Blame it on my ADD, baby

I recently discovered a band called AWOLNATION. There is very little information about them on the worldwide web. They have a website - music only, no info. You'll see them on Facebook, MySpace and iTunes (of course). You'll find them on many other small music blogs (like this one). That's about it. These are the facts I've gleaned from these few limited sources:

1. The mastermind is named Aaron Bruno, he's from SoCal and his former band was called Under The Influence of Giants. They released one album in 2006.

2. Their only available recorded material so far is a five track EP released in May of 2010 called Back From Earth. One of the five tracks is a remix of one of the other tracks. You can buy it for $2.99 on iTunes OR you can get two free download tracks on their website in exchange for your email address. (I recommend Sail and Guilty Filthy Soul if you choose this option.)

3. Portland loves AWOLNATION, due in large part to their being featured as the first band in local radio station 94/7 Alternative Portland's "I Saw Them When..." series.

The rest of this review is based on opinion and perspective:

I first heard the name AWOLNATION when I was listening to 94/7 on the way to work. They were talking about the upcoming show, which is part of a new series showcasing bands that are thought to be on the verge of breaking out. The idea is to make it a memorable and accessible experience with a band that may not be so accessible down the road. In achieving this, tickets cost a cool five bucks. The show was due to take place at Lola's Room, the little downstairs sister of the legendary Crystal Ballroom. I was intrigued. Then they played the song Sail. I was impressed. Then they played it over and over again during the subsequent weeks. I was obsessed. So were the station's DJs and thousands of their listeners.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. As soon as I heard the song, I bought four tickets on the pre-sale. Within a day, I think, they announced the show was being moved upstairs to the Crystal because it sold out immediately. Probably not more than a week later the Crystal was sold out too. It was about this time I spent the extra 3 bucks for their EP, only to discover the rest of it was as good as Sail. It was also around this time I tried to find any scrap of information I could about the band only to learn that seemingly nobody had heard of them despite the EP's release about 7 months earlier. Then I started to wonder if it was all a put-on, a pseudonym for an already established huge talent; nobody could make music this irresistible and fly under the radar for so long.

It wasn't a put-on and the show happened two nights ago. Based strictly on word of mouth and constant airplay, the house was packed and bouncing. People were excited the band was excited and the show lived up to every shred of hype that preceded it. I stood in awe that night, as I've never seen such a music-related groundswell grow from nothing. While I don't know if they'll end up amounting to anything, I really can't possibly see how they won't. If they do, I think they'll owe a lot to this city and its discerning listeners. If they do it will truly be an "I saw them when" moment for me.

I won't describe their music here but I will highly recommend it:

http://www.awolnationmusic.com/