AFTER THE FALL (2020)
“Singleton unleashes his inner Lou Reed on a clutch of glam Stones rockers…” Austin Chronicle
“I sure like the sound of this album…Great stuff.” Loris Lowe/ Austin City Limits Radio
“that Sideshow Tragedy grit remains intact, reflecting a new era and a new feeling.” Laurie Gallardo/KUTX
“8 out of 10 stars! Loved this record as much or more than the previous one.” Subnoise (Spain)
“Pour ma part, j’ai passé un bon moment à écouter et réécouter After the fall qui a bien du mal à décrocher de ma platine.” W-Fenec
“Neuf morceaux sombres et percutant dès la première écoute, mais dont la théâtralité est d’une justesse folle.”
Rock’in’Shake
“.. an embittered detour into Powerpop…lushly layered..funky…packs a wallop…” New York Music Daily
“After the Fall is another great rock and roll outing for The Sideshow Tragedy.” Twangville
“There is so much to love on “After The Fall” but what presses on your heart the most is the rock and roll candor here.”
American Pancake
“The title track sets the pace with punchy, tuneful verses and a power-chord chorus that’s as mainstream rock as anything the group has ever produced, without losing the taut lyrical edge that’s always been at the heart of their sound.” The Daily Vault
“Racy and endowed with open ears, digested influences, The Sideshow Tragedy brews and excels….a remarkable album.” Muzzart (France)
**** “Du rock’n’roll abrasif et intelligent.” Rock N Folk Magazine (France)
′′This album, After the Fall, is somehow the quintessence of rock from the 70’s to the present day. It may remind a thousand things at the minute, but through tracks, a strong identity emerges and the name SIDESHOW TRAGEDY is an obvious one.” A Vous Marques Tapage (France)
“a pure gem” Paris Move (France)
“emotionally charged” – Real Roots Cafe (Belgium)
Best of 2020 — No. 11! — Here Comes The Flood (Netherlands)
“The duo’s affinity for pop-rock bubbles to the surface on this album for a juxtaposition of darkness and bouncing light.”
Other Side Reviews (UK)
“There’s something visceral about this album. Something bestial. In short, a must-have in the rock world.” Maxoe (France)
THE SIDESHOW TRAGEDY Teams Up with Hand Drawn Records:
The View From Nowhere Drops Across USA & Canada on April 12, 2018
“The Sideshow Tragedy saga continues, as it would for any dynamic duo with a hunger that won’t quit. …The Sideshow Tragedy’s new album, The View From Nowhere, a gritty, unhinged jolt of blues-rock feels like it’s emerging from the searing wreckage of an apocalyptic frenzy. Singleton and Harrell are packing the matches and gasoline with no remorse.” Laurie Gallardo, Austin Music Minute/KUTX
“The sixth record by this duo teaming frontman and multi-instrumentalist Nathan Singleton with drummer and songwriting partner Jeremy Harrell in some ways recalls the bristling, evocative music that a similarly constructed duo, House of Freaks, created in the 1980s. Sideshow Tragedy fits loosely into the modern Austin indie scene, but they might have felt more naturally at home here in an earlier era, as their songs recall the glorious music made by underground rock bands in the pre-Nirvana era. The lyrics are dark, smart and sharp; the music backs that mood up with tones and textures that are consistently on an edge and pushing forward.” Peter Blackstock/Austin 360
“a charismatic hybrid of Texas roots influence and an unhinged garage-influenced moxie. As this duo prepares to release their upcoming new album, The View From Nowhere, they are tantalizing fans with a music video for the album’s first single “Nobody.”” The Deli Magazine (Austin)
Watch video here.
