Bottom Of The Hudson

Bottom of the Hudson are Charlottesville, VA's indie rock legends-in-the-making.

The four-piece is led by New Jersey native and 4-track mastermind/songwriting sub-genius Eli Simon with the help of Berkeley drop out Matt Mitchell on keyboards and guitar, Justin Stile (who has a masters in systems engineering(whatever that is) plays bass, and drummer Chris Coella who may be their fourth drummer but he's damn good looking and he's got his own kit. How they all wound up in Charlottesville is anybody’s guess. Cheap living, I suppose. Later this year, the band plans on moving out of Virginia, but the destination is not being revealed. Although, they’ve been saying that for nearly two years.

Eli: compulsive songwriter, welder...his friends’ parents love him, his ex-girl friends hate him, and when the recordings that became The Omaha Record mysteriously arrived on the Absolutely Kosher doorstep, the label was on his jock, and fast. He is terribly neurotic and records constantly. Amen.

The sound of Bottom of the Hudson is that wonderfully evocative amalgamation of rock history that is both immediately familiar to the ear and terribly difficult to describe in ten words or less. This is the record that will have critics stop apologizing for their love of mid-1990s underground rock and pop, a loveletter to Homestead, Up and young Matador, a message from Bowie when he wore a dress. From the crunchy riffage and irresistible hooks of “Chilling Sorcerer” to the bouncy, catchy groove of “Motorcaid” to the back-porch harmonies of “Omaha Ray,” The Omaha Record is an exciting and inspired debut.

Assembled from two unsolicited demos which Eli submitted to Absolutely Kosher, the album’s immediacy might make you suspect larceny (like accusing the quiet kid who sits in the back of cheating on his test) until closer inspection reveals that there is true alchemy at work here.