THE KNELLS

The Knells biography
The brainchild of guitarist Andrew McKenna LEE, Brooklyn, NY based band THE KNELLS are a band that belong to a genre inhabited perhaps by themselves alone. LEE created THE KNELLS as an outlet for all of his creative passions - he had performed with the likes of Billy IDOL, SEX PISOLS' guitarist JONES, and others in the rock sphere, a singer/songwriter in Brooklyn clubs, but also as a solo artist and composer in the classical sphere, and he needed a way for his voice to be heard. The band is self-proclaimed as a post-rock neo-psychedelia act, but the musical collective is so much more than that. And indeed the band is a collective more than just a band, as LEE utilizes a trio of vocalists, Nina BERMAN, Amanda GREGORY, and Katya POWDER, two guitarists, LEE and Paul ORBELL, drummer Michael MCCURDY, mallet percussionist Jude TRAXLER, electric bassist Joseph HIGGINS, and the critically lauded Mivos String Quartet. The twelve-piece band weaves a sonic blanket that ranges from choral chamber rock to avant post-psych to melancholic psych-blues.

THE KNELLS released their debut self-titled album in 2013 on New Amsterdam Recordings. The album is an enveloping one hour song cycle that follows the concept of the meaning of life, the meaning of time, the beauty and violent tendencies of nature, and the questions that plague humanity's existence. A dense theme for a dense album - and the band pulls it off.

While the uniqueness of this band makes it difficult to relate artists to them, fans of impossible creative avant-garde rock will likely enjoy this band. The band fuses elements of chamber rock, choral music, psychedelic and post rock, and the raw power of classical composition. The band proves to be a real treat for fans of melodic avant-prog and RIO.

::::Andy Webb::::