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Breaking: Alberta Cross

9/2/09, 4:21 pm EST

Who: Alberta Cross, a quintet of stoner rock revivalists from Brooklyn-via-London-via-Sweden who became one of the summer’s must-see new bands thanks to appearances at Coachella and Bonnaroo.

Sounds Like: Nineties-style shoegaze guitar dissonance fused with the laid-back hippie folk rock of 1970’s Los Angeles. It’s all topped off with the high-lonesome vocals of lead singer Petter Ericson Stakee, a Swedish import whose voice recalls Neil Young and Jim James. Their full-length debut Broken Side of Time features wind tunnels of bent guitar riffs, distort power chords and the haunting melodies of rural American music.

Vital Stats:

• Before recording their new album, the five members of Alberta Cross holed up at Haunted Hollow studio owned by Dave Matthews — the band is signed to Matthews’ ATO label — outside Charlottesville, Virginia. “We were in the middle of the forest, just drinking wine and smoking weed and jamming for, like, 10 hours a day,” Ericson Stakee tells Rolling Stone. These jam sessions help craft the slow-burner “Rise from the Shadows” and the big-sky rocker “Taking Control.”

• Stakee wrote the acoustic number “Ghost of City Life” about the hipsters that walked around the band’s then-home base of Brooklyn, New York. “You know who I’m talking about—the people you meet in the city, the scenesters and all,” Ericson Stakee said. “I was just sick of the city, tired of all the fake people.”

• After recording their album in Austin, Texas, with Spoon producer Mike McCarthy, the band fell in love with the Lone Star capital and are now contemplating a move there. “Everybody welcomed us with open arms: ‘Come on, let me buy you a drink, there’s a party later,’ ” says bassist Terry Wolfers, who formed the band with Ericson Stakee after the two met in an East London bar. Life in Austin does have its dangers, however: “I OD’d on Mexican food,” Ericson Stakee jokes.

Hear It Now: Broken Side of Time is due out September 22nd. Watch Alberta Cross perform “ATX” above.


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Comments

Down | 9/2/2009, 8:39 pm EST

So down for this album. Big break into the industry incoming!

tj in sa | 9/2/2009, 8:44 pm EST

nice.

Petter, check out the BBQ chicken enchiladas at El Arroyo. DEVINE!

Noah | 9/2/2009, 9:00 pm EST

Love these dudes!!!!

kevin | 9/3/2009, 2:37 pm EST

im happy these dudes are finally getting the recognition they deserve! they are by far the greatest band out there today and will be one of the greatest bands of our time…. love AC!

redsox867 | 9/4/2009, 5:54 pm EST

As an old guy who heard “FreeBird” at the prom, I gotta say these guys sound like the real rock n roll bands of a past era. Its about time that real talent & music comes back.

TheTrueBastard | 9/5/2009, 2:30 pm EST

I played the video three times. Really liked it!

Jack | 9/8/2009, 5:17 pm EST

Who’s that great hard-driving drummer who keeps that super-precise beat???!!!

RS annoys me sometimes | 9/12/2009, 1:55 pm EST

what the fuck is the stoner rock revival? they smoke pot, yeah, but that’s got to be the most retarded genre label i’ve heard in a while. i mean, i enjoy a good rip as much as the next guy, but i think it takes away from the band to call them that. like they’re a shitty jam band or something. anyway, great band…listening to old man chicago right now

Fredco | 9/21/2009, 3:05 pm EST

Disclosure: I’m related to Sam, so this opinion may by *slightly* biased. :-) If you have the chance to see them live, you really should. I saw them at the S.F. Independent soon after Sam, Alec and Austin joined the band… If I’m not mistaken, it was only the second time they played live. It was something to behold, let me tell you. I couldn’t be happier for their success… couldn’t happen to a nicer group of guys.

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