CD Review: The Banner Year

“Remember that night you told me as long as I have faith in something I won’t be on my own?” - Bottomless

The Banner Year

TheBannerYear (2004)

This Saturday marks the final show for The Banner Year. Lead singer Jason Small is moving to… well.. not Texas. This is a pretty sad thing. I’ve made no bones about stating how much I really enjoy their music. But life goes on and I’m going to be standing there at the Red Eyed Fly this Saturday as they play their last chords as a band. Join me, won’t you?

The band has decided to have a digital release of The Banner Year’s fist album, 2004’s TheBannerYear. He sent me the songs, and I’ve been enjoying them for the last week. Now, the line-up from this album isn’t the current folks…. It’s just Small and others who he ended up working with.

But, if you have enjoyed the last two releases by The Banner Year (...And Straight On 'till Breakfast and What You Won’t Get) you’ll likely enjoy TheBannerYear as it’s the same style, same lyrical content, with some of the same self-deprecating humor for which Small is known.

Take, for instance, the first song, “Minute Of Your Time,” which is appropriately one-minute long. Then there’s “Circuits and Wires” which is where Small admits that he’s not quite human. “Night After Night” showcases Small’s signature slightly whiny voice (that’s a good thing). There’s a great cover of "Simon" originally be Austin ska legends The Impossibles.

The lyric I posted above the review is from the track, “Bottomless” which pretty much typifies a Banner Year song. It’s could be a break-up song. It could be a song about faith. It could be a track about finding a place in life.

The gem of this album has to be the final track, the ballad “I’ll Kill Everyone In This Bar” that leads off with the fantastic lyric: “Goodbye it seems our time is over now and I best be getting home because this bottle has run dry and if I have to be sober than I’d rather be alone.”

If you’d like to pick up a copy of this album, it’s being release electronically through Austin’s DoubleStereo.com. Follow this link to get it: http://www.doublestereo.com/items/the-banner-year-the-banner-year

And please join me in saying Goodbye to Banner Year at the Red Eyed Fly this Saturday November 13, 2010. It’s a good line-up with The Banner Year (midnight), Benny Versus The Beast (11p), Waiting For August(10p), Grenadier (9p),Oh No The Radio (8p).

Week 36 - The Banner Year - What You Won't Get

(This is week 36 of my 52 Austin CD Reviews in 52 Weeks Project)

“If I go to you by plane / will you be there / to unpack this baggage that I’m bringing. And if I call you on the phone / will you answer / to stop me from this selfish thing I’m thinking.” – The Barrier

The Banner Year

What You Won’t Get

Rock Army Records

“I need a new direction / I need to find which way to go” is how What You Won’t Get, the third offering from Austin’s The Banner Year begins. But I’d have to say, they’ve not gone a new direction on this offering. They’ve stayed the same course they’ve been on since their inception in 2004. It’s just gotten better with time.

These guys have been one of my favorite bands coming out of Austin for the last few years. I even interviewed them for the April issue of INsite Magazine. They’ve got that sound that is kind of a Green Day thing. Brilliant lyrics and music that is too rock to be punk and too punk to be rock. Plus, a vocalist who has a unique and quality voice.

What You Won’t Get offers up Jason Small’s jaded view on life in 14-tracks. Songs about losing love, leaving, about truing to find direction in life, and songs exploring his inability or lack of desire to care.  The clincher is, this isn’t full of simplistic lyrics over predictable music.

“Godsend” is a ballad that turns angry. “Where’s the Donut Palace”  is one of my favorite new tracks to hear live and they capture is well for this album. “Instrumental” has audio from a November 1998 X-Files episode. It leads nicely into the not-ready-to-settle-down track “Misfire.” The epic track “The Barrier” could be a shoe-in for radio play… if radio stations were tipped off to it.

My favorite track on What You Won’t Get is “Phase 3.” I think this could be the calling card of the band as well. It’s kind of a 3-part song that begins slow… speeds up… and then gets heavy. It’s the type of track that gets stuck in your head… in a good way. “Living it up in the same old guise / and we’re letting our lives just pass us by / we’ll have a beer and sleep away the winter.”

“At A Loss” completes the album on a high note with all the screaming and energy that encompasses the band.

The Banner Year released What You Won’t Get in April at an INsite Night at Red Eyed Fly.  You can purchase the album online @ DoubleStereo.com or at a show. They are one of the few local bands that are bent on making sure their performance on stage is as good as the music they produce. I’d highly recommend catching them live. The play in Austin next on June 25 at Red Eyed Fly.  To learn more about them, visit http://www.thebanneryear.com/.

The Banner Year includes Small (vocals), Josh Smith (Bass), Facundo LaRocca – (Drums), Michael Murray (Guitar), and Charlie Fisher (Guitar).

INsite Night #2 for May

ROAD TO THE BACKWOODS BASH

The Banner Year
Chartreuse
Will Evans Project
Michael Gibson



Featuring four bands who will bring Austin to Backwoods Bash (http://www.backwoodsbash.com) in Mannford Oklahoma over Memorial Day Weekend this year.

This show is the "Road To The Bash" where the guys are hoping to raise the $$ for the gas to Oklahoma.

We'll have giveaways... a raffle (Tickets $1 each or 6 for $5...
Prizes include
- $50 gift card for Spiderhouse
- $25 gift card to Eco Clean
- Grand Prize package from Backwoods Bash and the bands that will include a ton of band swag including t-shirts, CDs, and other stuff

Give these guys a proper Austin send-off.

Road To The Backwoods Bash - Rock and Raffle

Sean Claes Birthday Bash 2/9/08

INsite Managing Editor Sean Claes is turning 35 and we're celebrating with an all-ages show at Austin's Red Eyed Fly. Even if you don't know Sean from Adam (here's a hint... Adam will be the first guy playing at 8:30p.m.... Sean doesn't play piano) you are invited to see some of the best bands in Austin.

The line-up:

1. 12:30-Language Room:
   Winners of the Music Lab Battle of the Bands in December 2007
   
2. 11:30-One Eyed Doll
   Kimberley Freeman will surprise, interest, shock, hate, love, and entertain you... all in one song.
3. 10:30-The Banner Year
   2008 should be a banner year for The Banner Year. See them now. Ask me about "Monolith"
4. 9:30-Say When
   Bright, explosively energetic rock from Boston. Yes, Boston is invading Sean's Birthday show. It's OK.. Sean's been on the field at Fenway Park, he's made a snowman at Harvard... hell... his sister works at Harvard. Sean likes Boston. And, you will like Say When.
5. 8:30-Adam Donmoyer & The Naughty Bits
   R- Rated Alternative Lounge Music. Don't worry, he's not psycho. He's lonely and he only wants to talk. Yes, that is him outside your window.

In addition, the first 50 people in the door get a copy of the first INsite Compilation CD FREE.

Want a poster?