Frontier Ruckus is an American band from Michigan. The project is centered on the lyrically intensive songs of Matthew Milia, and was formed by Milia and banjo player David Winston Jones while growing up in Metro Detroit.[1] In 2008, the band released its debut full-length record, The Orion Songbook. Though formed in a folk tradition, Frontier Ruckus has shown an eclecticism across their catalog, incorporating aspects of baroque and jangle pop, alt-country, bluegrass, and lo-fi.[2]
Milia and Jones formed the band while both attending Brother Rice High School in Metro Detroit. They began by playing a mixture of Milia's early compositions and traditional bluegrass songs that Jones had collected. Around this time they also recruited Eli Eisman as a bassist. While Milia attended Michigan State University—where he studied poetry under Diane Wakoski—and Jones attended the University of Michigan, Frontier Ruckus expanded into a six-piece. The new formation included Zachary Nichols playing trumpet, musical saw, and melodica; Ryan Etzcorn playing drums; and Anna Burch singing harmony vocals—all of whom Milia met while in East Lansing.[3][4]
Frontier Ruckus performing at Lollapalooza in 2013
In the beginning of 2007, shortly after the release of I Am The Water You Are Pumping, Frontier Ruckus began to receive attention in Michigan, with Metro Times considering the band "already one of the very best sounds to come out of Michigan this entire decade," and Real Detroit Weekly stating: "This is the best band you haven't heard and Milia is the most impressive wordsmith I've listened to in a really long time. I'm not sure If I can recall a voice as untreated and honest as Milia's ... ever. His is a voice whose timbre carries as much meaning as the words that come through it."[5][6]
Frontier Ruckus was named "Best Folk Group" in Detroit by Real Detroit Weekly, who were also among the first to laud The Orion Songbook[5] prior to the album's official release, during an eMusic advance feature.[7]
Released on November 6, 2008 through Quite Scientific Records,[8]The Orion Songbook received positive reviews, garnering attention from Blurt Magazine, Crawdaddy!, and Under the Radar, who gave the album an 8/10.[9][10] Hear/Say called it "the year's best alt-country album."[11]
In 2009, Way Upstate and the Crippled Summer, pt. 1, a six-song EP, was released as the fourth side of the double-vinyl edition of The Orion Songbook.[12] Frontier Ruckus toured the entire US and to Europe for the first time, playing Slottsfjell Festival in Norway, among shows in the UK, Germany, and Holland.[13]
In 2010 the band toured extensively, including a month-long European tour and a performance at Bonnaroo Music Festival, for which Rolling Stone listed the band as one of their Essential Sets, calling the band "the perfect recipe for Gothic Americana."[14]Paste Magazine featured Frontier Ruckus in their "Best of What's Next" issue.[15] It was announced that Deadmalls and Nightfalls, their second full-length album, would be released July 20 via Ramseur Records.[16][17] Versions of several new songs were released through a Daytrotter session on February 14, 2010.[18]
Deadmalls and Nightfalls received positive critical reviews—given 9 out of 10 stars by PopMatters, who called the record "a musical map to the psyches of its performers" that "not only outdoes it predecessor, it reaches a level of top-notch songwriting most groups never attain on a greatest hits compilation."[19] A music video was shot for the song "Nerves of the Nightmind" which featured members of the band in downtown Los Angeles.[20]Deadmalls and Nightfalls served to broaden public appreciation for the group's songcraft and instrumentation, as it also left an impression with songwriters of note. Upon hearing the album, musician Ryan Adams posted on his Twitter page: "Loving the new Frontier Ruckus! Great band ... this is what I want to get back to. Those tunes go forever ...."[21]
Frontier Ruckus returned to Europe in May 2011 for the third time, expanding to new countries such as Ireland, Sweden, and Italy. Their performance at the 2011 Kilkenny Rhythm and Roots festival was described as "a particular highlight" by The Irish Times.[22]
Zachary Nichols playing the musical saw on tour with Frontier Ruckus in Stockholm, Sweden in 2011
Adult Swim used Frontier Ruckus' song "Dark Autumn Hour" for four ads in their well-known series of bumps, first airing in September 2011.[24] Around this time, Deadmalls and Nightfalls was released in a deluxe double-vinyl package including the bonus EP Way Upstate and the Crippled Summer, pt. 2.
