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This article is about the American rock band. For the country, see United States.
These United States
Jesse Elliott performing at the Local 506 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Jesse Elliott performing at the Local 506 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Background information
OriginWashington, D.C., U.S.
GenresRock and roll, indie folk, psychedelic folk, pop, garage rock, alternative country, psychedelic rock
Years active2006–2012
LabelsUnited Interests
MembersJustin Craig
Jesse Elliott
J. Tom Hnatow
Aaron Latos
Anna Morsett
Past membersRobby Cosenza
Mark Charles Heidinger
Colin Kellogg
David Strackany
Dave Wynn
Josh Read
Winston Yu
WebsiteOfficial website

These United States was[1] an American rock band from Brooklyn, New York, and Carrboro, North Carolina,[2] made up of songwriter and bandleader Jesse Elliott, pedal steel and keyboardist J. Tom Hnatow,[3] guitarist Justin Craig, bassist and vocalist Anna Morsett, and drummer and percussionist Aaron Latos. The band released five albums since 2008 via the Colorado-based record label United Interests.[4] In the five years since their formation, TUS has played 800 shows across the United States, United Kingdom, and northern Europe,[5] appearing at South by Southwest,[6] CMJ Music Marathon,[7] and Lollapalooza[8] in the U.S., and the UK's Glastonbury Festival.[9]

History

[edit]

TUS' debut album, A Picture of the Three of Us at the Gate to the Garden of Eden, was recorded by Elliott and producer David Strackany (known as Paleo)[10] in Elgin, IL, Iowa City, IA, and Washington, D.C. The album features musical cameos by a large supporting cast[11]—notably, Saadat Awan, Dan D'Avella, Dave Hahn, and early TUS collaborator Mark Charles, now of Vandaveer.[12] Picture was mixed and mastered by Chad Clark of Beauty Pill and T.J. Lipple of Aloha at Inner Ear Studios[13] in Arlington, VA, and released on March 4, 2008. Track 'First Sight' had its UK debut on BBC Radio 6 on July 14, 2008,[14] and the album as a whole enjoyed favorable reviews from The Austin Chronicle, Alternative Press, The Village Voice, and others.[15]

Crimes, the group's second album, was recorded in Lexington, KY at Shangri-La Studios, six weeks after the release of Picture. It was produced and mixed by Duane Lundy, with co-production by Rob Gordon and These United States (by then composed of Elliott and full-time band members Charles, Cosenza, Craig), and released on September 23, 2008.[16] Paste Magazine,[17] Pitchfork Media,[18] National Public Radio,[19] and others praised the album despite (and in many cases because of) its sonic departure from the group's debut. These United States recorded live sessions and interviews for All Things Considered,[19] Daytrotter,[20] and WOXY.com,[21] as Crimes reached No. 30 on the College Music Journal Top 200 radio chart in late 2008.

In February 2009, TUS recorded its third album, Everything Touches Everything, at Inner Ear Studios, with T.J. Lipple this time taking on the role of producer. Released September 1 of that year, the album proved TUS' most energetic and upbeat to date. SPIN Magazine sang its praises ('captures the overwhelming jolt of simply being alive...swings between a sleazy leer and a dreamy purr...deftly blurring the line between carnal and cosmic'),[22] as Jon Pareles of The New York Times weighed in on the band's live show ('superb...equally at home with quiet, morose tales and galloping punky-tonk adventures...a rambunctious alt-country band with story-songs that are both tangled and aphoristic').[23] Influential DJ and music writer Bruce Warren, of public radio station WXPN, called These United States 'one of indie-rock's -- no, make that American rock's -- best kept secrets.'[24]

For its fourth album, TUS worked at Sound Mine Recording in rural eastern Pennsylvania.[25] The resulting 10 tracks, produced by Dan Wise and TUS' Justin Craig, and featuring vocals by Dawn Landes, were released on July 20, 2010, as What Lasts.[26] The accompanying album tour included supporting dates with Fruit Bats, Deer Tick, Langhorne Slim, and Bonnie Prince Billy, and continuing acclaim from The New York Times,[27] Pop Matters,[28] and The Washington Post.[29] Among its 180 live performances of the year were stops at Seattle's KEXP;[30] Daytrotter's Barn On the 4th[31] with The Walkmen, Dawes, and Justin Townes Earle; La Blogotheque's Take-Away Show;[32] and NPR's World Cafe[33] and Mountain Stage.[34]

2011 saw These United States scale back its frenetic touring pace to just 100 shows and festivals, as the band spent more time writing and recording in studios in Kentucky, New York, North Carolina, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Ontario. In 2012, the group released its fifth album — the eponymously titled These United States — featuring contributions from Deer Tick, Phosphorescent, Langhorne Slim, Frontier Ruckus, The Mynabirds, Cotton Jones, Revival, Ben Sollee, Backwords, and Jukebox the Ghost, and co-produced at Shangri-La Studios by Duane Lundy, Justin Craig, and Jesse Elliott.

