Embassy rm: Loud Noises and Soft Touches - Indie Music Review

By Haleemon Woodard, Senior Editor, HOT INDIE NEWS.com
Date Published: August 29, 2007

Embassy rm: Loud Noises and Soft Touches - Indie Music Review Melbourne, AU- What do you do when you have a bunch of musos (that’s Aussie for ‘musicians’) hanging around uni bars drinking Peronis and analyzing what’s wrong with contemporary music and reminiscing about the late great artists? Well you form a band of course and create your own sounds, duh! And that’s exactly what Rome-based indie band, Embassy rm, has done. Ok, whatevs I made up the story but it sounds fairly plausible, don’t cha think? I have no idea how Embassy formed but I reckon I’m not too far off the mark.

A little Ramones, a little Fall Out Boy, and maybe a touch of Good Charlotte and voila! you have Embassy. Sal Salpietro (vocals, guitar), Ben Caruso (lead guitar), Valentino de Sousa (drums), and Joey Kiralla (bass, vocals) morph the trials and tribulations of their angst-riddled life experiences to guitar riffs, bass lines, and drum beats for your listening pleasure. It encompasses all including catchy beats and woeful lyrics (such as in Tilt The Bottle Back “You never really notice me”….Ahhhh, woe is me. You’re rockstars, quit your whining and take another sip from your street pop. No one believes you anyways. Don’t get all emo on me now.).

For the young and sexy, Embassy has their own version of a Music To Make Love To Your Old Lady By (Lovage) type song with Lock You Down. Now, I have to say, the diction is a tad too de…li…ber…ate for my taste (it’s like trying to stretch too few of words to match the tempo of the song. Better yet, you know when you’re drunk and you’re trying to get your point across but you’ve had one too many vodka shots and you really want to sound like you’re sober but end up just talking too damn slow and … hmmm, maybe that’s just me. Well anyways, it’s kinda like that) but the chorus thankfully makes up for it with its upbeat groove that gets you bobbin’ your head. (Despite the, errr, leisurely articulation of the first and second verse, Lock You Down is actually my favorite song on the album). AND it details how they get down when the lights are off (always a plus) which we all know makes for good listening (or rather good times for the recipient).

There’s even a cover of our favorite jailbird, Paris Hilton’s, single, Stars Are Blind. Loves it. I can’t really compare it to the original because I’ve only heard it a few times, but undoubtedly you can rest assured that the cover HAS to be better than the original (how many times do actually you hear that?). Come on now, I’m not talking out my ass. Paris records a song then ends up in the pokey. You thought it was because of her drinking/driving issues? No no NO! It’s because she foolishly thought she could be a singer (Shut up!). So therein lies the beauty of punk music. We love hearing covers of silly songs, it makes the song that much better to listen to. But don’t just take my word for it, even though, I’m like, the reviewer and stuff…have a listen, it’s hot.

If you’re lucky enough to be in Rome (Italy, not Georgia) on Sept. 27 (8pm), check out these lads at Rock Castle for the release party of their debut CD, Loud Noises and Soft Touches (You dirty bird, get your mind out of the gutter. There’s only one sex song, jeez). It’s always good to go to CD release parties because you can chat it up with the band and be that cool guy that says that you were just ‘Oh you know, chillin with the band’, and also catch Embassy while their still rising stars and then you can also say that you knew them back when they were underground. So yeah, book your flight and get to Rome already. Can’t make it to Rome? Well you suck! JK, I can’t either. Australia to Italy is too long of a flight but not to fear for the rest of you. Tour dates are already set and they’re scheduled to hit the UK and Germany in addition to Italy, with Malta and the US as possible stops as well. Damn, Gina! (Remember the show, Martin? Eh, nevermind). These boys are definitely up and coming, you better get in where you fit in!

Unlike other artists (scoff), Embassy actually has music available for download so you can listen to their sounds before the CD release party. That’s what I like to see, intuitive gents with their figurative finger on the pulse of today’s music culture. People like to listen to music before they buy (ok Metallica? There was nothing wrong with Napster. JK, Lars) and this is the way to go. Download Off My Knee from their Myspace page now so you can show up to the aforementioned CD release party (damn, are you reading???) and sing along... “So take your hand off my knee while you’re talking to hi-iim. You said ‘what are you doing, baby, where have you been’”


MORE INFORMATION

Get your Embassy fix here:
http://www.myspace.com/embassyrockmusic
http://www.embassyband.com