As Cities Burn - Hell Or High Water (2009)

Artist : As Cities Burn
Genre : Rock/Indie/Progresive
Album : Hell Or High Water
Location : Lousiana, United States
Website : www.myspace.com/ascitiesburn
Label : Tooth & Nail Records
Description :
If musical progression is a dirty word, As Cities Burn will need to wash their collective mouths out with soap. The band returns this spring with Hell Or High Water, the follow up to 2007's acclaimed release Come Now Sleep, and there's plenty of that "dirty word" to go around. Completely leaving behind the band's heavier, sing scream past, Hell Or High Water still brings the rock, though the rock sounds a bit more mature, and it's in the purest, most unexpected way. Stand-out tracks like "Into The Sea" and "Made Too Pretty" find the band furthering the sound they perfected with Come Now Sleep, while offerings like "Capover" bring a welcome shift into uncharted waters. Catching up to peers like Brand New and Thrice, As Cities Burn have come into their own, and in the full scope of the band's career, Hell Or High Water will prove to be a cornerstone. The album was self produced and mixed by Brad Wood (mewithoutYou, Pete Yorn, Placebo) and drops April 21st, hell or high water.

Tracklist :
1. 84' Sheepdog
2. Errand Rum
3. Into the Sea
4. Made Too Pretty
5. Lady Blue
6. Round and Round
7. Petty
8. Daughter
9. Pirate Blues
10. Capover

Members :
Cody Bonnette - Vocals, Guitar
Colin Kimble - Bass
Chris Lott - Guitar
Aaron Lunsford - Drums

Press :

As Cities Burn - Hell Or High Water

Surviving or overcoming insuperable obstacles is often referred to with the slang expression, “Hell or High Water.” Ironically the alternative rock band As Cities Burn has chosen to title their third studio project after said expression, which releases April 21, 2009 on Tooth & Nail Records.

The band’s fearless leader since the release of their sophomore project, Cody Bonnette, connects the dots with the title and content of the album. “This title just sat well with my soul. It felt like a closed chapter in our book moving onto something new.”

Recorded in Cleveland, TN at First Street Studio over three months, “Hell or High Water,” takes the band in a new direction with more focus on creating an ambiance and musical groove as opposed to the previously recorded heavily guitar and scream-o-driven albums. Produced primarily by Bonnette along with the aid of Tyler Orr, Jae Ham, Robert Chisolm and Tyler Schwindt, the album was recorded to sound more similar to the band’s live sound.

“I was tired of songs that had so many riffs and changes,” shares Bonnette of the musical direction. “We wanted to create an album with that groove-ability that gets your head bobbing as well as your mind thinking.”

One such track that fits the goals of the album is the steady paced “Daughter,” which showcases a somber jazz feel with Bonnette’s sultry voice. “Made too Pretty” bears a spiritual correlation to being made in Christ’s image, “We bear your name and you let us say you are something that you are not...” . The song ends with the accusation that that humans don’t understand why they were created, “We don’t want a god we don’t see ourselves; don’t see we’re in need; I think we became too pretty so much we don’t see it yet.”

“Hell or High Water” is comprised of many tracks that will compel the listener to understand that people and things change. With that in mind, the band asks fans to come to their own conclusions on the meaning and significance of the tracks rather than being told.

As Cities Burns hails from Louisiana and includes Cody Bonnette (vocals, guitar), Christopher Lott (guitar), Colin Kimble (bass)and Aaron Lunsford -(drums). The band formed in 2002 and have released two projects on Solid State/ Tooth & Nail Records: “Son, I Loved You at Your Darkest” (2005); “Come Now, Sleep” (2007). The band has toured with Emery, So Long Forgotten and Jonezetta. www.myspace.com/ascitiesburn