A Delicate Bashing
NERD PARADE – A DELICATE BASHING
PERFORMER MAGAZINE
“The Nerd Parade, comprised of Randy Garcia, John Jacobus, Rich Wilson, Buddy Buttram and Abby Wren, offer up a debut full of smart, dancey, kinetic, electronica-laden indie-pop. From the first track, the record is instantly hypnotic and engaging as a computerized voice speaks the first sinister words over industrial soundscapes. But before things get too dismal, the vocals of Garcia and Wren gleefully announce, “No one’s listening to your shit,” and seconds later the listener is immersed in a full-on electronic dance party.
Thankfully, The Nerd Parade isn’t just a one-trick pony. The lyrics are clever, but in a goofy, underhanded sort of way: “No man is an island ‘less he’s drowning in a pool … If you want to hold ‘em you should try to shoot the moon / I know just when to fold ‘em like that Kenny Rogers’ tune.” And the music isn’t made up of just infectious dance tunes. A Delicate Bashing also contains soulful R&B slow jams, sleepy indie ballads, a good dose of ’80s synth rock and hooks that cover all the important genres.
And while The Nerd Parade has some decidedly art-rock leanings, even that label would be a bit premature. What’s truly amazing is how unpredictable and dynamic the album sounds.
The Nerd Parade’s well-researched romp through indie-pop’s stylistic catalogue lends A Delicate Bashing more of a solid footing rather than a branding of “pretentious.” Though having been recorded in various garages, bedroom and hotels during the course of four years, the lo-fi sound is almost non-existent. The best tracks on A Delicate Bashing would have to be “A Picturesque Sunday,” “Kenny Rogers Tune,” and “Crude Polygonal Space Fighters,” which sounds like a lost Radiohead track. This record is the one to take with you everywhere you go. (Headphone Treats Records)”
Review by Charley Lee
NERD PARADE – A DELICATE BASHING
INK 19 MAGAZINE
“The Nerd Parade is the brainchild of Nophi Recordings co-founder and multi-instrumentalist, Randy Garcia. Garcia and his quartet of indie pop-loving misfits recently released their debut album, A Delicate Bashing and fortunately for us, it doesn’t suck. This electro-infused genre-jumping CD combines jazzy R&B ballads with dance-y synth pop numbers and inventive pop culture references. The montage of musical styles makes it near impossible to classify The Nerd Parade, but Garcia’s programming skills and the decidedly lo-fi sound of the album would certainly suggest some art-rock proclivities and a soft spot for ’80s synth-pop. And there are certainly enough catchy hooks on this album to choke a horse.
The opening track, “A Picturesque Sunday,” begins with a Radiohead-like robotic monologue before bursting into the unexpectedly upbeat song, “Yr Horrible Stupid Life.” The robotic voice returns on “Crude Polygonal Space Fighters”, but there’s a good chance you’ll be too busy tripping out to the mellow trance-like music in the background to heed the lyrics. The soulful slow jam “A Bird’s Song” features vocalist Abby Wren, and why it isn’t a solid gold hit already, we may never know, but as soon as Wren starts cooing, it’s time to get the Kleenex. Some of the lyrics may seem childish: “and the earth may quit turning or some crap like that/ my heart is a waif but my feelings are fat”, but a thorough listen to the album would suggest that The Nerd Parade are actually subversive rascals masquerading as juvenile delinquents; a feat they pull off with exceptional ease.”
Review by Crystal Lee
NERD PARADE – A DELICATE BASHING
MURMUR MAGAZINE
“The latest in a barrage of North Georgia-based bands invading our personal space is The Nerd Parade out of Atlanta. And fortunately for our earholes, they’re really good. They’re a mellow 5-piece lo-fi pop band with some electro elements.
Led by Nophi Recordings label co-founder and multi-instrumentalist Randy Garcia, The Nerd Parade is obviously a project of careful craftsmanship and restraint. In my estimation, lo-fi bands of the same genre regularly reek of sloppiness, yet that is not the case here. There are no stray notes or unmotivated musical tangents at work, and the balance between the group’s live and computer-generated elements leaves no musical tension or desire for more of one or the other. It’s effortless to listen to.”