In March 2012, the band streamed the recording of their third Daytrotter session live. A music film shot on Super 8 mm film for the song "Mona and Emmy" was premiered by Paste Magazine who also announced the first official details on the band's upcoming third full-length record Eternity of Dimming—slated to be a double album of 20 songs and 5,500 words.[25]
In May 2012, footage of Jones and Nichols performing a medley of theme songs from The Legend of Zelda—on banjo and musical saw, melodica, and Casio keyboard respectively—was circulated by Geekologie and the Kotaku site of Gawker Media.[26][27]
Eternity of Dimming was released on January 29, 2013 to strong critical response. Jim Farber of the New York Daily News commended the double album's dense specificity and ability to "obsess on the most suburban images possible."[28] The band released Eternity of Dimming at the 36th Ann Arbor Folk Festival at Hill Auditorium, sharing the stage with Colin Hay and Rodriguez.[29]
2013 saw Frontier Ruckus perform at Lollapalooza and return to Europe twice, as Eternity was their first record to receive distribution from a European label, Loose Music. The band appeared at End of the Road Festival in the UK, where the record received positive reviews from Uncut magazine—who stated the band was at "their blinding best."[30] Singles for the record, "Careening Catalog Immemorial" and "Dealerships", were both accompanied by music videos and premiered by IFC and Rolling Stone, respectively.[31][32]
On November 11, 2014 (November 10, 2014 in Europe), Frontier Ruckus released their fourth full-length album, Sitcom Afterlife.[34] Prior to the complete album release, the tracks "Sad Modernity", "Bathroom Stall Hypnosis", and "Darling Anonymity" were released individually, highlighting the band's shift toward a greater focus on classic power pop arrangements, while still remaining densely lyrical.[35][36] On the release tour for Sitcom Afterlife, CMJ reviewed the band's Manhattan stop glowingly, writing: "For an hour, they treated the crowd to a sampling of songs taken from their three existing LPs as well as their upcoming fourth, and transported us from New York City to a larger, intangible, folktale version of suburban America."[37]
In December 2016, Rolling Stone announced that Frontier Ruckus' 5th LP would be titled Enter the Kingdom and was to be released in February 2017. It was reported that the album was recorded in Nashville with founding Wilco member and final Uncle Tupelo drummer, Ken Coomer. They also premiered a music video for the single "27 Dollars," featuring the band performing on the roof of the Penobscot Building in downtown Detroit.[38] For the first half of 2017, the band toured across much of the United States and Europe in support of Enter the Kingdom. A music video for the album's title track was premiered by Billboard in late summer.[39] Writing for Vice, legendary rock critic Robert Christgau gave the album a favorable review, commenting, "Somebody marry this winsome sad sack, whose increasingly plausible rhymes now include open-ibuprofen, gauche-precocious-neurosis, salad on the tennis court-valid passport, speckled melanin-freckled up your skin, and the very sexy errands-gerunds."[40]
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin (SSLYBY) is an American indie pop band from Springfield, Missouri. They are named after Boris Yeltsin, the first President of Russia after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Their first full-length album, Broom, was independently released in 2005. They are now signed with Polyvinyl Record Co.
Tokyo Police Club is an indie rock band from Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 2005, it consists of vocalist and bassist Dave Monks, keyboardist Graham Wright, guitarist Josh Hook, and drummer Greg Alsop. The band found early success with their 2006 debut EP A Lesson in Crime, which they followed with several popular releases including the albums Elephant Shell and Champ in 2008 and 2010, respectively. During the 2010s, they released three other studio albums. Among other nominations, the band has been twice nominated for the Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year, in 2011 for Champ and in 2019 for TPC. They announced their breakup in 2024.
The Orion Experience is an American pop rock band formed in New York City in 2005 by singer/songwriter Orion Simprini and Linda Horwatt. The band has released three studio albums and two EPs, and their music has been featured on television shows such as Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, The Hills, Victorious, iCarly, and Zoey 101. The name "The Orion Experience" is a "self-effacing" reference to other bands like The Alan Parsons Project and the Steve Perry Project. The band’s gender-fluid themes and presentation have attracted a strong LGBTQ+ fanbase.
These United States was an American rock band from Brooklyn, New York, and Carrboro, North Carolina, made up of songwriter and bandleader Jesse Elliott, pedal steel and keyboardist J. Tom Hnatow, guitarist Justin Craig, bassist and vocalist Anna Morsett, and drummer and percussionist Aaron Latos. The band released five albums since 2008 via the Colorado-based record label United Interests. In the five years since their formation, TUS has played 800 shows across the United States, United Kingdom, and northern Europe, appearing at South by Southwest, CMJ Music Marathon, and Lollapalooza in the U.S., and the UK's Glastonbury Festival.
The Orion Songbook is the debut album by Frontier Ruckus, released on November 6, 2008.
