aaamusic | On 02, Sep 2012

The Ready Stance are giving away a free download of ‘Disgruntled’ from their latest critically acclaimed album Damdest.

The Ready Stance are lead vocalist and guitarist Chase Johnston, an Ohio native and alumni of the Athens, Georgia, music scene; guitarist Wes Pence, the creative force of 1990s outfit Middlemarch; drummer Eric Moreton, and old band mate of Pence’s and the wonderfully named bassist Randy Cheek. They interweave, tube-fueled guitars through melodic yarns with energy to spare. Poignant vocals and textured harmonies are their major motifs.

The album was recorded in the basement of Pence’s 1880s house and mixed at Audiogrotto, a newly converted church housing a world-class studio. The album’s 11 tracks—all set to sweeping, melody-rich hooks, raw, ringing guitars, and driving rhythms—are rooted in fact and stranger than fiction; literate, image-laden observations with a penchant for classic, bent Midwestern arcana. The Ready Stance’s time-honored sound is rare: just four guys in a room knocking out earnest, urgent rock, much as it could’ve been done in any decade.

Such timeless stuff has already drawn praise from some legendary names. “When I was a kid growing up in Kentucky,” recalls Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club drummer Chris Frantz, “my cousin would pick me up in his Chevy Super Sport and drive me down along the Ohio River to Cincinnati to hear some rock ’n’ roll. Those were exciting times, and the bands would play late into the night, rocking soaked in sweat. When I hear the Ready Stance, these memories come back to me and I remember that Cincinnati has produced so many wonderful musicians. The Ready Stance is among that number. You will be hearing a lot about them in the future.”