Article by Tadd Trueb
NERD PARADE – A DELICATE BASHING
CREATIVE LOAFING
Nerd Parade’s debut album, A Delicate Bashing, is an inventive slice of indie pop. It switches gears effortlessly from the jangling Grand Royal funk of “Kenny Rogers Tune” (which breaks into a country run on the chorus) to the frizzy Brit pop of “Kitten.” The vibe is effervescent and happy, even as the group explores the nuances of being a young adult trying to establish successful personal relationships.
“I’m into far too many types of music, and everyone in the band has such varied interests that I think we would just sell our compositions short if we didn’t explore the possibilities of these various styles of music,” says group leader Randy Garcia. He speaks from somewhere in the Northeast; the group is currently on a two-week tour.
Some Southeast music aficionados may recognize him as the producer who helps run the IDM electronic collective Nophi Recordings and records under the name R. Garcia. Born and raised in South Florida, Garcia relocated to Atlanta in 2006. “I broke away from [IDM music] just to take a break. I did seven albums in a row and went on a bunch of different tours all over the country,” he says.
Garcia conceived the side project that would eventually become Nerd Parade in 2003. He recorded several tracks with an unnamed vocalist who he says didn’t work out, and then found his current muse, Abby Wren. Together the two collaborated on what Garcia calls a coming-of-age album. “You’ll identify with a lot of the music in there if you suffered from the teenage condition,” he says. Although the subject matter covers “My So-Called Life” territory (the opening track is called “Yr Horrible Stupid Life”), the sounds are buoyant, silly and fun. “We want to convey a positive message.”
With the onset of live concerts, Nerd Parade expanded to include instrumentalist John Jacobus, bassist Rich Wilson and drummer Buddy Buttram. Formerly a solo vehicle for Garcia to express his neuroses, it has grown into a full-fledged band. “I’m already working on my next electronic album,” he says. “But I have no intentions of stopping doing the Nerd Parade stuff.”
Article by Mosi Reeves
NERD PARADE – A DELICATE BASHING
AMAZON.COM
“From start to finish this album wows me. The mix of electronic, jazz, indie and soul makes this album very hard to classify. BUT NOT HARD TO LISTEN TO. All-star tracks include Kitten, Ice Cream, Resolution Day, Kenny Rodgers Tune, Let It Go… I could name the entire album. What’s left to say, other than this gem shines brighter and more brilliantly then most? If you’re a fan of indie rock you must not let this one pass without buying and listening. \m/”
Review by M. Mihevc
NERD PARADE – A DELICATE BASHING
QRO MAGAZINE
Randy Garcia is the founder of South Florida’s electronic label Nophi Recordings, and has been creating his own electronica for over sa decade. Yet his newest project, the Atlanta-based Nerd Parade, has created a truly original mash-up of lappop, video games, R&B, electronic voices, powerfully expressive female vocals, country, disco, and the kitchen sink. What could all be a mess is put together wonderfully in the band’s debut release, A Delicate Bashing. An mélange of four years worth recordings in hotel rooms across the country, Bashing really isn’t like anything you’ve heard before, and that’s a pity, because it’s really very good.
The record opens with its most out-there concept, an electronic voice talking about life and video games in 1983 on “A Picturesque Sunday”. That voice comes back in the album’s middle, discussing life and video games in 1989 and 1994 to a slow electronic vibe in “Crude Polygonal Space Fighters”, and is then tacked on to the end of the finale track, “Let It Go”. The concept isn’t really annoying, but of all the sonic inventions on A Delicate Bashing, it is probably the least essential.
