Merge Records

The Rosebuds

The Rosebuds
To the seventeenth-century poet Robert Herrick, rosebuds were a symbol of the fleeting pleasures of youth. Orson Welles made "Rosebud" the dying word of Charles Foster Kane, again a symbol of the tenacity of youthful memory. Kelly and Ivan - The Rosebuds - make music that embodies that certain spirit: youthful but complex, not at all fairytale but magical, and not realistic but real, perhaps the way youth actually is.

The Rosebuds defy categorization with each new release, like creatures in a myth shifting shape to avoid capture; slippery catfish in a North Carolina river. Mention The Smiths and Ivan will turn his Morrissey croon into a gruff Greg Dulli growl or splash it against some reverb-laden surf guitar. Call them southern gothic and they'll release a dance record. They do not spend time categorizing themselves, each record is simply evidence of new curiosity.

On Life Like (2008), The Rosebuds return to more acoustic territory, barely a year after releasing the synth-heavy dance pop of 2007's Night of the Furies. Crisp says that perhaps they needed to exorcise the anger and disillusion caused by a hard year of terrifying storms, and endless frustration over an ineffectual political state (that provided the need for the Furies metaphor in their songs) before they could move on to explore stories more closely related to their everyday life.

Having just finished the first tour for Night of the Furies, Ivan and Kelly began working on other creative projects in an attempt to take a break from music before going back out on tour. However, they soon found themselves making songs to entertain themselves and realized they had a whole record. So, they ditched plans for a second tour and called in their friends (including Portastatic's Matthew McCaughan, Bon Iver's Justin Vernon, and Ashley Stove's Jim Brantley) and put the finishing touches on Life Like.

The album retains the band's signature sinister breeziness, particularly on the title track and "Cape Fear," one of two songs on the album that juxtapose subdued hand claps with compellingly dark lyrics. Again, Ivan and Kelly share vocal duties throughout the album, with Kelly singing "Another Way In," and the lush pastoral "Black Hole." On the title track, Ivan is hunted, singing about escape, ultimately describing himself as a "beast trapped in taxidermy," over churning, relentless bass. In "Nice Fox," his warnings are too late to save the dead fox he finds trapped under a collapsed, rotten barn, while Kelly leads the blithe refrain, "it don't mean nothing at all." Catchy melodies house complex lyrical content always with the unmistakable nuanced-pop identity of The Rosebuds.

The Rosebuds have released four full-length albums, two 7-inches, an EP, and a digital-only album of remixes.

www.therosebuds.com
www.myspace.com/therosebuds
10/13/09
Today on Converse.com, see The Rosebuds play an acoustic version of “Leaves do Fall” from their 2005 album, Birds Make Good Neighbors, during XX Merge.

The Rosebuds performance completes the six week series at Converse.com showcasing Merge bands performing stripped-down sets somewhat spontaneously in various locations during the festival. Visit the XX Merge section of Converse.com for videos from Superchunk, The Clientele, Telekinesis, Lou Barlow, Wye Oak, and The Rosebuds.

Visit Converse.com to watch the complete series, and don’t forget to check out the Merge channel at Babelgum for live footage from the XX Merge 20th anniversary shows held July 22-26th at the Cat’s Cradle and Memorial Hall.

09/14/09
The Rosebuds will bring the party to China and Europe this fall! Kelly & Ivan head to China on Wednesday to play some shows and eat lots of exotic food. Stay tuned to the Rosebuds blog for photos and tales from the road!

Next up, The Rosebuds will tour Europe with labelmates, Telekinesis. Ivan will pull double-duty XX Merge style as the bass player in Telekinesis, too. Telekinesis mastermind, Michael Benjamin Lerner will, no doubt, have lots of great photos on his Flickr page!

The Rosebuds in China:
9/18 Tianjin, China @ Babi Club
9/19 Shenyang, China @ SOS
9/25 Guangzhou, China @ Classic Club
9/26 Wuhan, China @ Return 77

