The Scene Aesthetic

The Scene Aesthetic - a true MySpace success story. Since the boys came together in January of 2005, they’ve managed nearly 2 million plays, nationwide tours, and a new album. I can think of a few major labels who wish their artists could accomplish so much. Love ‘em, hate ‘em -whatever, but their story is a case in point of the changes afoot in the music industry, and how the internet has leveled the playing field. Who needs million dollar contracts and a bunch of old guys telling you what to do when anyone with a dream, drive, and an internet connection can reach the masses for a song? (Get it? “for a song”…like, really cheap…good pun, huh?)

Eric Bowley and Andrew de Torres of Seattle, WA, are relative newcomers to the music scene, having formed The Scene Aesthetic in January, 2005. The story goes…the friends decided to write a song together, which would later become “Beauty in the Breakdown.” They were so pleased with the way the song came together that they decided this should be more than just a way to kill time and rushed to the study to record said song. “Beauty in the Breakdown” became, according to the band’s website, an “instant success among the online communities of MySpace and Purevolume.”

Over the next year, Eric and Andrew wrote a new album’s worth of material and recorded their debut release, “Building Homes From What We’ve Known.” Since then, the band has played shows all over the country.

I could tell you all kinds of things about The Scene Aesthetic, like Eric likes Mug root beer and Andrew wears Abercrombie: Fierce, but perhaps its best you visit their website and find out for yourself.

First, let’s just say that, as previously mentioned, The Scene Aesthetic gets two thumbs up for their do-it-yourself success. It’s extremely impressive to see to see a band build up a following through grassroots efforts, and it’s clear The Scene Aesthetic is committed to doing what it takes to make this a success - putting in the time to write and record songs, playing show after show after show (and I can guess that hasn’t exactly been a huge cash cow), working together with other independent bands to put shows together, and putting together a very well done website, complete with everything a band website should have. So, well done Scene Aesthetic.

Now, the music. The Scene Aesthetic classifies their music as “Acoutic/Indie/Pop” - and, well, I couldn’t have said it any better myself. They are at their best when they are more acoustic, less pop. I find songs like “Beauty in the Breakdown” (their first song) or “Call It a Lullaby” to be among their weakest moments. There’s nothing wrong with the song per se, but they’re average. Nice enough, people would probably bop their heads and sing along to them, but nothing special.

That’s not to say The Scene Aesthetic is nothing special, though. “The Alamo is No Place for Dancing” is stripped down, bare-boned, dark and stormy gem of song and the vocals on “Alvin Maker’s Greensong” have moments of Simon and Garfunkle excellence (yes, that IS a good thing). It’s this slower, more minimal side that shows off the band’s work the best.

Acoustic music is hard to get right. Nail it, and it’s staggering how exciting simplicity can be. Miss the mark, and it’s dime-a-dozen open mic night slop. The Scene Aesthetic doesn’t always get it right - “So Peter, You’ve Become a Pirate” is a little earnest sounding (though it gets bonus points for having a really good title) - and it’s not the only moment that goes that way. But The Scene Aesthetic has more than enough promise in them to make up for these blips. May I humbly suggest they add a little Red House Painters/Mark Kozelek to their diet, and The Scene Aesthetic, well, they’re going to be just fine.

• The Scene Aesthetic MySpace page
• The Scene Aesthetic Purevolume page

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