Amongst the infectious labyrinths of instrumental math rock, California based duo FLORAL offer an enticing musicality that transcends styles and captures modern guitar and rhythmic virtuosity at its finest. Recalling legends like Toe, Don Caballero or even early American Football, the album captures the explosive live energy that has made Floral a favorite in math-rock circles. Today, we’re giving you its first official listen!
Floral are a two-piece, instrumental band from the San Francisco Bay Area. Their music is often categorized as “math-rock” due to their usage of irregular rhythms and time signatures. Despite this apparent technical edge, guitarist Nate Sherman and drummer Ty Mayer put songwriting at the forefront of their act. This lends itself to a very pleasant yet rewarding listening experience as the duo toys with musical cliches that create a compelling landscape between comfortable familiarity and unexplored sonic territory.
The Floral LP was recorded at by Jack Shirly at the Atomic Garden in Oakland California. All of the drum takes are completely live. The guitar amp was placed in the same room as the drum kit and you can hear the sound waves interact with the snare drum and reverberant properties of the room.
We really love how organic and real this record sounds while still allowing the technical nature to shine through. – comments the band.
Recorded and produced by Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Loma Prieta, Jeff Rosenstock), the album perfectly captures the bands live sound, and impressive musicianship that recalls contemporaries like Elephant Gym or Toe. In support of the new record, they’ll be embarking on a south west tour, culminating in an album release show at San Francisco’s Bottom of the Hill on March 6th.
This short LP essentially took 4 years to make. The Floral LP was that first Floral record that was written without us being in the same room. This proved to be a great challenge as we had previously lived together and were easily able to coordinate leisurely practices and work out song ideas. Most of the past 4 consisted of trying to find a new workflow that was efficient and could survive distance.
FLORAL are currently wrapping up another record with their other project Standards, with hopes to put out some new music this Summer. Both projects are hitting the road tonight and you can catch them live at the following stops:
2.15.20 – El Paso, TX – Love Buzz
2.17.20 – McAllen, TX – Yerbia Cultura
2.18.20 – San Antonio, TX – Limelight
2.19.20 – Austin, TX – Cheer Up Charlies
2.20.20 – Houston, TX – Warehouse Live
2.21.20 – Dallas, TX – Rubber Gloves
2.22.20 – Amarillo, TX – TBA
2.23.20 – Denver, CO – 7th Circle
2.25.20 – Phoenix – Sun Room
2.26.20 – Las Vegas – Cheba Hut
2.28.20 – Los Angeles – The Smell
3.6.20 – San Francisco – Bottom of the Hill
