Artist description Conshafter, melodic and irreverant garage pop purveyors,manage to sound retro and current at the same time. Listeners will detect trace elements of all of rock's golden years, from 60's garage to 70's arena bombast, 80's new wave to 90's punk.

Music Style Garage Pop

Musical Influences The Cars, Ramones, Fountains of Wayne, Weezer, The Beatles

Similar Artists Weezer, Jimmy Eat World, The Strokes, Ok Go, Beck

Artist History Conshafter is the brainchild of principal songwriters Dave Cykert and Chris Konstantinos, two ex-teammates at the University of North Carolina who first started collaborating in 2000. In the band's short time of existence, Conshafter has received glowing press reviews from a myriad of news sources and has appeared on the radio in three different countries. Thier sophomore album Rewind is expected to be released in the summer of 2003 featuring several tracks produced in collaboration with platinum producer Keith Shocklee.

Group Members Chris Konstantinos: vocals; Dave Cykert: guitar & backing voc; Craig Nelson: guitar; Rob Teague: bass & backing voc.

Instruments Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Drums, keyboards, harmonica, bic lighters, and anything else we can throw in for good measure.

Albums Your Day Job (2001), Rewind (2003)

Press Reviews From Deep Fry Bonanza (www.dfbpunk.com): To those of us who have lived most of our lives in the post-punk era, it's hard to gauge the influence of the mainstream on punk rock. This is as to those of us who have lived most of our lives in the post-punk era, it's hard to gauge the influence of the mainstream on punk rock. This is a subject of much debate (especially debates where the word "sellout" is lobbed back and forth), but I think that it might be even more interesting to study a more subversive aspect of punk: its influence on the mainstream. Though it's all but indetectable to us young'uns, according to most rock critics whose careers have straddled the original punk era it's undeniable. There's a certain swagger, a certain nihilistic attitude whose seeds were sown in John Lennon and Mick Jagger, but finally came to full flower in the guise of the Sex Pistols' Johnny Rotten. Conshafter play the type of pop music that couldn't have existed before punk happened. Not only is it too smart and too bitter to find much precedent in in the pre-punk era, but the attitude (nihilistic rage tempered with self-absorped hyper-sensitivity) is easily tracable back to Johnny Rotten's personae. But to get back on task here, this is pop music, not punk rock. Conshafter are definitely on the other side of that line that separates punk rock bands with mainstream success (Green Day and Blink 182) from mainstream pop bands with detectable punk influences (Weezer). If you listen to "Porn Star Mustache," (chorus: "my girl did something rash / left me for a porn star mustache") it's obvious; the big, simple-but-memorable riff, the immediately hilarious lyrics, and the whoa-enhanced chorus combine the best aspects of John Cougar Mellancamp and the Offspring. Musically, throughout the rest of the disc punk rock is clearly just an ingredient in the band's stew of influences, with hip-hop's staccato vocal style and the punchy beats of electronica (perhaps via Radiohead) playing a large part as well. That said, the combination is potent and Your Day Job is a strikingly-well-textured record. Each song's instantly hum-able tune is supplimented by some other identifying mark: an organ solo, maybe even hand claps. Nothing revolutionary, but taken as a whole it betrays a knack for putting the right sound in the right place. A similar knack is also apparent in the lyrics, which are some of the best I've read in a while. Perhaps it's because I spend so much of my time in a cubicle, but the fact that Your Day Job is a concept album based loosely around working in corporate finance is immediately appealing, and the countless clever observations and turns of phrase are like deja vu. "Day Job" in particular provides is a well of great images, my favourite being "As I walk down the hall / I hear my boss chuckle / At another dumb quip / Man, what a dumb prick." However, "Midlife Crisis (Ballantyne)" is definitely the album's lyrical high-water mark. Sort of like Blink 182's "Stay Together for the Kids" or "Adam's Song," the lyrical poignancy is magnified when contrasted with the rest of the band's words, but rather than dishing out abstract generalizations, lyricist Chris Konstantinos translates all of his thoughts into a series of vivid images of a man who engaged the cruise control on life's highway and doesn't like where he ended up. Eventually he decides to kill himself in the one aspect of his life that he genuinely loves: his sports car. In the space of a pop song that barely lasts three minutes the listener develops a rapport with the character so deep that s/he is genuinely saddened by the song's outcome. In nearly every conceivable way Conshafter gives you more than your average pop or punk band. The lyrical content, the songwriting, the production (well, except for that hollow drum sound... apparently their drummer was playing empty pizza boxes)... all of it is a step above and beyond normal fare. Head over to www.conshafter.com and check these guys out.. the mp3 downloads are conveniently situated in the same place as the album lyrics, so don't fight it, like it!

Additional Info All material recorded, mixed, and produced by Conshafter, Autopilot recorded and produced by Conshafter and Keith Shocklee

Location Richmond, Va - USA

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