Ledaswan

BIOGRAPHY:
San-Antonio based rock band Ledaswan produces and records their own music, which paid off with Verse of Truth, Trash and Beauty (Airport Goodbye Records, 2008). Verse of Truth, Trash and Beauty, the band’s debut album won Best Album of 2007, as voted by readers of the San Antonio Current.

Verse of Truth, Trash and Beauty opens with “U vs The City,” a pulsing, gritty intro that serves as an anthem: “Every day is not the same in the city.” It is this spirit of struggle that carries through the whole record both lyrically and musically, blending the ethereal female vocals of Erica Gutierrez with layers of guitar grunge and thunderous Pixies-style drumming.

A feeling of desperation and hopelessness is conveyed in the song “Bruise by Default.” The band supports the lyrical sentiment by collectively playing with a sense of abandon, and the intensity heightens to a coalesced fury. The memorable melody of “.357” recounts dreaming of a suicidal friend, the tender mood upheld by the addition of acoustic instrumentation. Mechanical verses alternate with climbing choruses and a bridge with guitar echo reminiscent of Texas peers Explosions In The Sky.

Frustration is shouted in the abrasive “How To Rearrange The World In 7 Days:” Drums pounding like a headache, aggressive guitars and overdriven bass, lyrics citing instances of slamming doors and not having the answers. “Closure” is spacious and melancholy, a heartfelt apology for getting too involved with someone. The sweet melodic harmonies on this track lends to a genuine and sincere vibe. Organ and guitar feedback thick with delay float above the solid back-beat and anchored bass.

Ledaswan performs “Head On” by Scottish rock band “The Jesus and Mary Chain.” Punk rock guitar and sound samples of old interview recordings of Jim and William Reid are interspersed over the band to make a unique cover-tribute. Up-tempo Ramones-style vocals are very fitting here, a departure from Gutierrez’s slower phrasing on other songs.

The final song on Verse of Truth, Trash and Beauty, “The Art of Goodbye,” is among the more uplifting songs on the record. Major chords and melodic guitar interludes give vitality to the verses; choruses are bolstered with parallel vocal harmonies that hearken back to Alice in Chains. The struggle that carries through Verse of Truth Trash and Beauty is summed up eloquently with the words: “I just want to believe in something, so hang on, hang on.”

The band is led by Erica Guitierrez, whose vocal range varies from ethereal to haunting, which led to her winning the 2007 San Antonio Current Best Singer- Songwriter award. Ledaswan‘s deeply textured music is rounded out by brothers Jaime and David Monzon on guitar, Jackee Flores on bass/backup vocals and Delrick Colwell on drums.

After winning awards at their first attempt on a record release and working to build the local San Antonio music community, Ledaswan’s momentum continued throughout 2008. Just returning home from a regional Texas tour, the band continues to work on new material for a full-length album, due out fall of 2009. Ledaswan came together over an urgent love for the Jesus and Mary Chain’s echoed-stoned “Psychocandy,” the fractured bass melodies of Joy Division’s “Day of Lords,” the sinister charm of Mazzy Star’s “Halah.”

Performing their very first show when they were invited to play at Emo’s in Austin, Texas, for Ladyfest 2004, they have since performed with the likes of Veruca Salt, the Umbrellas, Susan Gibson, Jim Ward, Jeremy Enigk, and indie rockers Lydia.

  
BAND MEMBERS:
Erica Gutierrez: lead vox, guitars, keys, harmonica
Jaime Monzon: electric guitars, keys
David Monzon: electric guitars
Jackee Flores: backing vox, bass guitar
Delrick Colwell: drums

PRESS PHOTOS:

(C) Paul Cisneros. All Rights Reserved.

PRESS QUOTES:
Guiterrez’s voice is often mesmerizing and occasionally sugary sweet – The Austinist

Ledaswan pulls you in with Gutierrez’s voice, but underneath the sweetness is a darker edge, with pensive lyrics and a complex framework – 210SA

With a lineup and collective personality eerily similar to Fleetwood Mac on Quaaludes, Ledaswan should only get better as it ventures on to the wider scope of a full-length album – San Antonio Current

 

For interviews or media-related inquiries contact Franesa Pyle at
noteworthypr@gmail.com or by phone at (518) 886.8535.