New York City outfit Maxband have released their debut EP Top Of The Stairs. The EP will be released on vinyl via Holm Front, a label run by U.K. indie band Sports Team. Maxband features lead vocalist Max Savage (Parquet Courts), bassist/vocalist Patrick Smith (A Beacon School), drummer Eric Read and lead guitarist Tim Nelson. The five-track EP was produced by Doug Schadt (Maggie Rogers, Ashe) and recorded in Brooklyn in late 2019 and early 2020. It follows their 2018 debut album Perfect Strangers.
Top Of The Stairs is imbued with an effortless confidence. Both their vocals and guitars oscillate between gentle and vehement, creating this satisfying contradiction of steady and unsteady. With shades of misty indie rock and driving post-punk, Maxband create something special out of familiar elements.
Maxband said of the EP:
The five-song EP is a fully collaborative effort. Each track began as a basic riff or structure that we all expanded on during rehearsals. Many of the songs had been performed live during the year leading up to recording, but it wasn’t until we got into the studio that the loose ends were tied to form a cohesive album. There’s a level of spontaneous creativity that only happens in the studio, and we thrived on the pressure to push these songs as far as they could go.
Listen to “Unsaid” and “Cut It Loose” below, and click here to stream the EP on Spotify. Preorder the EP on 12-inch vinyl here.