“Dark, lyrical and sepulchral, THE SIDESHOW TRAGEDY probably owes more to the Gun Club, as well as to Chris Whitley and 16 Horsepower, than to classic Southern-rock.. Give us more!” Patrick Dallongeville, Paris-Move
“An album that sounds as live as can be…it’s got a swagger to it…This is rock and roll with dirt under its fingernails.” Radio host Martin Bridgeman/KCLR/Kilkenny/Ireland
“..the group’s intense, poetic, at times apocalyptic blues-rock has never felt more current, more relevant, more powerful..The duo are joined again by ace producer Kenny Siegal [Old Soul Studios] on Hammond organ, while Singleton layers on bass and touches of slide, giving their sound an unaccustomed fullness without obscuring the ferocity at its core….The Sideshow Tragedy’s The View From Nowhere delivers a gritty-cool nine-song soundtrack to the apocalypse that almost makes you not mind it coming.” Jason Warburg/The Daily Vault
“Both lyrically and with regard to cadence this is the first songwriter I have ever heard to tap into the kind of Texas dust-soul that I thought was Chris Whitley’s alone.” Chillfiltr
“Singleton has a voice that close to Lou Reed…this album [The View From Nowhere] is for those who like to get lost on the dark and lost roads…” Laurent Therese, Nouvelle Magazine (France)
“Nathan Singleton’s National Resonators and Jeremy Harrell’s drums fill your brain and cause an adrenaline rush.” Rootstime (Belguim)
“This American duo [The Sideshow Tragedy] has blues rock flowing through their veins…. The combination of Jeremy Harrell’s tight drum work and the smooth guitar playing of Nathan Singleton has an addictive effect on this listener. Extra Plus is Nathan’s voice sounds at least as sexy and decadent as the voice of the late Lou Reed.” Koos Gijsman/ Popmagazine Heaven (The Netherlands)
“…one of the best albums I’ve heard in recent weeks….songs like “Lost time”, “Trust” , “Nobody” or “Long time coming” will not stop playing on your player.” SubNoise.es
“The duo of Nathan Singleton (guitar) and Jeremy Harrell (drums) attack their respective instruments, taking melody-driven songs and lighting them on proverbial fire.” Mayer Danzig/Twangville
“Listening to The View From Nowhere it is extremely difficult to come to terms with the fact that The Sideshow Tragedy comprises just two members in Nathan Singleton and Jeremy Harrell. …Indie, blues, funk and rock from a duo creating a sound far bigger than the sum of their parts.” AmericanaUK
“Playing roots rocks with an irresistible backbeat is [The Sideshow Tragedy’s] bread and butter. Nevermind that the lyrics deal with heartbreak (For Your Love) and other mishaps (Nobody), The Austin, TX based duo deliver what their band name implies: putting one hell of an upbeat show, using raw blues to harness their grievances and turn them into a celebration.” Hans Werksman/Here Comes The Flood
“exceptional…Gritty mentally stimulating cuts…These fellows have really outdone themselves this time. Top pick.” Babysue
RAVES FOR THE SIDESHOW TRAGEDY’S ‘CAPITAL’ (2015)
Diffuser.fm EXCLUSIVELY Premieres The Sideshow Tragedy’s new official video “Let the Love Go Down”!
“The track is a frenetic slow build; just when it seems like it’s about ready to explode, the Sideshow Tragedy remind you that they’re in control. The accompanying visuals for “Let the Love Go Down” — directed by Michael Craft — highlight that same calm chaos that is found in the song.” Chuck Armstrong, Diffuser.fm
High Praise for THE SIDESHOW TRAGEDY’s Fifth Album Capital
“a melting pot of gnarly, spicy tunes…a remarkable album.” Hans Werksman, Here Comes The Flood
“Spare, haunting and hypnotic tunes that serve up a sinister portrait of modern Western culture…eloquent…there’s a sense of urgency and intrigue that runs through the entire album, making it difficult to stop listening. Put this record on, and prepare for catharsis.” – Allie Eisler, Texas Music Magazine
“Drummer Jeremy Harrell pounds out a beat both Neanderthal-like and full of finesse. Nathan Singleton, meanwhile, owns what seems like 50 National Reso-Phonic guitars, and he’s determined to play every one of them at every show as he stomps his bootheels into next week. Concentrating on songs from third LP Capital, released last spring, the duo’s stick man pushes his partner’s strings into howl mode as he intones poetically political broadsides atop furious garage-blues. This is a thinking man’s rumpshake.” Tim Stegall/Austin Chronicle
..full of a raw, angry beauty. ..one fierce, cathartic song after another….“Keys To The Kingdom” opens with tribal thunder as Harrell executes a big, galloping drum riff before the guitar comes in on top with a sort of menacing rockabilly feel, and Singleton begins to speak-sing the vocals like he’s been possessed by the ghost of Lou Reed. It’s another edgy socio-political commentary that primes the engine for the frenetic “The Winning Side,” where Singleton discovers a fresh bloom of desperation in his vocals. ..Zeppelin-esque…Capital could just as easily have been titled American Apocalypse; it’s that ferocious, that grandiose, that intense.” Jason Warburg, The Daily Vault
Please read an excellent in-depth feature article in Pollstar about The Sideshow Tragedy here.
