The ACBs are an American

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

band from

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

. The two constant members of the group have been lead singer and songwriter Konnor Ervin and bassist Bryan McGuire.

Band history

Early years

The ACBs came together in 2006 after many years of playing in and around the Kansas City area with shuffling lineups and under different names. They self-released the eponymous ''The ACBs'' in November 2006. The album is noted for its guitar driven,

pop-rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and ...

sound and the melodic hooks that comprised much of their early sound. In 2011 the band recorded ''Stona Rosa'' after Egan and Saladino left the band to pursue careers in Los Angeles, California. The album marked a more mature change in their sound and content and drifted away from the guitar-driven sound of their first album. They soon recruited guitarist Andrew Connor of the indie rock band

Ghosty Ghosty is a Lawrence, Kansas-based indie rock band formed in 1999. They are best known for their positive reviews by NPR, Currently the Ghosty lineup consists of Andrew Connor (guitar, vocals), Mike Nolte (bass, guitar, vocals), David Wetzel ( ...

and local drummer Kyle Rausch to fill out the group. The single "Be Professional" from the album appeared on an episode of MTV's ''

The Inbetweeners ''The Inbetweeners'' is a British coming-of-age television teen sitcom, which originally aired on E4 from 2008 until 2010 and was created and written by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris. The series follows the misadventures of suburban teenager ...

''.

Later years

In 2013 the band signed with

High Dive Records High Dive Records is an independent record label based in Kansas City, Missouri. It was founded in January 2013 by Jeff McCoy in order to release The ACBs album "Little Leaves" and has expanded to include acts from the greater Kansas City area as we ...

and headed into Westend Recording Studios in Kansas City, Kansas to record ''Little Leaves.'' The album displayed a variety of influences and the sounds heard on the album range from 1960s era pop to

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

. The conceptual nature of the album also addresses issues of depression,

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...

, and alienation inside of a pop music framework. Two acoustic ballads bookend the first side of ''Little Leaves'' and one of them, "All Over," was featured on an episode

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

's '' Shameless''.

Discography

References

External links

Highdiverecords.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:ACBs Indie rock musical groups from Missouri Musical groups from Kansas City, Missouri