Telekinesis + The Rosebuds in Europe:
* = Telekinesis only
9/26 Hamburg, Germany @ Reeperbahn Festival *
9/28 Ghent, Belgium @ Cafe Video *
9/29 Antwerp, Belgium @ Trix *
9/30 London, England @ Cargo *
10/1 Nottingham, England @ The Malt Cross *
10/2 Belfast, Ireland @ Black Box
10/3 Cork, Ireland @ Cyprus Avenue
10/5 Manchester, England @ Dulcimer
10/6 Cardiff, England @ Buffalo Bar
10/7 London, England @ Windmill Brixton
10/9 Toulouse, France @ Le Saint Des Seins
10/10 Vic, France @ Jazz Club
10/12 Barcelona, Spain @ FNAC In-Store
10/13 Valencia, Spain @ El Loco Club
10/14 Madrid, Spain @ Moby Dick Club
10/15 Murcia, Spain @ Media Club
10/16 Salou, Spain (Terragona) @ Zeppelin Club
10/19 Dudingen, Switzerland @ Bad Bonn
10/21 Munich, Germany @ Feierwerk
10/22 Mannheim, Germany @ Alte Feuerwache
10/23 Bochum, Germany @ Banhof Langendreer
10/25 Dresden, Germany @ Beatpol
10/25 Berlin, Germany @ Lido
10/27 Hamburg, Germany @ Knust
10/28 Amsterdam, Germany @ Melkweg

03.19.2010 Asheville, NC UNCA Alumni Hall in Highsmith
03.20.2010 Carrboro, NC Cat's Cradle
05.08.2010 Beaufort, NC Beaufort Music Festival
The Rosebuds vs Utah! [7"] (Pidgeon English)
Make Out [cd] (Merge) October 7, 2003
"I'd Feel Better" on Survive and Advance Vol. 3 (Merge)
"Governor's Daughter" on Compulation: Volume One (Pox World Empire)
The Rosebuds Unwind [ep] (Merge) April 22, 2005
Birds Make Good Neighbors [cd] (Merge) September 13, 2005
Night Of The Furies [cd] (Merge) April 10, 2007
Life Like [cd/lp] (Merge) October 7, 2008

Waiting For The Carnival


from The Rosebuds Make Out
DOWNLOAD 

You Better Get Ready


from The Rosebuds Unwind
DOWNLOAD 

Life Like


from Life Like
DOWNLOAD 
Press - Christina Rentz: christina @ mergerecords.com

Radio - Lindsey Kronmiller: lindsey @ mergerecords.com

Booking - Jim Romeo @ Ground Control: jim @ groundcontroltouring.com

The Band - Ivan & Kelly: therosebudsrock @ yahoo.com


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On Tour

Caribou [+]

April
19 Manchester Deaf Institute
20 London Corsica Studios
21 Amsterdam Paradiso
22 Brussels Beursschouwburg
23 Paris Le Point Ephemere
[see all]

The Clientele [+]

March
09 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
11 Portland, OR Doug Fir
12 Seattle, WA Tractor Tavern
15 Minneapolis, MN Cedar Cultural Center
16 Madison, WI High Noon Saloon
[see all]

The Ladybug Transistor [+]

March
19 New York, NY Bowery Electric

Let's Wrestle [+]

March
15 New York, NY The Knitting Factory
18 Austin , TX Cedar Street
21 El Paso, TX Black Market
22 Scottsdale, AZ Chyro Arts
23 Los Angeles, CA Bootleg Theater
[see all]

Oakley Hall [+]

April
02 Brooklyn, NY Knitting Factory

Radar Bros. [+]

March
26 Los Angeles, CA Spaceland

The Rosebuds [+]

March
19 Asheville, NC UNCA Alumni Hall in Highsmith
20 Carrboro, NC Cat's Cradle
May
08 Beaufort, NC Beaufort Music Festival

She & Him [+]

March
15 Los Angeles, CA Largo at the Coronet
25 Los Angeles, CA El Rey Theatre
27 Savannah, GA Trustees Theatre (Savannah Music Festival)
29 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
30 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
[see all]

Shout Out Louds [+]

March
23 Rostock MAU
24 Hamburg Uebel & Gefahrlich
25 Berlin Astra
26 Dresden Reithalle
27 Munchen Backstage Werk
[see all]

Spoon [+]

March
18 New Orleans, LA Republic New Orleans
19 Birmingham, AL Workplay Soundstage
20 Atlanta, GA Tabernacle
22 Washington 9:30 Club
23 Washington 9:30 Club
[see all]

Superchunk [+]

March
19 Austin, TX La Zona Rosa

Telekinesis [+]

May
21 Eugene, OR Sam Bond's Garage
24 Solana Beach, CA Belly Up Tavern
25 Los Angeles, CA Troubadour
27 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
29 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
[see all]

Wye Oak [+]

March
12 Frederick, MD Cafe Nola
13 Pittsburgh, PA Brillobox
14 Indianapolis, IN Vollrath Tavern
15 Memphis, TN Hi-Tone Cafe
24 Atlanta, GA The Earl
[see all]
see all tour dates

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