“Capital is addictive and explosive, ranging from gritty southern rock to punky blues… fiery tunes [with] lyrics evoking strong images of the lives of the 99% and the imbalanced scales of justice and wealth… The intensity and urgency of Singleton’s vocals are in yin-yang harmony to Jeremy Harrell’s energized joy.” Lisa Knight, No Depression
“The Sideshow Tragedy Bring Their Visionary Apocalyptic Blues to the Rockwood Music Hall May 22 at 11:00 pm. This usually sedate space is in for a serious jolt of adrenaline, tempered slightly by the fact that the new album is somewhat more spare and haunting than the band’s previous, often unhinged gutter blues attack. It’s a concept album, a sinister, brilliantly metaphorical portrait of a nation gone off the rails in an orgy of greed and mass desperation….Powerful…Best album of the year? One of the top handful, no question.” Delarue, New York Music Daily
“[an] exhilarating collection that grabs you by the collar and demands to be heard…reminds me of fiery ’60s Dylan, right down to the lyrical put-downs that seem dismissive and literary at the same time. “Capital” is actually most successful and when Singleton and drummer Jeremy Harrell are at their most unhinged: “Two Guns” is a definitive highlight, a sweeping blues-punk raver with shades of both the Black Crowes and the Black Keys (hell, maybe even Black Flag if you squint). Things slow down a bit on “Animal Song,” a matter-of-fact chronicle of “life on the edge” that feels like INXS filtered through a Springsteen-esque resignation toward life among the 99 percent. That track — like the album-opening “Number One,” a spoken-sung churner that recalls Lou Reed at his most disgusted — falls on the rock end of the the spectrum, while others like “Let the Love Go Down” are pure down-home blues. They handle both styles with aplomb, and merge them beautifully.” Pete Chianca, Wicked Local
“Singer-songwriter Nathan Singleton brings a raw and often cynical world view to the bruising new release from this Austin, Texas-based duo. Singleton, along with drummer Jeremy Harrell, brought their raw and feisty sound to upstate New York to record Capital. The setting apparently suited them well – the album erupts with a gritty guitar and ferocious percussion. I guess the Texas blues fits well in the Northeastern mountains.” Mayer Danzig, Twangville
“a strong display of thinkers’ rock and roll.” Jonathan Frahm, PopMatters
“Their sound –- stripped down to just Singleton’s acoustic and often amplified resonator, and Harrell’s robust drumming –- is grounded in blues punk, where less melody is more and songs are hypnotically groove-based. Vocals are nearly spoken and Singleton laces each line with lurking danger. His lyrics are a flurry of darkly-imaged vignettes, where the almighty greenback slithers among the haves and have nots.” Janet Goodman, Music News Nashville
“There’s power and finesse, and even subtlety within the arrangements of the nine songs here. It helps that Nathan Singleton is both a fine, expressive vocalist and guitarist. I can’t tell you that these tunes wouldn’t be better with additional players, but you won’t miss the extra instruments.” Bill Kopp, Musoscribe
“Throw The Stooges and Hell’s Kitchen, The Raconteurs, The Black Keys, in the blues blender, then pour that mixture in your CD player and you have The Sideshow Tragedy…The Sideshow Tragedy are at their best when they growl, burn, rage but then…the country flavoured and calmish Plow Song is very enjoyable too. A very strong album to be played loud!” Patrick Struijker Boudier, BluesMagazine
“The adventurous nature of these songs really sets the Sideshow Tragedy apart from most duos… The first track “Number One” is a balls-out bluesy asskicker. I’m more partial to things like “Keys to the Kingdom,” which falls somewhere between Otis Taylor and Slint–though much more kinetic than both…. This is not a quiet album, though Singleton and Harrell aren’t afraid to go straight acoustic if the vibe calls for it. It is, though, one of the most driven and energetic sets I’ve heard in some time. When the pedal is released even just slightly, I realize just how much adrenaline has been flowing.” Jon Worley, Aiding and Abetting
4 out of 5 stars! “under the inspiring leadership of Kenny Siegal..The Sideshow Tragedy masterfully delivers an album that fascinates from head to tail.” Bert Vethaak, Written in Music (The Netherlands)
“powerful… intense…A duo that makes sparks!” Michele Manzotti, Il Popolodelblues
“Sideshow Tragedy [‘s] brand of garage-blues is about as close to slash-and-burn primitive as it gets, with all knobs turned to 11. Their fifth album, Capital, finds Singleton stretching his writing chops, with the band turning in its most sophisticated disc to date.” William Michael Smith, Houston Press
“The Sideshow Tragedy, a two piece blues garage rock outfit out of Austin Texas, are about to drop their fifth album, Capital, on May 5th. Apart from the devastatingly deep grooves that resonator guitarist / frontman Nathan Singleton and drummer Jeremy Harrell cut in this record it may be the stories that draw the most blood. Singleton has vocal pipes a plenty filled with scarred desperation…Capital has an emotional gravitas forged out of historic injustices. Within it’s bad ass and big garage rock framework it contains 9 tracks full of morality plays, of scarred poetry inspired by real events.” American Pancake
