Ambulance LTD was an

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

group formed in

Spanish Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem or and historically known as Italian Harlem, is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City, roughly encompassing the area north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, Fif ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 2000. The band was founded by Michael Di Liberto and David Longstreth from Cleveland OH. Marcus Congleton joined about a year later and continued on with their name and ideas with other members. They signed to

TVT Records TVT Records (Tee-Vee Tunes) was an American record label founded by Steve Gottlieb. Over the course of its 24-year history, the label released 25 Gold, Platinum and Multi-Platinum releases. Its roster included Nine Inch Nails, Ja Rule, Lil Jon, ...

after getting positive reviews from their live shows and recorded their debut album '' LP'' on March 23, 2004 in the US and March 14, 2005 in the UK and went on to sell more than 100,000 copies worldwide. The band mixes the genres of

dream pop Dream pop (also typeset as dreampop) is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such as ...

and the British

shoegazing Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with "dream pop") is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volu ...

movement of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Their influences range from

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

and

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

Spiritualized Spiritualized (stylised as Spiritualized®) are an English rock band formed in 1990 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Jason Pierce (often known as J. Spaceman), formerly of Spacemen 3. After several line up-changes, in 1999, the band centered on Pierc ...

, My Bloody Valentine, and

Elliott Smith Steven Paul Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003), known professionally as Elliott Smith, was an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and lived much of hi ...

. The band has said that "their niche is not sticking to any particular niche" and that they do not want to be stuck in any

subgenre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a Category of being, category of literature, ...

of rock. An EP titled ''

New English EP ''New English EP'' is an EP released by Ambulance LTD on March 14, 2006 containing new songs, old demos from their first album, '' LP'', and a cover of a Pink Floyd song ("Fearless"). According to theiofficial website it was intended to tide ove ...

'' was released in March 2006. After the defection of keyboardist Andrew Haskell shortly before their debut LP was released on TVT/Island, Matthew Dublin and Darren Beckett also left Ambulance LTD to form a band called The Red Romance with the addition of Adam Chilensk on bass, leaving Congleton as the only remaining member. Lysaght and Beckett went on to tour with such renowned stars as

Father John Misty Joshua Michael Tillman (born May 3, 1981), better known by his stage name Father John Misty, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has also performed and released studio albums under the name J. Tillman. Maintainin ...

and

Brandon Flowers Brandon Richard Flowers (born June 21, 1981) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and philanthropist, best known as the lead singer, keyboardist, and occasional bassist of the Las Vegas-based rock band the Killers. In addition to his w ...

. Lysaght is credited with guitar credit on 8 of the 10 songs on Flowers 2015 album "Desired Effect" and writing credit on one. Dublin then went on to form Stranger Islands with Canadian actress Joanie Wolkoff. Congleton legally acquired ownership of the band name Ambulance LTD, and in 2007, Congleton was working with

The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. The original line-up consisted of singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. MacLise w ...

John Cale John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styl ...

in Los Angeles writing new material, none of which has officially surfaced. In 2008, Ambulance LTD hired a backing band consisting of Ian Fenger on guitar, Xander McMahon on keyboards, and Jeremy Kay on bass. They went on tour with their first performance at Middle East Downstairs in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

on April 2, 2008. Ambulance LTD were prevented from releasing new material after TVT Records filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whe ...

. TVT also attempted to sell artists' back catalog, resulting in Congleton, along with labelmates

The Polyphonic Spree The Polyphonic Spree is an American choral rock band from Dallas, Texas that was formed in 2000 by singer/songwriter Tim DeLaughter. The band's pop and rock songs are augmented by a large vocal choir, and instruments such as flute, trumpet, fre ...

, to file a lawsuit against the label and its parent company

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

in June 2008. Marcus Congleton now has a new band, Drug Cabin, with Nathan Thelen ex of

Pretty Girls Make Graves Pretty Girls Make Graves was a post-punk band formed in Seattle in 2001, named after The Smiths' song of the same name (which itself was named after a quote from Jack Kerouac's ''The Dharma Bums''). Andrea Zollo and Derek Fudesco had played t ...

and Moonrats. Andrew Haskell, now based in his hometown of Washington D.C., continues to write, record, and perform under the name Hask. He released an EP in February 2022 called "The Difficult Year" on Kind Warrior. Congleton also played with

Pearl Charles Pearl Charles (born May 11, 1991) is an American singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, California. Her sound is a melding of 1960s rock and 1970s cosmic country. Education Pearl Charles earned a BFA in music from CalArts. Music Pearl Charles go ...

. Ambulance LTD reunited for shows on February 7 and 8, 2019 at New York's

Mercury Lounge The Mercury Lounge is a live music venue in the Lower East Side of New York City. Like its brother venue The Bowery Ballroom, The Mercury Lounge is celebrated as an iconic indie venue due to its acoustics, its fostering and even launching of up ...

as part of the venue's 25th anniversary.

Band members

;Current * Marcus Congleton – vocals, guitar, songwriter ;Former * Michael Di Liberto – founder, guitar, bass, vocals * Matthew Dublin – bass, backing vocals * Darren Beckett – drums * Andrew Haskell – keyboards, backing vocals * Benji Lysaght – guitar

Discography

Studio albums

* '' LP'' (March 23, 2004)

EPs

* ''

Ambulance LTD Ambulance LTD was an indie rock group formed in Spanish Harlem, New York City in 2000. The band was founded by Michael Di Liberto and David Longstreth from Cleveland OH. Marcus Congleton joined about a year later and continued on with their name a ...

'' (June 17, 2003) * ''

'' (March 14, 2006)

Singles

* "Heavy Lifting" (December 13, 2004) * "Stay Where You Are" (February 28, 2005) - UK No. 67 * "Primitive (The Way I Treat You)" (June 13, 2005) - R&R Alternative No. 46 - UK No. 72

Music videos

Song appearances in film and television

In 2004, their song "Stay Tuned" was used in the opening credits of the film ''

P.S. PostScript (PS) is a page description language in the electronic publishing and desktop publishing realm. It is a dynamically typed, concatenative programming language. It was created at Adobe Systems by John Warnock, Charles Geschke, Doug B ...

'' In 2008, their song "Heavy Lifting" was featured in a scene of the film ''

Forgetting Sarah Marshall ''Forgetting Sarah Marshall'' is a 2008 American comedy film directed by Nicholas Stoller and starring Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis and Russell Brand. The film, which was written by Segel and co-produced by Judd Apatow, was released by ...

''. In 2010, their song "Sugar Pill" was featured in a scene of the film ''

Takers ''Takers'' (formerly known as ''Bone Deep'') is a 2010 American heist action thriller film directed by John Luessenhop from a story and screenplay written by Luessenhop, Gabriel Casseus, Peter Allen, and Avery Duff. It features Matt Dillon, Pau ...

''. The introduction to "Stay Where You Are" was used in the season 2 episode of ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into se ...

'', " As We Know It".

References

External links

Ambulance LTD
on Myspace
LP reviews

Interview about The Red Romance
on BYT {{DEFAULTSORT:Ambulance Ltd TVT Records artists Indie rock musical groups from New York (state) Musical groups from Harlem