THE ASTEROID #4

Bio:

.. ..













"In the liner notes to These Flowers of Ours, we're treated to a brief description of the Asteroid No. 4's workshop, where across the room from an extensive shrine to the history of shoegaze the bass player watches a bootleg video of the Rain Parade while rolling a joint on the back of a Teenage Fanclub album. And if that sounds like a place you'd enjoy visiting, then These Flowers of Ours is doubtless the sort of record you'd like to spend some time with. Floating through an echoey netherworld of jangling and roaring guitars, subsonic bass, thundering drums, and vocals that drift as clouds through the paisley atmosphere, this music is space rock at its most engaging and organic, psychedelia that's timeless because the music sounds too languid and loose-limbed to bother committing itself to any decade in particular. Not that this stuff sounds lazy — These Flowers of Ours is an album that is dense and impressively rich for all the space in the music, and while melody often seems to be an afterthought in this sort of stuff, the Asteroid No. 4 rival Outrageous Cherry in their ability to write tunes with actual hooks to accompany their flights of guitar-fueled aeronautics. These Flowers of Ours is almost too much of a good thing at times, soaring so far into the ether that it has a hard time making its way back to Earth, and at 54 minutes this album begins wearing out its welcome in the later chapters. But what's good here is very good indeed, and the Asteroid No. 4 are advised not to lose the lease on their command center anytime soon — when they can make it off of the couch, they're on to something quite impressive." Mark Deming- All Music Guide

"On this, their fifth album, The Asteroid No4 have honed their sound ,creating a self-assured and richly textured album that transcends its influences, although echoes of The Rain Parade, Jefferson Airplane, and Spacemen 3, can still be heard. Opening with the dreamy psych of “My Love”, the band pull no punches, the excellent production allowing the song to shine, the gentle ending giving way to the paisley jangle of “Let It Go”, sounding like it could have come from an early album by The House of Love, something of a compliment in my book.
On “I Look Around”, the psychedelic sixties are invoked beautifully, with phased guitar and a sense of wonder propelling the song into sugarcube heaven, whilst a rippling organ dissolves what is left of your mind. Placed in the middle of the album, “War” is a slow, majestic song, awash with atmosphere, the soft dynamics slowly washing you out to sea, the sense of desolation softened by the perfumed guitar.
Finally, after 10 wonderful slices of psychedelic pop noise, “Empty Like A Little Child” leads you home, relaxed and refreshed, the music on this album having the bright twinkle of stars on a clear night, the magic of ancient days." Simon Lewis, www.terrascope.co.uk

"Put on Asteroid 4, and you’re caught up in a wave of sound—lush, heady, enveloping and unhurried. Shoegaze, space rock, psychedelia, folk rock or garage—whatever your poison, Asteroid 4 is an apothecary’s lab of musical experimentation and combinations. Songs have a nostalgic quality that’s bittersweet and carefree. Mystical narratives weave in and out of the droning, layered melodies, which are filled with tambourines, guitars, vocal distortion and feedback." Philadelphia Weekly

"The creative tension between heavy fuzzed but light pop feel and East Coast drone and West Coast jangle is engaging and marks the band’s musical transition from dreamy reveries to scorching guitar tunes. All in all, the 5 album from Asteroid 4 is their best by far." Soundsxp.com

"Pet Sounds era Beach Boys arrangements and hazy sitar-pop....still far more of original concept and composition than of homage to the classics." Subba-cultcha.com

"I always assumed these guys had a happy home on the Rainbow Quartz label as it seemed to be a perfect fit but ending up on the Anton Newcombe's label (he of BJM fame) isn't a stretch either. Whatever label these Philly freaksters are on , and they have been going on a decade now, they have consistently delivered the goods and none as convincingly as on THESE FLOWRS OF OURS. Hazily, the band drifts through genres like folk, 60's psych and jangly, Byrds-ian pop and they do them all very well. The opener "My Love' is a gorgeous folky tune while 2 , "Let It Go" is all driving melody and tambourines (as is the equally good "Flowers of Ours"). "She's All I Need" is pure 60's psychedelic garage ala 13th Floor Elevators while "She Touched the Sky" is akin to something the Rain Parade were doing in the mid 80's. The songwriting is strong throughout and I could see this record ending up on many critics best of for the year lists. I'd have to say this is one trip well worth taking." Daggerzine.com

"The Asteroid No.4's fifth full-length is the band's most sonically mature release to date. Their soaring, Super-Fuzzed guitars and catastrophic crash cymbal attacks cherry-pick the best dark psychedelic moments from the likes of The Rolling Stones and Love to create new experiences for modern listeners....if you are into late -'60s sounds and want something very accessible, this album is worth investigation."Under the Radar

"The album plays like a pastoral work of stargazing time-travel...the group writes catchy and accessible pop songs, driven by the lazy vocals and quirky vocal melodies" NPR

"...The album is sure to win listeners over if they’re looking for hazy hooks and smoky folk-rock, which the band pulls off successfully. By integrating an array of different musical elements, the band has finally found its own sound...and because of this, it seems that their best work is only yet to come.."Alarmpress.com

"These Flowers of Ours: A Treasury of Witchcraft and Devilry is seeing the group at their most ambitious and consistently successful."Obscuresound.com

"The Asteroid No. 4 is a modern day throwback to both the 60s and early 90s, mixing the spaced out psychedelia of the flower children with the introspective navel gazing of Morrissey-spawn. Around in some incarnation for over a decade, Philly’s favorite space rock is getting stronger as it ages."Popculturewilleatitself.com

"Here we have an album that if sliced up into a pie chart would come out as 40% Ride, 40% Spiritualized and 20% Sounds of the Sixties, with a raw, retro recording style relying heavily (and I mean very heavily) on the reverb." Thelineofbestfit.com

