that the album is the culmination of each member presenting multiple viewpoints. One of the album’s biggest subjects is slavery and, through research, Machado found multiple instances of the Bible being used to both support and admonish slavery. Machado said the gray area that forms between these two sides is what ultimately shaped “Constance.”

While Machado said the band almost certainly won’t play some of the heavier material from the album, such as “The Lynching,” he believes most of the tracks on the album are fair game. The trick is finding covers that somehow fit in with the band’s original material. He said the band was surprised to find that even Beatles covers like “Come Together” could be used as a way of linking the past to the present.

“You can trace so much from modern music back to the songs that got passed around before recording existed,” Machado said. “Covers reveal those similarities when you’re playing them in a classic way with classic instruments.”

The band’s approach to music isn’t the only thing that harkens back to the nineteenth century. Machado and the rest of the band also dress the part by using period style clothing. Machado said the clothing is just another way the band separates itself from the characters so that the music becomes less “confessional” for them in front of an audience.

The themes and messages found within “Constance” have not just been enjoyed by Restoration fans. Francis Marion University, Spartanburg Methodist College and even Anderson’s own New Covenant School have used the album to discuss race and gender issues. Although Machado and the band never expected this kind of attention, he sees it as validation of their work.

“It’s mind blowing because the classes ‘Constance’ is used in are the ones that inspired us to make it,” Machado said. “It feels like I’m satisfying something I set out to do more than ten years ago.”

THE ESSENTIALS WITH DANIEL MACHADO OF THE RESTORATION

Essential Album: “Magazine” by Jump Little Children. It’s the first time I had ever heard anything that lush. It sucked me in.

Essential Song: “When We Fell” by David Bazan. It’s about two people wedged apart by different interpretations of the same thing, which happens to all of us eventually.

Essential Concept Album: “Hedwig and the Angry Inch.” It’s technically a musical, but it’s a concept album at the same time. It blurs the line between both which is why it stands out.

Sat., Jan. 21, 2012 in Anderson, SC we’re playing a show with The Fire Tonight at McGee’s Irish Pub.

We’ve been through a lot with The Fire Tonight. Their own Collin Derrick and Stephen Russ produced, engineered and mixed our debut album, Constance. Before that they rescued and looked after Daniel for three days when his car broke down after a gig at McGee’s—the very venue that will see our bands reunite on stage for the first time in years.

This show will be The Fire Tonight’s first down south since releasing their harrowing and sonically experimental new EP, And Then You Were Gone… in October 2011. Recorded in mono, mastered in analog, and comprised of stripped down a cappella numbers and piano duets, the EP is a interesting break from the band’s distortion-fueled prior releases.

Of possible interest to our readers, our own Daniel Machado contributed the cover design for the EP and traveled to Atlanta, GA to record several vocal tracks. The lyrics of And Then You Were Gone… explore profound personal loss, and Daniel took great care to carry the weight of the content as faithfully as possible in the look of the art and the delivery of his vocals. The result was a rewarding and emotional experience.

For our money, The Fire Tonight have accomplished a rare feat with this EP by exploring loss in a way that is distinctly mature and propelled by true musical and lyrical proficiency. We love plenty of teenage angst-ridden rock albums that tackle melancholy but the tone and execution of this collection of songs transcends the flaws that cause so many albums to age poorly with the listener. And Then You Were Gone… is what it sounds like for an adult to mourn. We commend The Fire Tonight on their accomplishment.

We are very excited to join them again on stage next week and hope you’ll join us. Check the shows page for full details and RSVP on Facebook.

By Patrick Wall

In the same way that Yoknapatawpha was the locus for William Faulkner’s most acclaimed and revered works, Lexington County is the postage stamp for The Restoration’s literate chamber-folk opuses, with the Vales and Owens and Palmers the band’s equivalent of Faulkner’s Sartoris clan. That The Restoration is often mentioned in the same breath as Faulkner is no coincidence — the noted author is a pronounced influence on Daniel Machado — it’s also high praise: What Faulker did for Southern literature, The Restoration does, too, for local pop.

[Original Post]

We spent two magical nights with the Explorers Club during the 2011 hurricane season playing shows in our respective hometowns. There seemed to be chemistry; even sparks in the air (it may have been the category 1 winds). As we set off to play our second two-nighter with them this Friday and Saturday we can’t help but think our relationship is growing into something grand.

It’s rare to meet another band with a such an obsessive desire for detail—theirs: pitch perfect 4-part harmonies and songs that painstakingly capture the greatness of mid-20th-century music (while feeling energetically contemporary)—ours: a penchant for performing in period clothing and killing off scores of fictional characters in the name of social commentary.

We’ve found it to be a match made in heaven. And if there isn’t a big enough matzo ball hanging out already, we’re going to say it—we love the Explorers Club.

Don’t take our work for it though. Here’s a track from the Explorers Club’s debut album, dubbed by Pitchfork as worthy of a long lost Beach Boys track:

And here’s a preview of their upcoming album, Grand Hotel:

Finally, we want to tell you how excited we are to be playing with new friends and fellow Columbia band The Sea Wolf Mutiny. We had the pleasure of playing with them at the 2011 Free Times Music Crawl and were blown away. This is absolutely one of our favorite regional bands and we feel lucky to have them in town, let alone on the bill for our show this Friday.

Please give them a listen:

For more details about each show, please visit the show page.
RSVP on Facebook for Fri., Dec. 9
RSVP on Facebook for Sat., Dec. 10

See you this weekend!