These United States was an American rock band from
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, and
Carrboro, North Carolina
Carrboro is a town in Orange County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 21,295 at the 2020 census. appearing at
South by Southwest
South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...
,
CMJ Music Marathon
CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...
, and
Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...
in the U.S., and the UK's
Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...
.
History
TUS' debut album, ''A Picture of the Three of Us at the Gate to the Garden of Eden'', was recorded by Elliott and producer David Strackany (known as
Paleo __NOTOC__
''Paleo'' may refer to:
Prehistoric Era, Age, or Period
* Paleolithic, a prehistoric Era, Age, or Period of human history
People
* David Strackany, aka "Paleo", an American folk singer-songwriter
Art, entertainment, and media
* ''P ...
Iowa City, IA
Iowa City, offically the City of Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is the home of the University of Iowa and county seat of Johnson County, at the center of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the time ...
, and
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
The album features musical cameos by a large supporting cast—notably, Saadat Awan, Dan D'Avella, Dave Hahn, and early TUS collaborator Mark Charles, now of Vandaveer. ''Picture'' was mixed and mastered by Chad Clark of Beauty Pill and T.J. Lipple of
Aloha
''Aloha'' ( , ) is the Hawaiian language, Hawaiian word for love, affection, peace, compassion and mercy, that is commonly used as a simple greeting but has a deeper cultural and spiritual significance to native Hawaiians, for whom the term is u ...
at Inner Ear Studios in Arlington, VA, and released on March 4, 2008. Track 'First Sight' had its UK debut on
BBC Radio 6
BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...
on July 14, 2008, and the album as a whole enjoyed favorable reviews from
The Austin Chronicle
''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogr ...
The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...
, and others.
''Crimes'', the group's second album, was recorded in Lexington, KY at Shangri-La Studios, six weeks after the release of ''Picture''. It was produced and mixed by Duane Lundy, with co-production by Rob Gordon and These United States (by then composed of Elliott and full-time band members Charles, Cosenza, Craig), and released on September 23, 2008. Paste Magazine,
Pitchfork Media
''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog.
Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...
,
National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...
, and others praised the album despite (and in many cases because of) its sonic departure from the group's debut. These United States recorded live sessions and interviews for
All Things Considered
''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...
WOXY.com
WOXY.com was a modern rock internet radio station based in Oxford, Ohio, and later Austin, Texas. WOXY.com relied mainly on its own website to reach its listeners. WOXY.com programming at one time was also available at lala.com and WVXU HD Ra ...
, as ''Crimes'' reached No. 30 on the College Music Journal Top 200 radio chart in late 2008.
In February 2009, TUS recorded its third album, ''Everything Touches Everything'', at Inner Ear Studios, with T.J. Lipple this time taking on the role of producer. Released September 1 of that year, the album proved TUS' most energetic and upbeat to date.
SPIN Magazine
''Spin'' (stylized in all caps) is an American music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione, Jr. Now owned by Next Management Partners, the magazine is an online publication since it stopped issuing a print edition in 2012.
Histor ...
sang its praises ('captures the overwhelming jolt of simply being alive...swings between a sleazy leer and a dreamy purr...deftly blurring the line between carnal and cosmic'), as Jon Pareles of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' weighed in on the band's live show ('superb...equally at home with quiet, morose tales and galloping punky-tonk adventures...a rambunctious alt-country band with story-songs that are both tangled and aphoristic'). Influential DJ and music writer Bruce Warren, of public radio station WXPN, called These United States 'one of indie-rock's -- no, make that American rock's -- best kept secrets.'
For its fourth album, TUS worked at Sound Mine Recording in rural eastern Pennsylvania. The resulting 10 tracks, produced by Dan Wise and TUS' Justin Craig, and featuring vocals by
Dawn Landes
Dawn Landes (born December 5, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She is originally from around Louisville, Kentucky but spent many years living and performing in Brooklyn, New York. As a recording artist she has released five f ...
, were released on July 20, 2010, as ''What Lasts''. /ref> The accompanying album tour included supporting dates with Fruit Bats, Deer Tick, Langhorne Slim, and
Bonnie Prince Billy
Joseph Will Oldham (born January 15, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded in collaboration with dozens of other musicians under variations of Palace (Palace, Palace Flophouse, Palace Br ...
