The Austin-and-San Francisco-based band Monahans began in the Spring
of 2006 as a new project by Milton Mapes collaborators Greg Vanderpool,
Roberto Sanchez, Jim Fredley and Britton Beisenherz. As Monahans, the
group expanded on their drone-based landscape rock with an intense and
decisively apolitical pulse. The band's first release, Low
Pining (Undertow 2007), was born out of mostly nameless
instrumental soundtracks and rhythms (Explosions In The Sky meets Califone)
and later weaved with strands of detachment and Cold War Era urgency
in the spirit of early U2, R.E.M., The Police and everyone's hero, Neil
Young.
With the consistent support of regional radio airplay, the record gradually
found its way to various online year-end favorites lists. Magnet Magazine
listed Low Pining as one of its "10 Hidden Treasures of
2007" and Harp Magazine called it an "under-the-radar gem".
The album also features multi-instrumentalist Chris Dye, Todd Pertll
on pedal steel, and Margo Timmins of Cowboy Junkies as harmony vocalist
on “When You’re Down”.
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