Wilderness

Wilderness is an unconventional band from Baltimore, Maryland, whose apparent musical pedigree stems from the likes of the Fall, This Heat, Savage Republic, Public Image Limited and Joy Division -- without sounding like any of them --, and whose music is every bit as spiritual as it is visceral, as nuanced as it is overt, and as communal and all-embracing as it is culturally alienating and nihilistic. Embodied most recently in their second full-length record called Vessel States, the music-art of Wilderness attempts to glide above definitions or categorizations, especially those that are self-serving or manipulative. Yet the band is fully aware that striving for this kind of purity is most likely futile. Every human expression builds on or is connected to previous expressions, and the music of Wilderness will be packaged, commodified and connected to other forms of things beyond their understanding or control. This tension between the intended and the actual, and the awareness that this tension exists, may best sum up what Wilderness is all about.

Their self-titled debut record from last year was an underground hit, recognized by many noteworthy critics and publications as one of the best records of the year. "What Wilderness really seem to signify -- and what makes them important -- is a shift back towards the more cerebral end of the rock spectrum," writes Pitchfork's Ryan Schreiber. "In an environment that's reveled so long in the comfortability of tradition and flavor-of-the-month transitiveness, this kind of substantive art-rock is ripe for exploration. If Wilderness aren't quite kings of the mountain yet, it might just be that few others have yet traversed their fertile domain."

And with Vessel States, this latest record of theirs, Wilderness are definitely continuing their journey up and through the challenged landscape. In their own words: {--a new set of music--} The psychic parameters have fallen off in an attempt at immediacy... a snow storm in the sure footed as a direct result of categorization... yearning to communicate has yielded psychic flares bounced from the bedframes, responding is silence... this is our collective strength to cover our heads with the music... play the fool, try to heal, be wary of the clever... vessel states...

The four human beings that comprise Wilderness have been making art and music, living and travelling together for over 11 years. They live and work in Baltimore, USA. Vessel States was recorded, mixed and mastered in the fall of 2005, by Chad Clark and T.J. Lipple at Silver Sonya in Arlington, Virginia.