On October 11, 2012, frontman Jesse Elliott announced These United States' indefinite hiatus on the band's website. In his post, the band released a final, home-recorded track titled "I'll Bring You a Song."[5]

Discography

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A Picture Of The Three Of Us At The Gate To The Garden Of Eden (March 4, 2008)[35]

Track Listing

  1. Preface: Painless
  2. First Sight
  3. Kings & Aces
  4. The Business
  5. Jenni Anne
  6. Diving Boards Pointed At the Sky
  7. Burn This Bridge
  8. Sun Is Below & Above
  9. Remember Dear
  10. Slow Crows Over
  11. So High So Low So Wide So Long
  12. Only the Lonely Devil Knows

Crimes (September 23, 2008)[36]

Track Listing

  1. West Won
  2. Susie at the Seashore
  3. Get Yourself Home (In Search of the Mistress Whose Kisses are Famous)
  4. Pleasure and Pain and Pride and Me
  5. We Go Down to That Corner
  6. Honor Amongst Thieves
  7. Six Fast Bullets (Five Complaints)
  8. Heaven Can Wait
  9. Study the Moon
  10. Those Low Country Girls
  11. Old John Chapman Takes a Good Long Walk
  12. When You're Traveling at the Speed of Light

Everything Touches Everything (September 1, 2009)[37]

Track Listing

  1. I Want You To Keep Everything
  2. Will It Ever
  3. Everything Touches Everything
  4. Night & the Revolution
  5. The Secret Door
  6. Conquest & Consequence
  7. I'm Gonna Assemble a City
  8. Good Bones
  9. The Important Thing
  10. End
  11. Good Night Wish

What Lasts (July 20, 2010)[26]

Track Listing

  1. Nobody Can Tell
  2. Dug Him in the Dirt
  3. One You Believe
  4. The Great Rivers
  5. Just This
  6. Life&Death She&I
  7. Ever Make You Mine
  8. What Do You Want With My Heart?
  9. What Lasts
  10. Water & Wheat

These United States (June 12, 2012)[38]

Track Listing

  1. Dead & Gone
  2. Born Young
  3. Let the River In
  4. Miss Underground
  5. Maps
  6. Two Gods
  7. Not Gone Tonight
  8. So Sweet to Be Back
  9. The Angel's Share
  10. The Park
  11. Vince
  12. Never Stop Falling

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "These United States". Theseunitedstates.com. Retrieved 2020-12-30.
  2. ^ "These United States". Facebook.com. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  3. ^ Wang, Vivian (2015-01-12). "Of pedal steel and poetry: A chat with J. Tom Hnatow". Districtconsonance.com. Retrieved 2020-12-30.
  4. ^ "A Picture of the Three of Us at the Gate to the Garden of Eden / Crimes | Pitchfork". Archived from the original on 2008-11-06. Retrieved 2008-11-02.
  5. ^ a b "These United States". Theseunitedstates.net. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  6. ^ "Music News | SXSW 2013". Archived from the original on 2013-07-03. Retrieved 2013-06-15.
  7. ^ "Sonicbids Connects Bands & Music Promoters- Book Gigs and Bands at Sonicbids". Archived from the original on 2009-04-17. Retrieved 2009-01-29.
  8. ^ "Lollapalooza 2010". 14 July 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-07-14. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  9. ^ "Glastonbury Festivals -". Archived from the original on 2008-05-01. Retrieved 2008-11-02.
  10. ^ "These United States". JamBase.com. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  11. ^ "Multiple Matches Found - MSN Musica-picture-of-the-three-of-us-at-the-gate-to-the-garden-of-eden". Archived from the original on 2012-05-03. Retrieved 2009-01-29.
  12. ^ "Vandaveer". Vandeer.net. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  13. ^ "Inner Ear Studio". Innerearstudio.com. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  14. ^ "BBC Radio 6 Music - BBC Introducing with Tom Robinson". Bbc.co.uk.
  15. ^ "A Picture of the Three of Us at the Gate to the Garden of Eden by These United States". Metacritic.
  16. ^ "Crimes, These United States, Music CD - Barnes & Noble". Archived from the original on 2012-02-24. Retrieved 2009-01-29.
  17. ^ "These United States: Crimes". Pastemagazine.com. 22 September 2008.
  18. ^ "A Picture of the Three of Us at the Gate to the Garden of Eden / Crimes | Pitchfork". Archived from the original on 2008-10-20. Retrieved 2009-01-29.
  19. ^ a b "These United States: Pop's Particle Accelerator". NPR.org.
  20. ^ "Unique session recordings from today's best music artists". Daytrotter.com.
  21. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-02-10. Retrieved 2009-01-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  22. ^ "These United States, 'Everything Touches Everything' (United Interests)". Spin.com. September 2009.
  23. ^ Pareles, Jon (26 October 2009). "To be Seen and Heard All Around the Town". The New York Times.
  24. ^ "These United States". Brucew.wordpress.com. 3 July 2009.
  25. ^ "华体会体育登陆-官网地址". Soundminerecording.com. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  26. ^ a b [1][permanent dead link‍]
  27. ^ Ratliff, Ben; Caramanica, Jon; Holden, Stephen; Chinen, Nate (25 July 2010). "New CDS". The New York Times.
  28. ^ "These United States: What Lasts < PopMatters". Archived from the original on 2012-05-16. Retrieved 2020-02-18.
  29. ^ "Album review: These United States, "What Lasts"". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2017-09-16.
  30. ^ These United States - The Great Rivers (Live on KEXP). YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-09.
  31. ^ "Unique session recordings from today's best music artists". Daytrotter.com.
  32. ^ "These United States - la Blogothèque". Archived from the original on 2011-11-20. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
  33. ^ "These United States on 'World Cafe: Next'". Npr.org.
  34. ^ "These United States on Mountain Stage". Npr.org.
  35. ^ "A Picture of the Three of Us at the Gate to the Garden of Eden". Amazon. 2008.
  36. ^ "Crimes". Amazon. 2008.
  37. ^ "Everything Touches Everything". Amazon.com. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  38. ^ "Download the THESE UNITED STATES Single "Dead & Gone" Free Online; Unveil Self-Titled Full Length Track Listing « News « PureGrainAudio.com". Archived from the original on 2015-04-19. Retrieved 2012-04-02.
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