QUIZ SHOW – “SUPER CONCRETE”
A SPILL EXCLUSIVE MUSIC PREMIERE
It’s always a fun trip to spend time with the music output of New Jersey’s Quiz Show, who – if you don’t already know – is made up of Shudder To Think‘s Chris Matthews and bassist Jesse Krakow, together with drummer Joe Billy, who replaces the original drummer Kevin March (Guided By Voices, The Dambuilders). In 2023, the band released their eponymous debut album to wide acclaim – an electrifying collection of 12 tracks full of protest, friendship and frustration.
Harkening back to the early to mid-90s sound of college rock radio, the indie rock trio is back (a year since their latest album) with a brand spanking new single “Super Concrete”. A clever high-octane sonic morsel to whet appetites for their forthcoming Flotsam EP, which is slated for release via Magic Door Record Label. Fans of Husker Du, Pixies, Ramones, Fugazi, will best dive in now for the recommended fresh breath of this nostalgic-induced new output.
From Chris Matthews’ days with legendary DC hardcore band Shudder To Think to this present trio Quiz Show, something major and positive has obviously happened. All the better for our ears. Inescapable catchiness, rawness and youthful spunk – Quiz Show is extending an undeniably attractive invitation to superb punk-kilned indie rock.
Recorded and produced by award-winning producer Ray Ketchem (Guided By Voices, Luna, Versus, Elk City, Gramercy Arms) at his Magic Door Recording Studio, this EP was engineered by Ketchem with Brian Robbins (Blondie, Bring Me The Horizon, Papa Roach).
“Super Concrete was the name of the company my brother worked for before he passed. He was a different sort of person, mostly a source of the unexpected, and usually trouble. Many wrote him off as poorly adjusted – as flotsam – but that’s not even close. So, while he may have lived a nontraditional life working at Super Concrete, living in DC’s gay community, and making a home with his boyfriend, he created a life of beauty and purpose,” says Chris Matthews.
“These songs are the first that the current Quiz Show lineup wrote together from scratch. We each added our instrumental work and vocals, but in the process discovered something new and unexpected– a whole that was far more than the sum of its parts. This EP offers three original songs that tell stories about living – both now and in the past. There is something melancholy about the record, but also a resonant chord of joy and perseverance.”
Found floating or washed up by the sea, ‘Flotsam’ represents the shattered, lost stories of people’s lives. It’s easy to ignore, but perhaps there is value in treating flotsam as a mystery to solve, a story to tell, a lost connection between past and present waiting to be discovered.
As of March 5, ‘Super Concrete’ is available via Apple Music, Spotify and Bandcamp. The full ‘Flotsam’ EP will be released on March 29 and can be pre-ordered directly from the band.
CREDITS
Chris Matthews / guitars, vocals
Jesse Krakow / bass, backing vocals
Joe Billy III / drums, backing vocals
Produced by Ray Ketchem
Engineered by Brian Robbins and Ray Ketchem
Mixed and Mastered by Ray Ketchem
Recording at Magic Door Recording, Montclair NJ
Songs by Chris Matthews and Quiz Show
© 2024 Shake at the Thought (BMI)
Also enjoy their self-titled album, released last year:
Quiz Show
[Single]
(Magic Door Record Label)
Release Date: March 5, 2024
Artist Links
Background Photo Credit: Ray Ketchem
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