Spring Break
Taking Back Sunday brings 'new' energy
Listen Up!
Brian Washburn
Issue date: 12/8/08 Section: Lifestyles
Bands and musicians have had a long-standing relationship with "reinventing" themselves or, more specifically, their sound. And when bands extend the information about reinventing their sounds to the world, fans might become skeptical. However, Long Island rock band Taking Back Sunday have "reinvented" their line-up several times, as well as tweaking its sound a bit. And it never seems to disappoint.
The five-piece band - vocalist Adam Lazzara, guitarists Eddie Reyes and Matt Fazzi, drummer Mark O'Connell, and bassist Matt Rubano - have dealt with member changes and critics over the past decade. But with their fourth album, titled New Again, scheduled for release in April, and a new guitarist (who is also a contributing song writer), the band might just have found their spark to avoid slumping into the constantly changing music scene. But with an energetic new album to accompany an even more intense live show, it doesn't look like TBS will be going anywhere any time soon.
"Of course when you add a new member and you have a different kind of guitar playing, it's everything that comes along with a [change in music]," said Rubano in a phone interview. "But the great thing about it is that the thread running through the sound is Taking Back Sunday. We took another step forward, took chances and did stuff that we otherwise would not have pulled off or tried in the past. We looked at this record as a wide open, blank canvas."
New Again, the new blank canvas for TBS, features the much more aggressive guitar playing of newly commissioned Fazzi (formerly of upcoming rock band Facing New York).
Although the band has dealt with the departures of founding members Shaun Cooper and John Nolan (now both in Straylight Run) and replacement guitarist/vocalist Fred Mascherino (now working on his solo project The Color Fred), Rubano said the band chose Fazzi not only because of his stellar vocal chords and aggressive guitar playing, but because of the energy his gives to an already over-the-top band.
The five-piece band - vocalist Adam Lazzara, guitarists Eddie Reyes and Matt Fazzi, drummer Mark O'Connell, and bassist Matt Rubano - have dealt with member changes and critics over the past decade. But with their fourth album, titled New Again, scheduled for release in April, and a new guitarist (who is also a contributing song writer), the band might just have found their spark to avoid slumping into the constantly changing music scene. But with an energetic new album to accompany an even more intense live show, it doesn't look like TBS will be going anywhere any time soon.
"Of course when you add a new member and you have a different kind of guitar playing, it's everything that comes along with a [change in music]," said Rubano in a phone interview. "But the great thing about it is that the thread running through the sound is Taking Back Sunday. We took another step forward, took chances and did stuff that we otherwise would not have pulled off or tried in the past. We looked at this record as a wide open, blank canvas."
New Again, the new blank canvas for TBS, features the much more aggressive guitar playing of newly commissioned Fazzi (formerly of upcoming rock band Facing New York).
Although the band has dealt with the departures of founding members Shaun Cooper and John Nolan (now both in Straylight Run) and replacement guitarist/vocalist Fred Mascherino (now working on his solo project The Color Fred), Rubano said the band chose Fazzi not only because of his stellar vocal chords and aggressive guitar playing, but because of the energy his gives to an already over-the-top band.
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