Evens

The Evens | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 15, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Dischord
• ASIN: B0007CYELW
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #138,565 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

THE EVENS are a band from Washington, DC. IAN MACKAYE (FUGAZI, MINOR THREAT) plays baritone guitar and AMY FARINA (THE WARMERS) plays drums. They both sing. Their songs are multifaceted yet efficient; straightforward yet sublime; you ll hear a new detail with each listen. Twelve tracks recorded at Inner Ear Studios in the summer of 2004 and mastered at Silver Sonya soon thereafter.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars yeah, it's that good, March 19, 2005

By 

Chester - See all my reviews

This review is from: Evens (Audio CD)

The Evens, a new band featuring Fugazi's Ian Mackaye and The Warmers' Amy Farrina, continues some of the sounds explored on the last few Fugazi albums (notably The Argument and The Instrument Soundtrack). With just guitar, drums, and vocals, The Evens create an engaging sound that can be spooky, emotional, ethereal, catchy, and hard driving, led by Mackaye's heavily rhythmic guitar work and Farrina's distinctive drumming. It's the powerful rhythms that separate The Evens from all the moody, downbeat, indie-folk acts out there today. Songs like the excellent "All These Governors" and "You Won't Feel A Thing" could actually be Fugazi songs if you only added some distortion, barking, and Guy Picciotto making funny noises in the background. The singing here is mostly restrained, with Farrina and Mackaye sharing vocal duties and often singing in unison for an atmospheric effect. This works beautifully on quiet numbers like "Sara Lee" and "On The Face Of It," which appears in a slightly different (and better) version than it did on the Protest Records compilation. Many, though not all, of The Evens' lyrics are political in nature and make numerous references to the D.C. area. It's nice to hear them keeping the Dischord feel alive and not being afraid to write politically charged songs when hardly any other similar bands are doing that anymore. But then again, The Evens aren't your average hip indie act. Who would have thought a couple of middle-aged people from D.C. could make an album that rocks harder, better, and with more meaning than pretty much anything else out there and getting rave reviews from Pitchfork and Spin.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Lo-Fi Masterpiece, August 8, 2005

By 

Andy French "Crotchety Music Fan" (Mission Hill) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Evens (Audio CD)

The Evens are Ian Mackaye, formerly of Fugazi, and Amy Farina, of the Warmers.

Together, they're like a stripped-down, slightly more dreamy version of Low. But even better than Low. Now, Fugazi was great, but I have to say, the music on this album can actually be described as "beautiful" -- not an adjective often used in Fugazi reviews.

Listen to "Blessed not lucky" and you'll see what I mean. And on songs like "Mt. Pleasant isn't", you'll happily hear that Ian Mackaye hasn't lost any of his edge.

The person who wrote that The Evens are post-post-punk is totally right. Thankfully, we're beyond irony and into something really exciting. And maybe The Evens will lead the way.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Evens, Dischord Royalty all stripped down, March 10, 2005

By 

Andrew J. Engle "joeengle" (Mansfield, Pa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Evens (Audio CD)

I just got this CD in the mail today after ordering it the day it became available and with it being a Dischord release it was ultra cheap. I've listened to the album once and already really like it!
Since Amazon doesn't have any information up for this group yet, I just wanted to say that that The Evens are a new duo made up of Ian Mackaye of Fugazi fame on guitar and Amy Farina, who was in The Warmers, on drums and if you're a fan of the Dischord scene, this record should be right up your alley.
They both sing about equal amounts here and the music is very melodic with multiple singing parts. Although the album is true to the D.C. scene's hardcore roots, it's not a hardcore record. It's sort of `hardcore unplugged' and is reminiscent of some of the quieter moments on Fugazi's latest effort, The Argument.
If you've ever heard Mackaye sing "I'm so Tired" from the Instrument movie and wondered if you'd ever get to hear him doing more stripped down type stuff, this is the record to check out...although it's not a piano record.