, and continuing acclaim from ''The New York Times'', Pop Matters, and ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
''. Among its 180 live performances of the year were stops at Seattle's KEXP; Daytrotter's Barn On the 4th with The Walkmen,
Dawes
Dawes may refer to: Places
*Dawes (Parish), New South Wales, Australia
*Dawes Point, New South Wales, Australia
*Dawes Arboretum, in Newark, Ohio, U.S.
*Dawes County, Nebraska, U.S.
* Dawes Township, Thurston County, Nebraska, U.S.
Other uses
*Daw ...
, and
Justin Townes Earle
Justin Townes Earle (January 4, 1982August 20, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. After his debut, EP ''Yuma'' (2007), he released eight full-length albums. He was recognized with an Americana Music Award for Emerging Artist ...
;
La Blogotheque
Vincent Moon (real name Mathieu Saura, born 25 August 1979) is an independent filmmaker, photographer, and sound artist from Paris. He was the main director of the Blogotheque's Take Away Shows, a web-based project recording field work
Fi ...
Mountain Stage
''Mountain Stage'' is a two-hour music radio show, first aired in 1983, produced by West Virginia Public Broadcasting and distributed worldwide by National Public Radio (NPR). Hosted by Larry Groce from the show's inception until 2021 and current ...
.
2011 saw These United States scale back its frenetic touring pace to just 100 shows and festivals, as the band spent more time writing and recording in studios in Kentucky, New York, North Carolina, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Ontario. In 2012, the group released its fifth album — the eponymously titled ''These United States'' — featuring contributions from Deer Tick, Phosphorescent, Langhorne Slim,
Frontier Ruckus
Frontier Ruckus is an American band from Michigan. The project is centered on the lyrically intensive songs of Matthew Milia, and was formed by Milia and banjo player David Winston Jones while growing up in Metro Detroit. In 2008, the band releas ...
,
The Mynabirds
The Mynabirds are an American indie pop band founded by singer-songwriter and pianist Laura Burhenn, who was previously one half of the Washington, D.C. indie duo Georgie James. Burhenn formed The Mynabirds in 2009, and shortly after signed to ...
,
Cotton Jones
Cotton Jones (formerly The Cotton Jones Basket Ride) is an American indie folk band, with elements of psychedelic folk, dream pop, baroque pop, and Americana, based in Cumberland, Maryland and currently signed to Suicide Squeeze Records.
Micha ...
, Revival, Ben Sollee, Backwords, and Jukebox the Ghost, and co-produced at Shangri-La Studios by Duane Lundy, Justin Craig, and Jesse Elliott.
On October 11, 2012, frontman Jesse Elliott announced These United States' indefinite hiatus on the band's website. In his post, the band released a final, home-recorded track titled "I'll Bring You a Song."
Discography
''A Picture Of The Three Of Us At The Gate To The Garden Of Eden'' (March 4, 2008)
''Track Listing''
# Preface: Painless
# First Sight
# Kings & Aces
# The Business
# Jenni Anne
# Diving Boards Pointed At the Sky
# Burn This Bridge
# Sun Is Below & Above
# Remember Dear
# Slow Crows Over
# So High So Low So Wide So Long
# Only the Lonely Devil Knows
''Crimes'' (September 23, 2008)
''Track Listing''
# West Won
# Susie at the Seashore
# Get Yourself Home (In Search of the Mistress Whose Kisses are Famous)
# Pleasure and Pain and Pride and Me
# We Go Down to That Corner
# Honor Amongst Thieves
# Six Fast Bullets (Five Complaints)
# Heaven Can Wait
# Study the Moon
# Those Low Country Girls
# Old John Chapman Takes a Good Long Walk
# When You're Traveling at the Speed of Light
''Everything Touches Everything'' (September 1, 2009)
''Track Listing''
# I Want You To Keep Everything
# Will It Ever
# Everything Touches Everything
# Night & the Revolution
# The Secret Door
# Conquest & Consequence
# I'm Gonna Assemble a City
# Good Bones
# The Important Thing
# End
# Good Night Wish
''What Lasts'' (July 20, 2010)
''Track Listing''
# Nobody Can Tell
# Dug Him in the Dirt
# One You Believe
# The Great Rivers
# Just This
# Life&Death She&I
# Ever Make You Mine
# What Do You Want With My Heart?
# What Lasts
# Water & Wheat
''These United States'' (June 12, 2012)
''Track Listing''
# Dead & Gone
# Born Young
# Let the River In
# Miss Underground
# Maps
# Two Gods
# Not Gone Tonight
# So Sweet to Be Back
# The Angel's Share
# The Park
# Vince
# Never Stop Falling