System Exclusive | Album Premiere
Exclusive album premiere of debut self-titled album by System Exclusive, due March 4, 2022 via Castle Face Records.
“We mostly wrote the album during the pandemic, a time when a lot of people were reflecting and self examining. We were no different, taking stock of our personal and musical roots, I think that’s why the album is such a mashup of genres. We both have gone through so many musical phases and it was a good time to comb through the decades and pull what we liked from all of them. Lyrically, I really let it all out and wrote from the heart, I processed a lot of things I glossed over for so many years. We recorded it 3 times in our backyard and by the third try we really felt we captured what we were trying to portray.” – Ari Blaisdell
“Often when music is constructed with synths and other electronically generated sound makers, their level of exactitude and control is such that the vocalist will either wittingly or otherwise seek to emulate the relative artifice of the soundscape. This is often done to great effect, think Kraftwerk. But what if there was a unit whose music was synth-generated but the vocals were coming from a hot-blooded, singing-for-the-cheap-seats approach? If done well, it’s a case of two great tastes that taste great together, which brings me to System Exclusive.
Their multi genre/time period collision is like a car accident where all parties walk away not only unscathed but sure they had a great time, like two different recording sessions sharing the same space and making it work. Vocalist Ari Blaisdell (previously of Lower Self, The Beat Offs) co-exists excellently amidst the driving beats and synth waves and her guitar further helps to jailbreak the tunes from the often sterile entrapments that synths provide. Matt Jones (previously of Male Gaze, Blasted Canyons, and continuing Castle Face behind-the-scenesman)’s smart use of live drums bring great juxtaposition against the machines.
Ari’s irony-free sincere delivery is the perfect closer on this very cool record, recorded ably by Enrique Tena Padilla (Osees, Wand, Beach House) in their backyard studio mid-pandemic and adorned with original artwork by Miles Wintner (L.A. Takedown, Mr. Elevator, Devon Williams). If you don’t get this slab of goodness, well, that act of non-compliance will confirm you as the pain-in-the-ass that many have described you to be in great detail during Zoom chats. How dare they! Prove them wrong! Reduce their snark to mere pseudo-intellectual piffle! Your lifeline arrives in March. Grab it.” Henry Rollins
System Exclusive have also announced a North American tour, set to begin next month.
March 24 – Zebulon – Los Angeles CA
March 25 – The Quarry – Bisbee AZ
March 26 – Planet Marfa – Marfa TX
March 27 – The Far Out – Austin TX
March 29 – The Starlighter – San Antonio TX
March 31 – Saturn Bar – New Orleans LA
April 1 – Bar DKDC – Memphis TN
April 2 – Hitt Records – Columbia MO
April 3 – Flamingo Lounge – Louisville KY
April 4 – The East Room – Nashville TN
April 5 – Georgia Theatre Rooftop – Athens GA
April 6 – The 529 – Atlanta GA
April 8 – The Crayola House – Harrisonburg VA
April 9 – Snug Harbor – Charlotte NC
April 10 – Squeezebox Records – Wilmington DE
April 11 – The Dolphin – Philadelphia PA
April 12 – Union Pool – Brooklyn NY
April 13 – TV Eye – Ridgewood NY
April 14 – Little Rose Tavern – Cleveland OH
April 15 – MOTR Pub – Cincinnati OH
April 16 – State Street Pub – Indianapolis IN
April 18 – Empty Bottle – Chicago IL
April 19 – X Ray Arcade – Milwaukee WI
April 20 – Dark Horse Art Bar – Madison WI
April 21 – Palmers Bar – Minneapolis, MN
April 22 – The Sydney – Omaha NE
April 23 – Replay Lounge – Lawrence KS
April 25 – Hi-Dive – Denver CO
April 26 – The DLC – Salt Lake City UT
April 27 – The Holland Project – Reno NV
April 28 – White Horse – Oakland CA
April 29 – The Pink House – Stockton CA
April 30 – Orchard House – Santa Rosa CA
May 1 – The Knockout – San Francisco CA
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‘Game of the Fool’ by System Exclusive | Debut LP Out via Castle Face Records + North American Tour
