“‘Stay Young,’ the lead single from Offers, is as hopeful as its title suggests. With lush, dreamy vocals and tinny instrumentation, the song is bright; the video, likewise, is washed in muted pastels and midday sun.” – NPR Music
Emerging from underground venues in Chicago’s Northwest side, NE-HI made its name on both its live energy and cleverly wrought guitar anthems. Today, they announce their second album Offers (out 2/24 on Grand Jury), and share the video for their first single, “Stay Young,” directed by Weird Life Films. On Offers, the band takes those basement-forged instincts and refines them; lets its guitars explore new angles, and focuses its songwriting. The result is, we daresay, a stunner if not a statement that there is a wide range of post-punk possibilities yet to be explored.
Born in Chicago’s vibrant DIY scene during the summer of 2013 – specifically within the walls of now-defunct basement venue Animal Kingdom – three friends from college, Jason Balla (guitar/vocals), Mikey Wells (guitar/vocals) and James Weir (bass) linked up with drummer Alex Otake with the purpose of scoring a friend’s film, which resulted in the formation of NE-HI. They tapped into what Balla calls the scene’s “wild, young energy,” playing go-for-broke at its home base. But quickly the band’s disparate influences — Wire’s post-punk, Springsteen’s everyman anthems, along with echoes of dreamy atmospheres of Dave Roback’s Rain Parade and the jangly buzz of Kiwi pop legends The Clean began burning through. Their self-titled debut was released in April of 2014 on Manic Static to critical acclaim, both locally (Chicago Tribune & Sound Opinion’s Greg Kot listed it as his #4 local album of the year) and nationally (Paste, Noisey, Stereogum, and Consequence of Sound have all pointed to NE-HI as a band to keep on your radar).
Offers drones, it captivates with soaring pop, it shimmers with atmosphere, always changing, looking. It finds the distant influence of forebears in cerebral guitar pop presented with a familiarity that typifies great FM rock hits. The Midwestern boys (two from Chicago, one from Wisconsin, and one from Minnesota) in NE-HI have a knack for knitting something comfortable and warm from those art school cast-offs and cult favorites. NE-HI’s music demands to be lived in.
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR “STAY YOUNG”
https://youtu.be/ukGoMog-RYk
OFFERS TRACKLISTING
1. Palm Of Hand
2. Sisters
3. Don’t Wanna Know You
4. Offers
5. Prove
6. Out of Reach
7. Everybody Warned You
8. Drag
9. Every Dent
10. Buried On The Moon
11. Stay Young
NE-HI TOUR DATES
Tue. Jan. 10 – Nashville, TN @ High Watt w/ American Wrestlers
Wed. Jan. 11 – Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn w/ American Wrestlers
Thu. Jan. 12 – New Orleans, LA @ Hi Ho Lounge w/ American Wrestlers
Fri. Jan 13 – Houston, TX @ Raven Tower w/ American Wrestlers
Sat. Jan. 14 – Austin, TX @ Sidewinder w/ American Wrestlers
Sun. Jan. 15 – Dallas, TX @ Three Links w/ American Wrestlers
Wed. Feb. 22 – Ft. Wayne, IN @ Brass Rail
Thu. Feb. 23 – Kalamazoo, MI @ Shakespeare’s Pub
Fri. Feb. 24 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
Sat. Feb. 25 – Cincinnati, OH @ MOTR Pub
Wed. Mar. 1 – Kansas City, MO @ Riot Room
Thu. Mar. 2 – Omaha, NE @ Reverb Lounge
Sat. Mar. 4 – St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway
Sun. Mar. 5 – Milwaukee, WI @ Riverwest Public House
Fri. Mar. 10 – Lexington, KY @ Cosmic Charlie’s
Tue. Mar. 21 – Memphis, TN @ Hi-Tone backroom
Wed. Mar. 22 – Birmingham, AL @ The Syndicate
Thu. Mar. 23 – Asheville, NC @ The Mothlight
Fri. Mar. 24 – Durham, NC @ Duke Coffeehouse
Sat. Mar. 25 – Richmond, VA @ Hardywood
Mon. Mar. 27 – Washington, DC @ DC9
Tue. Mar. 28 – Philadelphia, PA @ PhilaMOCA
Thu. Mar. 30 – Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right
Fri. Mar. 31 – Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Upstairs
Mon. Apr. 3 – Kingston, NY @ BSP Kingston
Tue. Apr. 4 – Albany, NY @ The Hollow
Wed. Apr. 5 – Rochester, NY @ Bug Jar
Thu. Apr. 6 – Lakewood, OH @ Mahall’s
Fri. Apr. 7 – Columbus, OH @ Spacebar
Sat. Apr. 8 – Detroit, MI @ Marble Bar
Tue. Apr. 19 – Denver, CO @ Hi Dive
Wed. Apr. 19 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
Thu. Apr. 20 – Boise, ID @ Neurolux
Fri. Apr. 21 – Spokane, WA @ The Bartlett
Sat. Apr. 22 – Seattle, WA @ Barboza
Tue. Apr. 25 – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop
Wed. Apr. 26 – Los Angeles, CA @ Bootleg Bar
Sat. Apr. 29 – Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress
PRAISE FOR NE-HI
“This quartet builds its songs on clean guitar lines, the kind of interwoven single-note patterns that suggest an exacting attention to melody and arrangement. The songs bob along without ever feeling rushed or unfinished, abetted by harmonies and choruses that stick around for the long haul.” – Greg Kot, Chicago Tribune/Sound Opinions
“NE-HI are Chicago’s latest breakout band, as they capture the city’s attention with their warm fuzzy tones and laid-back reverb.” – Stereogum
“Drawing on influences as varied as R.E.M. and The Clean, NE-HI know how to lace their basement rock with a danceable twist.” – Noisey
Best of What’s Next, March 2016 – Paste Magazine
“An 18-month turnaround from non-existence to the level of local establishment Ne-Hi has reached today is quick for any group, but that’s about the only thing that’s surprising about this band’s ascent.” – Consequence of Sound (CoSign Feature)
“NE-HI is one of Chicago’s most thrilling live bands” – Red Eye Chicago
“Expertly executed indie rock that features rotating vocal duties and an overall grandeur tied to gently whirling reverb and undeniably catchy guitar riffs.” – Chicago Reader
Bio, hi-res images – http://pitchperfectpr.com/ne-hi/
Ne-Hi Online:
http://nehiband.com/
https://www.facebook.com/nehichicago
http://pitchperfectpr.com/ne-hi/ |