The Milk Carton Kids are an American indie folk duo from Eagle Rock, California, United States, consisting of singer-guitarists Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan. They began making music together in early 2011 and have recorded and released six albums. Their first two albums were released free of charge online. They were featured on the Peacock TV show Girls5Eva with their song, New York Lonely Boy. Their instrumental and vocal style has been likened to that of Simon and Garfunkel.
Purity Ring is a Canadian electronic pop band from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, formed in 2010. The band consists of multi-instrumentalist/producer Corin Roddick and vocalist Megan James. They released their debut album Shrines in 2012 to critical acclaim, followed by Another Eternity in 2015 and Womb in 2020. The band released an EP, Graves, on June 3, 2022.
Eternity of Dimming is the third full-length studio album by Frontier Ruckus. A double album of 20 songs, the record is nearly an hour and a half in duration. The album's lyrical text is also unusually prolific, containing approximately 5,600 words. Despite the dense and hardly immediate nature of the record, Eternity of Dimming received mostly favorable reviews—eliciting reactions of both hyperbolic praise and occasional vexation. Thematically, the record details childhood and adolescent memory within the suburban landscape of Metro Detroit.
Deadmalls and Nightfalls is the second full-length studio album by Frontier Ruckus, released on July 20, 2010 by Ramseur Records.
Way Upstate and the Crippled Summer, pt. 1 is an EP by Frontier Ruckus, released in 2009 between the releases of The Orion Songbook and Deadmalls & Nightfalls. It is only available on the double-vinyl edition of the former.
Way Upstate and the Crippled Summer, pt. 2 is an EP by Frontier Ruckus, released in 2011 between the releases of Deadmalls & Nightfalls and Eternity of Dimming. It is only physically available on the double-vinyl edition of the former. The EP is the release by Frontier Ruckus most in the category of alternative country.
Nicky Sanders is a Grammy Award-winning, American fiddle player specializing in Bluegrass music. He is best known for his work with the band Steep Canyon Rangers along with banjo player and comedian Steve Martin. Raised in San Francisco, he began studying classical violin aged five. At 17, he became concertmaster of the Young People's Symphony Orchestra in Berkeley, California. Later he would graduate Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts earning a BA in Music with a major in performance (violin). Other studies while at Berklee included 20th-century classical music composition and Film Scoring.
Sitcom Afterlife is the fourth full-length studio album by Frontier Ruckus. Strongly embracing elements of classic power pop, the record marked a stylistic shift for the band while still retaining a folk rock undercurrent. The album marked the return of harmony vocalist Anna Burch, and indefinite departure of founding drummer Ryan Etzcorn. Sitcom Afterlife is considered to be the result of a romantic breakup experienced by songwriter Matthew Milia, to which AllMusic commented: "[Milia's] not having much luck with relationships, which may be bad news for him but has certainly given him plenty of inspiration."
Matthew Milia is an American songwriter, musician, poet, and visual artist. He is best known as the leader of the band Frontier Ruckus.
Jeremy Porter & The Tucos is an American rock and roll band from Detroit, Michigan. The band is composed of Jeremy Porter, Gabriel Doman, and Jake Riley. Their sound has been described as a combination of classic American powerpop and alternative-country with elements of punk and Rockabilly. The band is often compared to The Replacements, Cheap Trick, Uncle Tupelo and X.
Seasaw is an American indie rock band duo from Madison, Wisconsin which consists of Eve Wilczewski and Meg Golz. They have released four full-length albums: Seasaw (2011), The Look In Your Eyes Tells Me This Is A Bad Idea (2014), Too Much of a Good Thing (2016), and Big Dogs (2018). In 2020, while quarantined for the COVID-19 pandemic, the band released a video for their new song "Inventor" which will be featured on their next album.
Enter the Kingdom is the fifth full-length studio album by Frontier Ruckus. Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee with former Wilco and Uncle Tupelo drummer Ken Coomer, it marked the first Frontier Ruckus album produced outside of the band's home state of Michigan. Rolling Stone announced the album in late 2016 and premiered a music video for the debut single "27 Dollars."
Brick By Brick is a hardcore metal band based out of Albany, New York. They have released five studio records and three 7" vinyl. The record Thin The Heard was re-released on 12" vinyl in 2017.
Anna Burch is an American singer-songwriter from Detroit, Michigan.
Alone at St. Hugo is the debut solo studio album by Matthew Milia. It was released on May 3, 2019. Recorded on a Tascam 388 reel-to-reel tape recorder, the entire album was performed by Milia and engineer Ben Collins. In an interview with Metro Times, Milia described the set of highly melodic power pop songs that constitute the album as a result of shirking music industry expectations and remaining prolific as a writer for purer reasons, saying, "It's the writing part that I still wake up every day and want to do."
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