Generationals is an American
indie pop
Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...
duo formed in
. The duo, consisting of Ted Joyner and Grant Widmer, released their debut album, ''Con Law'', in July 2009. An
EP, ''Trust'', followed in November 2010. Their second full-length album, ''Actor-Caster'', was released on March 29, 2011.
Generationals
Facebook. Retrieved on 2013-04-08. The band's third album, ''Heza'', was released April 2, 2013 (their debut for Polyvinyl Records).
Biography
Ted Joyner and Grant Widmer were co-founders of The Eames Era
''For the designers who were the inspiration for the name of the musical group, please see Charles and Ray Eames''
The Eames Era were a Baton Rouge, Louisiana based indie pop quintet active from 2003 to 2008. The band first received broad atten ...
, a Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-sma ...
-based indie rock band whose song "Could Be Anything" was featured on the '' Grey's Anatomy'' soundtrack.
The band broke up when three members decided they no longer wanted to pursue careers as musicians. The remaining members, Joyner and Widmer, formed a new band called the Generationals, so named because as they often watched CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
's coverage of the 2008 presidential election as they recorded, the pair noticed that nearly every issue was dubbed a generational issue.
Generationals released their debut album, ''Con Law'', in July 2009 on the Park the Van label. Joyner and Widmer wrote the music and recorded the album with studio manager Dan Black.
Mark Deming of Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
said the album's songs "are good enough to not suffer in comparison to the vintage acts they so clearly love, and that's why this debut is worthwhile, even if you're not nostalgic for the era of the sideways haircut."
Andy Gensler of '' T: The New York Times Style Magazine'' called the album a "delectable debut" that "shimmers with the music of the British Invasion
The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of British culture became popular in the United States and significant to the rising "counterculture" on b ...
, Stax soul, Wall of Sound
The Wall of Sound (also called the Spector Sound) is a music production formula developed by American record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios, in the 1960s, with assistance from engineer Larry Levine and the conglomerate of session m ...
production, 1950s doo-wop
Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...
and California-dreaming jangle filtered through a contemporary indie-rock lens."
''Spin'''s Jon Young said that although the duo's "cheery facade ultimately doesn't overcome the gnawing desperation, ''Con Law'' is good, neurotic fun."
In a review of the band's song "When They Fight, They Fight," Zach Kelly of Pitchfork Media
''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog.
Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...
said of the band's style: "It comes as kind of a pleasant surprise to hear a band from N.O. sound this bright and enraptured in life's simple joys. But man, does this thing flirt with overdoing it."
"When They Fight, They Fight" was featured in a 2009 Bloomingdales
Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain; it was founded in New York City by Joseph B. and Lyman G. Bloomingdale in 1861. A third brother, Emanuel Watson Bloomingdale, was also involved in the business. It became a div ...
holiday commercial. Another song, "Faces in the Dark," was featured on a season 3 episode of '' Chuck''. "Exterior Street Day" was featured in a television commercial for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups at the end of 2010.
Non-album track "Either Way" was featured as the opening credit song during the 2010 comedy film '' Going the Distance''. The pair have completed several tours covering much of the U.S., and have opened for such bands as Broken Social Scene and Two Door Cinema Club.
Generationals released an extended play
An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record. titled ''Trust'' in November 2010. The title track was featured as a "Pick of the Week" by Starbucks Coffee in January 2011. The track "When They Fight, They Fight" is featured in the Farrelly brothers
Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly, collectively referred to as the Farrelly brothers, are American screenwriters and directors. They have made eleven films together, including ''Dumb and Dumber'', '' Outside Providence'', and ''There's Something ...
movie '' Hall Pass'' in 2011 and also in a 2012 episode of '' Suits''.
The song was used for an advert for the Amazon Kindle
Amazon Kindle is a series of e-readers designed and marketed by Amazon. Amazon Kindle devices enable users to browse, buy, download, and read e-books, newspapers, magazines and other digital media via wireless networking to the Kindle Store. ...
in 2012 in the UK and Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
The duo's second full-length album, ''Actor-Caster'', was released in March 2011.
Members
* Ted Joyner – vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
, guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
s
* Grant Widmer - vocals, guitars
Discography
Studio albums
Extended plays
References
External links
*
*
Generationals
at Park the Van
{{DEFAULTSORT:Generationals (Band)
American musical duos
Indie rock musical groups from Louisiana
Rock music duos
Musical groups from New Orleans
Musical groups established in 2008