These days, I’m becoming harder and harder to impress. Musical discovery always starts with a MySpace page — that old, archaic form of band promotion. The available genres and description often say little about the music. Alternative/indie? So far, not incredible. The band in question were offering a free 7-track EP. I questioned the purpose– free because no one would want to buy it?

It was, then, a pleasant surprise when the Bolsheniks — a 4-piece from Tallahassee, Florida in the early days of their career — blew me away. Kelly Clarkson? Jay-Z? Mozart? All are influences, and scarcely belong on the same crib-sheet. A lot of bands would choose those mismatched names for “impact,” but with the Bolsheniks, the music is genuinely original and out there. Mr. Carter would be proud.

The band’s 7-track EP, The Ottoman Empire, is a tour de force. It crept up on me, as I certainly wasn’t expecting anything as complex or mature from such a fresh band. It all works out perfectly — after innocently proclaiming “We Have Arrived”, the Bolsheniks smash it out of the park with their first material. Each track is to be savored, and yet this is just “a sneak-peak to the debut release of the Bolsheniks.” At this point, I’m listening intently.

Intro “Degrees Of Honesty” opens with a fanfare of drum lines, organ chords, and orchestral drama. It’s an interesting intro, although the complete antithesis of the rest of the album. “Table Talk” is a song of two halves, borrowing the military drum lines of the opener coupled with luscious brass. It’s a false start, rectified when the huge vocal line kicks in: “We cannot… can’t talk about it!”. A great lesson in the art of the tease. “Paper Mache” is exceptional, starting up with huge drum beats and vocoder effects. The sounds are processed, highlighting another style that the Bolsheniks can pull off. “Sailboat” deserves the remix treatment, and could easily trouble the dance floors. Somewhere in between Basshunter and Bloc Party, the song is dominated by a hugely satisfying bass kick and fuzzy synth line. I could go on, but one of the key aspects of their appeal is the shock-factor. I urge you to take a listen.

The lyrics are occasionally clunky, but barring this, there are very few signs that this is Bolshenik’s debut EP. It just all stinks of absolute creative confidence. “I Am Large. I Contain Multitudes.” sounds like a Gorillaz A-side, with acoustic guitars, lo-fi backing, and soft vocals. This is an extremely assured debut. For a band that still is in its early stages of publicity (we are talking in the early thousands of Myspace visitors), they sound scarily like a band troubling the big boys.

Make no mistake, the hype starts here. And as well as being talented musicians, they are a lovely bunch of guys. We managed to get a short interview with two members of the band:

How far along in the recording process for your debut album are you?

What are your main influences (from your Myspace, I see it’s pretty broad)? What have you guys been listening to lately?
Comney: [Laughs] I feel like I’m in “High Fidelity,” right now. Okay, my list for the top five bands/albums I am currently listening to, are as follows:
1.) The complete discography of Manchester Orchestra.
2.) Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains
3.) A lo-fi bootleg of Doug Martsch playing an intimate, acoustic show in Boise.
4.) Pixies - Doolittle (particularly, the song “Hey”)
5.) Land of Talk - Some Are Lakes
Travers: I think what really affects the way we write music is the very different backgrounds we come from. Personally, I have been listening to Grizzly Bear’s new album a lot. I really like the new Thrice, which I plan on buying when it comes out. I couldn’t help but hop on the leak train. I am also one of those Radiohead fan boys — I followed them around for four stops of the In Rainbows tour.

This is such an assured debut EP- I’m guessing you all have been members of other bands?
Comney: Thank you. But to be honest, this is the first band I have ever been in. I actually just had my “live” cherry popped the other day, when we played our first show. [Laughs] I smoked a cigarette, afterwards.
Travers: I have been in bands since high school. I only played keyboards back then, and not many people wanted to have me in their band, so I used to write five minute mini-symphonies that I played in school once a year as well. In college, I was in a band called The Color Science. We played all around Tallahassee, and I really got a feel for playing live and feeding off all that energy.

For those interested, The Ottoman Empire will soon be available via iTunes, Rhapsody, and Amazon.com.

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Categories: Interview, Listen
Tags: Bolsheniks, The Ottoman Empire