story by Jennifer Radakovits
Most darlings of the indie world find themselves facing the crushing
pain of obscurity. Ambulance LTD instead channeled their collective
power to survive. Once studio musicians wriggling free from all obstacles
in their way, these Brooklyn boys are steadfastly racing up the Billboard
charts with their self-titled LP.
Ambulance LTD - or as vocalist/guitarist Marcus Congleton insists
over the crackling reception of his tour manager's cell phone as their
tour bus winds down the East Coast - "just call us Ambulance."
The band combines a haunting mixture of dreamy and hypnotic guitar
riffs with multifaceted boyish harmonies, echoing a reverb-heavy sound
similar to a young My Bloody Valentine.
In 2003 when the band toured with Placebo, a falsified label of the
band's genre pegged them as leaning towards emo-rock, but Ambulance
again proves with their latest release that such notions have easily
been dispelled. Ambulance definitely isn't your kid sister's favorite
band either with their take no prisoners approach to the rock and
roll game. And it's damn good.
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CONGLETON'S INNER VIEW
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"Shit, one girl wanted a sample of
my blood."
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I quickly became used to Ambulance's good-natured charm several minutes
into the call when the phone was hijacked out of Congleton's paw.
A few seconds of static before giggling emerged somewhere in the background
followed by the sounds of a brief struggle. I was still unaware that
the bandmate switch had taken place, this being one of the oldest
tricks in the book when it comes to music journalism by phone. So
as whoever continued to breathe at me as I continued my rambling,
there arose another noise of brief chaos and Marcus was back and apparently
the victor of whatever death match had been undertaken to win back
the mobile phone. Placing the blame on bassist Matt Dubin, we continue.
"He's in love with me and he's trying to show off in front of
me," Congleton giggles.
As someone in the background tries their own hand at doing an impression
of what I guess to be Matt or Darren, we have to take a moment to
collect our thoughts before proceeding. If it weren't for the music,
Ambulance might have a career as a comedy troupe.
So why hasn't Ambulance been to Chicago since their show nearly two
years ago at Schubas? Could it be our native yet rabid fans? For Ambulance,
the groupies are international. "There is a stalker that arrived
out here yesterday from Spain. I think she may be my personal stalker.
We do have some stalkers, I mean groupies," Marcus sighs. "Shit,
one girl wanted a sample of my blood."
Wait a minute. "Did you just say she wanted a sample of your
blood? For what? Her take-home DNA sample?," I asked timidly.
"I don't know. I guess she just wanted to keep it." Souvenir
blood. How rock star is that? Just another gleaming example proving
once again that the guys of Ambulance LTD are just as hardcore as
their possibly vampiric fans.
The fans come from such faraway places as the band members themselves,
leaving homelands such as Belfast and states like Oregon hardly known
for their rock and roll zest to congregate in New York City where
Ambulance as we know it was finally born.
"We are one of the most non-NYC sounding bands," Benji Lysaght
adds. "We don't subscribe to this fashion aesthetic that is attached
to a lot of these New York bands. But we still look good."
Laden with blending Britpop feeling and dreamy vocals delivered over
sizzling guitar licks and pounding drums, anticipation only builds
as Ambulance dreams up their ideas for their next release only days
before their current album gets released in Europe.
These guys play like their lives depend on it, every time delivering
the goods. For Ambulance LTD their objective is clear: It's all rock
and roll.
Ambulance Ltd. :: with Autolux and Dr. Dog :: Double Door :: April
9.
Listen
to an mp3 of Ambulance LTD's "Primitive (The Way I
Treat You)," courtesy of Better Propaganda.