The most essential, however, is the soulful tone of fellow lead singer, Abby Wren. Her rich, jazz/gospel singer-like voice is a major force whenever it appears on Bashing. It unfortunately takes five songs into the record before she really comes through, but the wry country/R&B mash-up “Kenny Rogers Tune” is a real delight, with its catchy lyrics, great beat, distorted guitar solo, and infectious group chorus. Wren is at her most soulful with the grooving “A Bird’s Song”, which is really touching without ever going overboard, as well as the melancholy-about-the-past “Ice Cream”. The Nerd Parade are less ambitious with other Wren-fronted tracks, like “The Devil of California”, “Wide Asleep”, and the non-electronic main portion of “Let It Go”, but in none of those can Wren’s voice be denied.
This isn’t to say A Delicate Bashing slips when Wren isn’t at the forefront. Early track “Kitten” is some truly great lappop, melodic and flowing, with just enough driving and poignancy. The record is brighter with the preceding “Yr Horrible Stupid Life”, more indietronic-rock with the following “Smedley” (before going into a weaker acoustic second half), and hits a wawa-ing disco rhythm on “Outside” and “Spies”. All solid, these musical forays are still, however, overshadowed by the lappop of “Kitten” and the growing, carrying penultimate tune, “Resolution Day”, that, with the inclusion of Wren’s vocals, perhaps best sums up the record.
Most of the time, all music – even indie music – is just finding new ways to play the same old tricks, and all the listener has to choose from is which old tricks he or she wants to hear. That amazement of discovery one experienced when first getting into ‘music’ is lost, and never really makes it back. With Nophi Recordings, Randy Garcia has been releasing some mold-breaking electronic music, but with The Nerd Parade, he, Abby Wren, bassist Rich Wilson, and guitarist/keyboardist John Jacobus have broken the far sturdier indie-pop mold. A Delicate Bashing may be a little all over the place, but what a place they’ve found.”
Review by Jean Anderson
NERD PARADE – A DELICATE BASHING
COLORADO MUSIC BUZZ
“Now based in Atlanta, this talented group of quirky transplants bend and blend all manner of musical genre and emotion – very compellingly.”
by Melissa Axel, Editor
NERD PARADE – A DELICATE BASHING
MUSIC FOR AMERICA
“The Nerd Parade are a male/female duo who create some irresistible power pop mixed in with electronica and a bit of rock. A Delicate Bashing (Headphone Treats) is a quirky album that works very well, as if they were a more pop-friendly Mecca Normal. I say this because when I played the album, I could tell that this was a bit more… how do I say this? I can hear the minds moving between these two, at times locked in unison as if they were one, other times going off in their own words and unsure of where to go except forward. “Smedley” moves along at a bumpy pace, while “Kenny Rogers Tune” sounds a hell of a lot like Nikka Costa’s “Everybody Got Their Something” instead of being a tune about the former First Edition singer with a second edition face. The female half of the duo, Abby Wren, her voice sounds very familiar or maybe I’m simply comforted by how she sings. I could hear bits of Kim Deal, other times their music could be from the mushroom sandwich box of The Flaming Lips or King Missile (Dog Fly Religion).
There are times when I expected the music to go lo-fi, since some of the drums and rhythm patterns are from rhythm boxes and drum machines long gone, but they keep things sounding very professional. In fact, a song like “Outside” has Randy Garcia (the male half of the group) going into They Might Be Giants or Barenaked Ladies territory with its mix of great playing and pop craftsmanship, yet still being able to lure in listeners with something that result in something magical and quirky at the same time. Quirky, yes, but not strange or off-center. Yet The Nerd Parade are capable of moving off-center, if need be.”
Review by DA Bookman
NERD PARADE – A DELICATE BASHING
SMOTHER.NET
For some reason, pun-irific or not, when I saw the name “The Nerd Parade”, I instantly thought of Robert Carradine and Anthony Edwards’ role in the classic comedy “Revenge of the Nerds”. While all those horn-rimmed glasses images aside, what you have here is a melodic indie pop group that has female/male vocals amid a chorus of chunky guitars and electronic bleeps. Who can go wrong with that? Not many and the Nerd Parade prove that they’re no one-hit wonder with dashes of awesomeness spread about throughout “A Delicate Bashing”. Stellar my friends!
Review by J-Sin
