Chains of Love announce debut EP, tour dates this Feb + SXSW

Strange Grey Days 12″ EP out on Manimal Vinyl March 14th

SPRING TOUR DATES
February 16, 2012 Vancouver @The Biltmore
February 21, 2012 Seattle @The Funhouse
February 23, 2012 San Francisco @ Brick and Mortar
February 24, 2012 San Diego @ Soda Bar
February 25, 2012 Los Angeles @ Echo
February 27, 2012 Los Angeles Live on KXLU
March 1, 2012 Portland @ Mississippi Bar
March 14-17 Austin – SXSW

With an intoxicating energy, Chains of Love’s sun-soaked romantic pop is injected with the stomp of vintage 60s soul, the wild abandon of 70s garage, and the guitar grime of The Cramps and early JAMC. Initially inspired by the “memory of that girl group sound” when forming the band, Chains started by referencing certain artists such as Gail Harris, Ike & Tina, The Ronnettes, and The Shangri-la’s by using their lo-fi recording styles as a blueprint for the sound they wanted to create but their debut EP Strange Grey Days signals that their sound expanding yet maintains rare urgency of that sets Chains of Love apart from their throwback-y, reverb-drenched contemporaries.

In a recent interview, singer Nathalia Pizzaro says “I don’t wanna just say that we sound retro or Motown—that we’ve got a kitschy, candy shop vibe to us—I feel like there’s a raw element to our sound, too.” guitarist/vocalist Rebecca Marie Law Gray adds “We have so much fun when we’re recording. I think it translates in what you hear.” The band all would agree that Chains of Love is truly a passion project, putting every bit of energy and emotion into it. Uninitiated audiences who have been lucky enough to stumble across seeing them live often come away witnessing the best show they never expected to see.

The Vancouver-based group formed when Guitarist Felix Fung, the engineer and owner of Vancouver’s Little Red Sound, hatched a plan to start a girl group with Pizarro. Things took shape quickly and with the harmonic help of Gray, the band knew they had something very special at hand. With free studio on Tuesday afternoons, so they started inviting their friends over to see what they could make of this fortuitous combination. Two 7” singles resulted in 2011 (You Got It/Black Hearts and In Between/Breaking My Heart) quickly gained the group accolades with plenty of hometown praise eventually catching the attention of the likes of the CBC, Yours Truly on the promise of these first recordings.

Chains of Love’s debut EP Strange Grey Days is their first body of work (and first release with Manimal Vinyl), one that proves that they are no one trick pony. While the band’s yearning for a certain time period of rock and roll is ingrained in Chains of Love’s DNA, it seems to be more about unearthing something timeless rather than simply nostalgia. There is of course that grooving “wall of sound” meets Motown boogie that first gained the group notoriety throughout the EP, but the songs also sound bigger with intricate layers amounting to mini-symphonies. Some songs experiment with noisier guitar textures while others ventures into more psychedelic, darker territory, but they are still all centered by Pizzaro and Gray’s sublime, inescapably catchy hooks and rousing sock-hop harmonies.

A band that we will undoubtedly be hearing a lot more from in 2012, Chains of Love’s Strange Grey Days will be out this March on Manimal Vinyl. The vinyl version will be cut to 45 with the seven songs from the new EP. The deluxe CD edition will include the 7 EP tracks as well their previous 7″ singles as an added bonus.