THE NEGATONES - BIO&PRESS

2. Personnel
Writing major and graphic design burnout Jay Braun (guitar, vocs, keys) decided music was the way to go pretty early on, but didn't break it to his parents until many years later because they thought that with his background he'd be going into advertising.

Instead, fresh out of school, he became the youngest member of the legendary
NYC art-rock combo Band of Susans, playing guitar on their final US and Eroupean tours. Imediately after, he was recruited to play bass in the Mooney Suzuki on two U.S./Canadian tours, but passed on the permanent position thinking it would be more fun to get a band going with his brother Justin (bass, vocs, taurus pedals) once he got back to New York.

In years past, Justin had been dragged by Jay through several noise and surf bands in the city, regularly gigging out before he was old enough to buy drinks. Now it was 1997, and the two got cracking on a band of their own. Upon hearing the brothers Braun were forming a band, former high school classmate Jun Takeshta (lead guitar, xylophone, electronics) quit the Tokyo avant-pop and metal outfits he was playing in and moved back to New York and thus the best band in the world was born.

The drumseat in the Negatones was a revolving door of both talent and bad attitude for many years. Then, in late 2000, the band met Jesse Wallace (drums, vocals, electronics). At first they mistook him for a hippie, but then at one of those Williamsburg loft parties they saw him play and knew instantly that they had found their drummer. Jesse himself was then convinced he had to join the Negatones after seeing them cover 'Hot for Teacher' one night at the Luna Lounge. Both parties had found what they were looking for.

3. Presently
After almost 7 years, Jay's and Justin's parents are finally convinced that the Negatones will in fact be stars. Along with this accomplishment the Negatones' two self-recorded CDs, The Heavy EP (2002) and Snacktronica (2003) enjoyed remarkable success on college radio charts for a self release, and serious kudos from local and national press. Additionally, an animated thug wearing a Negatones T-shirt appears in a long-lost episode of Comedy Central's now-defunct hit 'Dr. Katz.'

Late last year the band was brought to the attention of producer-starlett Josh Wilbur (Busta Rhymes, Limp Bizkit, etc). After seeing numerous shows (and being sent on his way by Jesse) Josh finally got in touch with the more reasonable members of the band. Together, they are currently working on a full-length album which is coming out really, really dope.

NEGATONES - "The Heavy EP"
(Melody Lanes, 105 Stanton St. NYC 10002)

"They have damaged but highly entertaining ideas about electronics and music and loud guitars (two of them), not to mention a pounding bass. This five-song ep is a pretty swank introduction to the band: not long, but with enough songs to get across their diversity of sound. I like a great many things about this ep: the way "Carbon Freeze" sounds like a lost Band of Susans song (the connection's probably not accidental: one of the Braun brothers, not sure which one since i can't keep 'em straight anyhow, played with Band of Susans on their later tours); the fact that Jay Braun and Jun Takeshta play "left and right" guitars; the way "Thin Automation" really swings, like, you know, *real* bands used to do before it apparently became hip to jump up 'n down instead; that they have Moogs and use them shamelessly; that they are probably big Devo fans. They are also really loud 'n bright-sounding. You can't fuck with them, man, they have the goddamn xylophone of the gods... fear them... fear them...."
- Monotremata, issue 56 3/03

This is about as good a rock band as you can possibly ask for. Their experimentation with form and integration of electronic elements are simultaneously courageous and stylish, and they have the instrumental skill to successfully harmonize their prog-rock ambitions with their very infectious sense of humor. This is rock majesty -- undeniable, royal, crazy, angry as a deposed prince, amusing as his scheming jester. The Negatones walk the edge. They do so at shows and on record, teetering on the brink of chaotic collapse, pushing pop songs to the bursting point. There’s a perfectionism working here that’s uncommon among Brooklyn artists. In a borough that wears minimalism as a badge, the Negatones revel in overdub-happy maximalism. While slapdash record-making on fetishized analog media has become the norm, The Heavy EP sounds hyper-processed, defiantly digital. Can they find their archetype and fit in the mythology of Brooklyn music? The Negatones are every mythological figure that was cast off the mountain and found power not by courtesy of the mysteries of the divine, but by twisting the implements of the built environment to purposes of which the gods never dreamed.
- Culled from a 3-page review of the Negatones in The 2002 Pop Music Abstract

"The Negatones hail from the NYC/NJ area & they fucking rock out like a late 90's underground rock band wish they could have at the time. The music is catchy and they must be awesome live after a few cheap domestic beers proceeding a night drinking a pot of coffee. The Negatones are rock."
- Torpedo Magazine October 2002

Brooklyn's Negatones have been bouncing around the underbelly of the NY club scene for about as long as Mooney Suzuki (in fact, I met both bands on a double bill about 5 years ago.) But while the Mooneys' garage-rock seems to look to the past for inspiration, the Negatones bravely go where no spastic post-punk noise combo has gone before, though the songs here are more hysterical than heavy. The jagged but seamless two-part harmonies of siblings Jay and Justin Braun propel these gritty (yet still recognizably pop) tunes, with lumpy, swaggering bass lines, weird outer-space guitar solos, and frantic drum breakdowns. Llistening to this EP is like drinking a quart of Starbucks coffee with a methamphetamine chaser. You'll be a nervous wreck, but happy for the experience.
- Jersey Beat 20th Anniversary Issue

“A melting pot of later 20th-century concept rock, using jazzy vibraphone (why don’t more bands use vibraphone?), arena-rock guitar, new wave sensibilities and a clear desire to tear things up... the Negatones may indeed be the last great hope for New York’s noisepop scene.”
- Robert Haleman, Lakeside, May 1999

“The Negatones can’t resist a tip of the hat to their heroes but manage to avoid the late 90’s trend of eclectic ripoff. Referencing Meat Puppets/Minutemen-era SST bands, surf rock, avant garde soundscapes, the Beatles, the Police, 70s Motown and 80’s heavy metal, the Negatones just want to make music, and skirt whatever identity they can in the process.”
- CoffeeMag, September 1999

“They were sensational, building slowly to an apocalyptic pop-punk-metal explosion that mixed arena-rock guitar with lead xylophone, and had their frontman Jay rolling on the floor.”
- Jim Testa, Jersey Beat, April 2000

“The only thing regrettable about your demo is that there weren’t more songs on it.”
- Fred Smith, bassist of Television

“The Negatones are the perfect middle-ground between the Pretenders first album, indie-rock, and King Crimson.”
- Tris McCall, Feb 2000

“The Negatones may hide behind a post-pop New York newer-wave deconstruction (with one guitarist taking from the Knitting Factory post-jazz school of skronk and the other from Van Halen’s 1984), but anyone who has seen the band knows their shtick is merely clever device to get to the good songs and cathartic live show.”
- Chris Phillips, aroundny.com 01/18/99

"The Negatones totally won over the crowd with Jay and Justin's skintight harmonies, the cool goofy punk tunes and of course the xylophone. Talk about a secret weapon! How can you resist a band with a xylophone? While they didn't do their cover of 'Hot for Teacher', Jay did bust a few breakdancin' moves on the dancefloor."
- Jersey Beat Winter 2000 IMF review