Group Members Mike Tuley: guitar (variously tuned) and vocals Julie Noyce: keyboards/synthesizers and vocals Brooke Hunt: samplers, guitar and percussion Scott Edwards: bass Kurt Lane: drums and percussion

Press Reviews And now for something entirely different is the best way to describe the crazy sound mixture that is Ad Astra Per Aspera. Taking elements of hardcore, pop and electronica, Ad Astra Per Aspera unleash a calculated barrage of experimental catchiness that no one else has had the guts to try. (Punk Planet #58, Nov/Dec 2003) After listening to this EP, I am thinking, it is always nice to hear something completely different. Hardcore with keyboards gives this band a totally original sound. At first I was thinking this was some progressive Jazz record. Then there is almost a 60s surf music sound. Then comes the screamo hardcore and all of a sudden it comes back around again. And the cool thing is that this happens consistently within all three tracks. Looking for something totally different, check this out. Non-generic hardcore. I need more. (Heart Attack #39, August 2003) Before you read this review, I want you to do me a favor. Go to your CD collection and find Sonic Youth's Goo. Wipe the dust off and throw in track 8 -- Mildred Pierce. Oh yeah. Now you're rocking. Now you're feeling it. Now you're dancing to those groovy guitars and sexy beats. Now you're...Aaaah! Wait a minute! Stop that! Stop screaming! What are you doing??!!! You're ruining the song! You're killing my mantra! Please stop screaming ... WHAT? IT'S OVER? (cut to roommate next door, listening to muffled cursing sounds of peeved neighbor). Mildred Pierce to me exemplified everything I loved and hated about Sonic Youth. One minute they're cradling your head with transcendent interweaving guitars; the next minute they're beating you down with a heap of screamy vocals and feedback-driven white noise ... like baking you brownies and then covering them with glass shards and smashing them in your face. If this is the formula for winning fans and Fader points at the same time, then Ad Astra Per Aspera's got it down cold. The Lawrence-based dares to tread the same art-rock water that many local bands have drowned in. Two things set Ad Aspera apart from the pack: 1. Musicality, and 2. The ability to actually sing as much as they scream. The musicality is evident in the first two minutes of their debut 7-inch, 'An Introduction To.' On the opening track, 'Opening Renouncements,' Kurt Lane's drums are tight and inventive, while Mike Tuley's dissonant guitar noises seem purposeful and calculated. Julie Noyce's Alfred Hitchcock-esque piano line acts as a finely-woven thread to hold the shrill cacophony together. As soon as the opening riff has begun to materialize, they're on to another thing completely. This effect is repeated successfully throughout the three songs, making it a great listen for people with short attention spans. Some of the best parts of the EP are also the most disturbing: the evil circus clown keyboards at the end of track one and the porcelain doll vocals of Noyce, which would have fit nicely into certain scenes in Red Dragon. But for every Hannibal Lecter moment there's a more comforting melody to follow, such as the piano intro to '[We] Come on Strong' and the ensuing hyper-speed, post-punk dance beats. The only letdown is the third song, which seems a bit too atonal for its own good. Still, the song has its bright spots: a Bach-inspired keyboard break in the middle and an organ melody at 2:00-2:30 that could make Iron Butterfly wet their pants. Only a handful of bands -- Blonde Redhead and the Boredoms, for example -- succeed in breaking new ground in a style of music that has largely been written and revised by Sonic Youth. If Ad Astra can keep up the pace of this 7-inch on a full-length album, the young band could make a case for joining that group. (Lawrence.com-Richard Gintowt, April 2003)

Additional Info If you would like a copy of our 3 song EP 'An Introduction To' please send 4 dollars care of Kurt Lane to 1318 New York Lawrence, KS 66044

Location Lawrence, KS - USA

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