New Collisions began in Spring 2009, when lead singer Sarah Guild and guitarist Scott Guild began swapping songs with bassist Alex Stern and drummer Zak Kahn of Britpop band The Sterns. Organ player Casey Gruttadauria joined at the same time. Sessions were booked; shows began to sell out.
Three months after their first performance, the band was on tour with The B-52s and Blondie. Five national tours later, they have shared stages with The Morning Benders, Missing Persons, You Say Party! We Say Die!, and Owl City. Greg Hawkes, legendary synth-player of The Cars, became an early fan and collaborator, live and in-studio. After six months together, New York Magazine and This Week in New York placed them in the top ten of CMJ 2009.
Their first recordings, a self-released 7-song EP from late last year, garnered a truly unexpected response. Multiple pressings sold out; there were over thirty thousand (documented) downloads. There were also features in CMJ, URB, New York Magazine, Time Out New York, The Boston Globe, Herald, and Phoenix, Fearless Music, Comcast's Blues Kitchen series, Wonka Vision, Vans Online, the Zune frontpage, and iTunes "New and Notable" and "Best of Month" in the U.S., UK, and Japan.
After a busy SXSW 2010, their first full-length was recorded in under ten days. Producers Sean Slade and Paul Kolderie (The Pixies, Dinosaur Jr., Radiohead, The Sounds) chose a live, direct aesthetic for the album; first takes were given preference. The result is an intense, cathartic record, reminiscent of the punk and pop classics of 1977-1983. Two months before its release, it has appeared/is slated to appear in PopMatters, AOL/Spinner, Venus Zine, All Music Guide, and many more.
THE OPTIMIST tells a story of decline. In their jobs, their relationships and their thoughts, the album's nine narrators confront a bleak modern landscape. With a novelistic eye for detail, songwriters Scott Guild and Alex Stern use this character-based approach to depict a culture in collapse. The album is both a personal confession and a social observation.
Sonically, the record dispels its darker themes. Hooks and rough edges coexist with ease. Each song is an upbeat chronicle of deadend existence. In the tradition of Jarvis Cocker, Philip Roth, and other bemused malcontents, THE OPTIMIST is an oddly uplifting account of our fractured lives.
THE OPTIMIST will be available everywhere October 5.
Press
Release: "New Collisions recorded their upcoming debut album, The Optimist, in a mere 10 days using a live setting to best capture the band’s energy. Today, PopMatters offers the exclusive online premiere of the group’s new single “Dying Alone” from the upcoming record."--PopMatters
"The Boston pop-rock act has been together for less than a year, but has already logged tours of duty with the B-52's and Blondie, and you can see why in their ultraenergetic live show. Make sure to check them out them if you like fun."--New York Magazine, Top 10 of CMJ 2009
"The band, which is less than a year old, owes its discovery to Greg Hawkes of The Cars, who was immediately taken with them. It wasn't long before Blondie was on the phone, offering the opportunity to open for them."
--College Music Journal
"Best Boston Band 2010"--The Improper Bostonian
"This is a CD with substance and imagination that at the same time is the sort of music that gets you on your feet feeling like you can tackle anything. All high-key danceable music should be this good."--Wonka Vision
"A few weeks back, we picked the New Collisions as one of the ten bands to watch at the CMJ Music Marathon. We hope you took our advice, because the group—our favorite of the festival—lived up to its hype. A gargantuan, refreshing blast of pure power-pop."--This Week In New York
"Nodding in sound and style to new wave's heyday in the late 1970s and early '80s is one thing. Doing it well enough to attract the attention of a bona fide member of one of the era's most iconic bands - and then recruiting him to play on your debut EP - is quite another. 'Greg [Hawkes] came out to one of our shows and and it just happened,' says Sarah Guild, whose platinum-blond locks are nearly as bright as the hooks on her band's debut EP."
--The Boston Globe
"If there is another New Wave revival, credit The New Collisions and electric frontwoman Sarah Guild. This dance-pop act has no problem harking back to the giddy, sexy side of ’80s new wave. Platinum-blonde singer Sarah Guild looks like a star waiting to happen."--The Boston Herald
"The sassy party of the New Collisions, who began playing out only six months ago, has fallen into place so well it's actually kind of fucked up."
--The Boston Phoenix
"The best band in Boston"--Lucid Culture
"There is no hotter band in the city than The New Collisions."
--Ryan's Smashing Life
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New Collisions began in Spring 2009, when lead singer Sarah Guild and guitarist Scott Guild began swapping songs with bassist Alex Stern and drummer Zak Kahn of Britpop band The Sterns. Organ player Casey Gruttadauria joined at the same time. Sessions were booked; shows began to sell out.