"These Flowers of Ours: A Treasury of Witchcraft and Devilry belongs in an open field somewhere alongside strands of beads and perhaps a bag of some sort of grassy substance. It is an elixir of pure perception, a charming wave of filmy tonic with the ability to overtake the natural frenzied order and incite a lasting peace."Blogcritics.org

"These Flowers Of Ours channels an array of 60s subgenres, from folk and psych to jangle-pop and British Invasion. Layered under these vintage sounds, The Asteroid No. 4 combines elements of each sub-genre in a modern blender, portioning all the right amounts to create a concoction they can easily call their own. The result is a cohesive album, both fun and dreamy."Fencepost.com


"An Amazing Dream is the Asteroid No. 4's most mature and focused album yet." All Music Guide

"An Amazing Dream" is moody British pop with an early-Sixties drug dealer, full of lysergic explosions and tremolo attacks." Austin Chronicle

"Imagine Brian Jonestown Massacre without all the drama, or Dead Meadow with a serious pop fetish, and you’re there." Philadelphia Weekly

"An Amazing Dream is truly an amazing reality...a career high" The Sun, UK 4.5 out of 5 stars

"There's genuine invention here...3 out of 4 stars" Uncut

"Dream shows that, over a decade in, they're just getting started." www.stereogum.com, Band To Watch: The Asteroid 4

"An Amazing Dream returns to the band's space-cadet guitar jangle and is the perfect prescription for Brian Jonestown Massacre/Dandy Warhols devotees who've been let down by their Left Coast heroes." Magnet Magazine

"Picture Robert Pollard producing a Matthew Sweet record with My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields on guitar and you'll have some idea whether the Asteroid 4 is right for you." playbackstl.com

"Each track maintains its own identity, but the album is cohesive enough to make a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts." The Daily Tar Heel, North Carolina. 3.5 out of 4 stars

"An Amazing Dream showcases A4's recognizable grooviness, but not without a few twists and turns and some superior songwriting" OCWeekly

"This is an adventure in lulling psychedelia, dreamy guitars, distant vocals, and echoing space-rock, flirting with California country, and exhibiting British pop invasion overtones." NewMexicoMusic.org

"Philadelphia's the Asteroid 4 savors the crevices of '60s music without confining itself to a single style, flirting with California country alongside British Invasion pop." TimeOut New York.

"Imagine the Beach Boys circa PET SOUNDS filtered through some serious weirdness after about a dozen bong hits. That’s the impression I got from the Asteroid 4. Gorgeous vocals coupled with a desolate-yet-warm guitar tone and some odd touches make this an impressive album...this is a must for avant-pop fans." movementmagazine.com

"Such mixtures of softness and noise, along with an almost flawless knack for a tune, make this Dream impressive, if not amazing." Orlando Sentinel

"Asteroid 4 has refined a spacey, folky style and leveraged this into a series of energetic and optimistic, if not always brilliant, songs." popmatters.com

"If you're looking to be taken by a wash of dreamy sound...this may the album for you." thephiller.com

"Straight out of some lost Barrett songbook, all echoing, loose-stringed guitars and speaker-shredding fuzz" Q Magazine

"Ah, fuzzy pondering, feedback-laden pop, epic high-reaching guitars. This tremolo-driven narrative features a fine batch of beautifully written psych-pop with an amazing, thickly layered sound. Chilly, desert-night wanderings and sunflower-field hallucinations — a joy!" Real Detroit Weekly

"....soaring guitars, scrape-the-sky vocals, and bustling melodies" Stylus Magazine

"If the rest of the album sounds as good as "Here We Go" and "Ask Me About Pittsburgh," this should be one hell of a great album." thetripwire.com

Member Since:

April 05, 2006

Members:

Scott: Vocals, Guitars
Eric: Guitars
Adam: Drums, Vocals
Damien: Bass
Ryan: Guitars, Vocals




Our video for "Here We Go"....the single from "An Amazing Dream"
....











Below, check out one of our favorite modern artists, London's Chrissie Abbott, who also happened to design the cover of "These Flowers of Ours: A Treasury of Witchcraft and Devilry"

Influences:

The Pink Floyd, The Kinks, Spacemen 3, Hawkwind, Suicide, The Byrds, The Beatles, Gram Parsons/Fallen Angels/Burrito Brothers/Intl. Submarine Band, Dylan, Buffalo Springfield, My Bloody Valentine, Pearls Before Swine, Tim Hardin, Q65, Can, The Verve, Slowdive, Nick Drake, The Lilys, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Adorable, Everly Brothers, Neil Young, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The 13th Floor Elevators, The Doors, The Seeds, Love, House of Love, The Red Crayola, The Silver Apples, The Beach Boys, The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, The Cure, Lee Hazelwood, Jacques Dutronc, The Who, The Pretty Things, Guided By Voices, The Band, The Telescopes, Neu!, Popol Vuh, Flying Saucer Attack, Chapterhouse, Ride, The Church, Buddy Holly, Catherine Wheel, Primal Scream, The Rolling Stones, The Stone Roses, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Boo Radleys, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Alexander "Skip" Spence, Moby Grape, Rain Parade, Mazzy Star, The Velvet Underground, John Cale, Lou Reed, Francoise, Serge, Nico, Eno, Iggy, Bolan, Bowie, Barrett.....and on and on and on....

Sounds Like:

Review from Classic Rock Magazine in the UK....

Review from RockNReel Magazine, UK...

Review from the Sun Newspaper in the UK....
Q Magazine...

Record Label:

TheCommitteetoKeepMusicEvil/RainbowQuartz/Lounge