Skratch Magazine
OBJECT
THE MIRROR WORLD
NYC tandem Object may get the obvious comparisons to White Stripes, but
aside from the one guy singing and strumming and one girl bashing the kit,
this dynamic duo's five-track disc emits a lot more than the obligatory.
Demonstrating Jeff Buckley's soul, Kurt Cobain's scream, and Billy Corgan's
twisted melodies, tracks like "Fooled" and "Walk Away" have got the '90s
alt-rock rage tightly packaged and compressed into memorable nuggets that
pop into your head at the most random times. The sleigh-bell effect and fancy
fretwork that open up "Open Sores" help this track ring out the
loudest. Object has done the most with the least on THE MIRROR WORLD, making
a compelling release along the way that rockingly resonates with the ghosts
of rock radio's not-so-distant past. -Mike SOS
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Independentsonly.com
I was instantly blown away by this release from Object. "The Mirror
World" has the sound of my teen years. Surely grabbing influence from
the "grunge" scene of the early 90s and doing it just right enough
to keep their originality intact and create a sound they can call their own.
For having only two instruments (Eric sings and strums, Maria drums) the
music sounds bigger than it is. The vocals are pushed to the edge as chaos
slowly ensues in the background and it all pays off with one grand finale
at the end of each track making for a great listen.
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The Daily Vault
Of the dozens of bands around New York City, the duo Object is one of the
more interesting... they have a particular fire and purpose in their rock
that could potentially explode into something great.Schettino, in particular,
drums her heart out more than most modern rock drummers, and it's refreshing
to hear that kind of energy in these decidedly downcast songs. Kramer is
a typical power-chord guitarist, but his success will be with his voice
-- at times, he sounds like a mix of Cobain and Brandon Boyd, evoking feelings
of nostalgia for those of us who grew up on alternative rock.
An interesting riff opens "The 8th Floor," and the whole song
sort of glides by on a faint-but-detectable psychedelic haze, sort of like
STP meets Incubus in 1996. And the "epic" closer "Open Sores" has
a sort of quiet menace and the most emotional vocal from Kramer. The sleigh
bells are a nice addition...
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"Something For All Ages"
Marked Magazine
Starting off the show with the heavy pop of Kramer's signature heavy cathartic
guitar and drummer Maria Schettino pounding away on the drums, Kramer screamed
out the emotional lyrics. Utilizing a multitude of distortion peddles,
Kramer thrashed away with hair flailing in his face and depending on the
Big Muff to achieve the deep guitar noise. They ended the set with a slower
tune that crescendoed into the heavy guitar sound again, satisfyingly ending
it all with an explosive bridge, Metallica style and back into the final
chorus that melted into oblivion.Object has lately been playing all-ages
shows..."Seriously, since we
started playing all-ages shows, people tell us how much of an influence we
are for them."Finding all-ages shows in the New York City area is difficult. ABC No Rio,
the art collective space down in the Lower East Side, is one of the few places
with a regular schedule of shows for teenagers with their punk/hardcore matinee
on Saturday afternoons. Finding shows in the outer boroughs is much more
difficult for anyone under 18."Yeah, it's strange," Kramer said. "These kids have nowhere
to go, mostly 16 to 20 years olds. They can't drink or go to shows so this
is the only place they could go.
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Live Review
Impose
Objects energy, especially live, is a most consuming event...
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"Reinventing The Wheel"
Independent Clauses
Object is a band with potential in a unique way: should there ever be a
band to remake Nirvanas Bleach album and bring on a grunge revival, Object
would be the one- they have that retro, grunge rock sound down pat. Thankfully,
theyve gone above and beyond the traditional grunge sound, placing themselves
in a unique niche of the genre.
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Quickie
The Deli Magazine
Duos have never been as noisy as in this millennium. Before then, the word "duo" used
to make you think of Simon and Garfunkel or the Everly Brothers...I guess
everything started with The White Stripes. Afterall, when you have a drumkit
and a super distorted electric guitar with the amp's volume set at 11,
what else do you need to make some good old noise? This Object is a very
noisy one and drummer Maria perhaps might be one of the wildest in NYC
right now.
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"The Object Of Our Affection"
The Deli Magazine
By Tom O'Connell
A thinking man's grunge rock, Object punishes the ears like a metal band, but retains a sincerity and tenderness akin to emo. Eric Kramer's multi-tracked guitars and Maria Schettino's cacophonous drum work on The Mirror World EP seep into the listener's head, congeal, and turn to cement. This writer credits his recent noticeable hearing loss with a mere 20 minutes spent in a dirty Brooklyn basement watching Object perform.
What are the origins of Object?
We met at NYU while studying Music Technology. We jammed a few times, but nothing really came of it, until a few weeks before graduation. One night we decided to exercise our production skills and record a real song, which we more or less wrote on the spot. Inspired by the concept of people as objects, and objects as people, the song "You Look So Good" was born, along with our little band.
Does the boy-guitar/girl-drums dynamic draw annoying White Stripes comparisons?
M: We actually love the White Stripes.
We have been called "the Whites
Stripes on Crack".
E: Object came about at the same time "Fell in Love with a Girl" hit.
I was especially wary of the comparisons back then, but people can hear
immediately that we sound pretty different.
What's your first memory of music?
M: I remember my mom playing Michael Jackson's "Thriller," and
the record always skipping during the Paul McCartney song.
E: My Dad has a lot of great records, and I remember him playing Buddy
Holly's "That'll
Be the Day That I Die," and me thinking that was somehow a terrible
thing to say.
Maria, what made you take up the drums? Who were your idols?
M: I always thought I was going to play the flute, but my brother and father played the drums. My brother set up my dad's old red sparkle kit and showed me a few beats. I was hooked. The first drummer I idolized was John Bohnam, and I still do. Dave Grohl, Keith Moon to a certain extent, Mitch Mitchell, even Lars Ulrich (I'm somewhat embarrassed to say), were all my childhood favorites.
The songs on The Mirror World are brutal, but seem more emo than metal. What are your styles/influences and how do you balance these elements while writing?
People consider us a grunge band, but we like to think we're doing something current and relevant. Grunge is generally aggressive yet sincere music. We try to take that base and combine it with some more diverse influences. We're into so many different kinds of music, from rock to electronic to pure noise, and we hope that they all make their way into our music.
Your sound is very thick considering you're a duo. How do you recreate everything while playing live? What is essential and what gets sacrificed?
E: I've always been concerned with making recordings that
reflect what we really do live. I use effects pedals to loop guitar parts
and create bass parts, so almost everything on our EP is the way the song
was written and played live before it was committed to tape. I'm very excited
to make some recordings that are totally different and more layered than
the stuff we've done so far, and figure out how to recreate it live afterwards.
M: When we did away with bass players, I started to write drum parts that
were more driving and energetic to fill in the sound. I have very big sounding
drums that I like to hit very hard. Some things from the record can be
emulated live…for instance the Chinese finger cymbals on "Open
Sores," I
play on an inverted ice bell mounted on my ride cymbal. I'll soon be strapping
on middle-eastern belly-dancer bells to my ankles as well.
What does the rest of 2006 hold for Object?
There's a lot of material on the cutting board right now that needs to be finished. By the end of the summer we anticipate the unveiling of our fully functional recording studio. We hope to do a lot of recording in our studio this summer, and would like to tour as soon as possible.We plan on launching our record label, Velcro Kitty, recording other bands, and trying to foster a community of musicians and artists. Anyone interested in getting involved, please contact us at info@objectband.com.