“a remarkable album…raw, dark, sinister and energetic…” Eric Schuurmans, Rootstime, Belgium
“Singleton channels a little Lou Reed as the record thumps its way along its dark journey…serious ass kicking swagger…a rich driving punk energy fueled by defiance… Capital is a blue collar record….a place peopled by the heroes of tracks by Tom Waits, Nick Cave and Murder By Death, where the strong survive simply by surviving with a vitriol-fueled disgust. It’s loaded with dark and solid storytelling, and truly one of those records that leaves you feeling tougher for having heard it.” Ryan Cooper/Punk Music/About.com
“The house is on fire, baby!…Fierce, raw, often going to the marrow. Deliciously aggressive!” CtrlAltCountry/e-zine
“The Sideshow Tragedy come into their own with fifth album “Capital.”.. mesmerizing… Rock on, fellas.” Jeffrey Sisk, Pittsburgh In Tune
“Did The Black Keys ever sound sinister? The Sideshow Tragedy has honed the blues-rock guitar/drums duo to a fine point here, packing in energy, melodies, dynamics, and (yes) even some sinister vocal vibes.” Stephen Carradini, Independent Clauses
“Steve Earle tones with a dose of punk sweat in for the ride as well. They are an indie blues roots rock jewel… “ Mike Ritchie on Sunday, Celtic Music Radio
Nice mention for Wildflower Festival show:
“Austin two-piece Sideshow Tragedy took a bluesier, Black-Keys-like approach.” Hunter Hauk, GuideLive
Please read and listen to the Exclusive Song Premiere on PopMatters for “Number One” here: http://www.popmatters.com/post/191565-the-sideshow-tragedy-number-one-audio-premiere/
Watch an excellent LIVE VIDEO for “Two Guns” another tune on the new album, Capital: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faxObguOTQg
Capital is available to purchase on iTunes, cdbaby, bandcamp etc. and CRS (Continental Record Services) is releasing/distributing the album across Europe.
Watch a silent film teaser for new album here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbBk4kghWAU
Stream and/or buy in Europe here: https://continentalrecordservices.bandcamp.com/album/capital
For more info:
website: http://thesideshowtragedy.com
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesideshowtragedy
instagram: https://instagram.com/sideshowtragedy/
twitter: The Sideshow Tragedy (@sideshowtragedy) | Twitter
cd baby: https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/thesideshowtragedy3
Bio:
THE SIDESHOW TRAGEDY
Hailing from Austin, Texas, The Sideshow Tragedy is an indie blues-roots-rock duo.
Frontman Nathan Singleton grew up playing in blues clubs in East Texas as a teenager, where his dad was (and is) an acoustic blues fanatic and collector of vintage National resonator guitars. Nathan devoured old blues music, while at the same time, gravitated toward listening to rock, punk rock, funk, new wave, and legendary songwriters and musicians too numerous to mention.
Named after references in a Rimbaud poem called “Parade”, The Sideshow Tragedy has been captivating audiences with their “unadulterated energy” (KUT) and “distinctive, dark, and ultimately uplifting” (Austin Chronicle) tunes across Texas and much of the U.S. for over a decade, sharing the stage with the likes of Cheap Trick, Joan Jett, Black Joe Lewis, Bob Log III, King Khan and the Shrines, Conor Oberst, Joseph Arthur, Leon Russell, Foghat and Afghan Whigs. They’ve earned raves for their past albums and comparisons to artists as fierce and powerful as Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, Chris Whitley, Bob Dylan or The Waterboys, among others.
Singleton first met his songwriting partner and collaborator, drummer Jeremy Harrell in 2001 when he was looking to get a band together after years of playing solo. Singleton says, “Jeremy and I jammed a little bit, and he had a real funky thing going, and was hungry to play. We made a lot of different kinds of records (dabbling in alt country and narrative songwriting) and saw the band swell from its original duo configuration to a 3 and 4 piece band before trimming the fat and defining ourselves aesthetically as a duo with our last record, Persona, in 2012.”
Harrell cut his teeth in East Texas as well where he began his journey as a self-taught musician in his teenage years, buying his first (secondhand) drum kit with his last $100 at the end of his freshman year in high school. Jeremy says from the moment he and Nathan met, they had a “telepathic connection where we could just tell where the other guy was going and it felt great.”
Austin Live Weekly put it this way: “Only having two members in the band, it’s hard to believe how much noise comes forth from the blues-rock duo, Sideshow Tragedy. Singleton has the stage presence of Iggy Pop and Keith Richards combined, and he wields his steel guitar like a warlock, playing overdriven riffs with a feral intensity.”
QuigleyMedia 