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Are you with an online or print press outlet? Interested in doing a review or feature on the band?

Contact Trevor at Ariel Publicity, 212-239-8384, trevor@arielpublicity.com

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12/20/07 - SpaceCityRock.com - 1000 Miles From Home - "Collusion" CD Review
Review by Bill Reid

Collusion, a recent six-cut EP from Dallas-based band 1000 Miles From Home, features Zac Carrington (lead vocals/guitar), Jeff Widman (guitar/vocals), Eddie Castillo (lead guitar), Chris Bender (bass), and Keith Mitchell (drums). The bandmates originally hail from different US cities in all geographical directions. This group itself, like their current city of choice, functionally exists as a veritable hub that has brought together a very impressive pool of day-job-working musical talent. They regularly describe themselves as just five regular dudes playing regular music that you can really get into. Humility aside, if you actually buy-into this idea pre-listen, then get prepared to be greatly surprised. I found very little about the band or their music that I would consider all that plain or (ugh!) usual. In fact, I would dare say that they're probably one of the better unsigned bands I've heard in quite a while. Their six-pack of a preview collection should prove to be a real gem for hard rock music fans who enjoy tunes that skirt the area between very early grunge and post-alternative content.

The album pretty much explodes into motion like a Texas thunderstorm with "The Man," a double-bassing, heavily back-beated hard rocker that jumps right out at you in a hefty, Nickelback-ish barrage. It includes a slice of great lead guitar work, reminiscent of steely-edged '70s arena rock frettings. This first track, seemingly alluding to stalking voyeurism or a close cryptic facsimile, excellently sets the tone for the rest of the album. As maintained throughout all of the remaining material, it also introduces the group's inclination toward mixing upbeat instrumental scoring with rather angst-filled lyrical focus. This curious combo, as contradictory as it sounds, invokes a weird sensation in effect: you're pumped-up by the pounding tempos, but somewhat sympathetically and subliminally heart-string-tugged by the vocalized poetry at the same time. Such a contrasting element would be a rare move for any band, yet stylishly pulled off here.

Another rather odd characteristic of 1000MFH is the way they meld the presence of vocals and instruments together in the mix. In essence, while the instrumentation is belting you in the face like a punching bag, the vocals are elegantly soothing out your blow-wearied brow. Even when singing loudly, the melody comes off as a relatively smoothed-out compression of energy. The total sum of all of these contrary aspects actually fits together very nicely, like the top and bottom reaches of a sine wave form; in this case, creating a sonic sample that's quite pleasing, though perhaps a bit unconventional. Somehow they've managed to round-up all this non-conformity into a fairly universally-patterned, multi-song motif.

The next installment, "Explain The Explanation," my personal fave, charts a slightly different course, kicking-off with a moderately rolling, flowing rhythm, offset by twinned guitar riffs acting as a musical metronome in the background. By the time you're wafting along with an acoustic that strums in to carry the verse, you're abruptly ushered right into a relentlessly-hammering chorus. I still find myself mentally replaying the catchy melody in it, even now. The words are etched-in too: "All that's left in my head / I remember one thing, I missed what you said / All that's left to be said / Was her faint breath misread." Be warned: if this gets airplay, the whole country could become thusly affected by this hooky song. The band rounds out the EP with "Betrayal," with repetitive intro-riffs that exude a softened punk/power pop chemistry, the even darker-emoted "Confiding In Pylons," with its cadence-filled percussion under-girtings , "When You Go," a very interesting cross of Green Day-type arrangement with pseudo-emo sounds, and "Long Drive To Texas," apparently a sonic-poetic take on vacant mind journeys taken during boring highway travels.

1000 Miles From Home may have a bit more of a trek ahead of them before they can officially say they've actually arrived home. Be that as it may, they already display an amazing array of talent and songwriting ability for a group of musicians in the entry-level trenches. I have a sneaking suspicion that they have far more musical range under wraps than what is displayed in the narrow groove of rock content that they've shown so well on this first recording showcase. We'll see. I've marked my calendar to hear them when they come to Houston, and I recommend you do the same when they're in your neck of the woods. In the final analysis, I just couldn't help it. I found myself hopelessly becoming an unwitting party to this band's musical "collusion."

Link to the review:
Space City Rock - Reviews (December 2007): 1000 Miles From Home, "Collusion"

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7/2/07 - RenegadeRadio.net - 1000 Miles From Home - "Collusion" CD Review
Review by Iceberg

Twice so far I've come into their live show around the 1/2 way point and after the 2nd time, getting a cd, and taking a little more time to get to know this band, they've been moved to my "make it a point to see them more often" list. After a few spins of the cd they've also been moved from our "played during any given show" list to making our 24x7 rotation on the next update scheduled for the weekend after the 4th. A Thousand Miles from Home is a solid collection of talent comprised of Zac Carrington on vocals and guitar, Jeff Widman, vocals and guitar; Eddie Castillo, Guitar; Keith Mitchell, Drums and on the 60 day disabled list we also have Chad Hudgens, drums. Starting off with "The Man" you get a taste of what's to come but in this instance they don't start off with their best, yet they build into it and do it very well by arrangement on the CD. With The Man you get a taste of solid rock that's easy to get into and pull you into their overall sound. "Explain the Explanation" is a little bit different and shows some range in a "sound alike" world that's also on the plus side for the band. Melodic yet upbeat and that's not always an easy thing to pull off. Now we do jump to "Betrayal" and again the band takes another direction in sound while not losing the sound they're after. Things pick up a little and song by song the band is winning your respect as they continue to show their talents for good music in a time when music itself it lost and looking for direction. "Confiding in Pylons" and "When you go" keep the faith you've come to find alive and well as they push on through their cd release "Collusion" Wrapping up this cd release is "Long Drive to Texas" and just like the band started, they end up, keeping the music simple and to the point and leaving out the gimmics that can clutter music beyond repair today. In the end this is one band you need to put on your "gotta see 'em live" list and pick up a cd of your own. In a market so varied and void of direction, you just never know what band can suddenly be on the verge of a lot of great things a 1000 Miles from Home certainly has the potential to be on that list also. With more experience and a continued dedication to their craft, it wouldn't surprise me at all to see this band one of the more popular ones in the local scene. From there? Who knows but it sure if fun to watch bands come along and grow and this is one band that I believe can "get it" and work their way up.

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5/23/07 - Jefitoblog.com - Listening Booth: 1000 Miles From Home, "Collusion"
Review by David Schrimpf

Collusion, from Dallas-based group 1000 Miles From Home, sounds more like a résumé to be shopped around than a complete representation of what the band is capable of doing. Each song on the EP is loud, fast and artistically straddles the fine line between neo-grunge and post-alternative. If given the opportunity to stretch out over a full-length album, I’d bet these guys have a slower, more reflective song or two up their sleeves. But as musical résumés go, this one is terrific.

The EP starts off strong with “The Man,” featuring a dual vocal technique where the backup singer sings the same line and melody as the lead singer, but only an octave lower. (I wonder if these guys were fans of The Climax Blues Band?) This is a great lead-off track and perfectly sets the mood for the next 26 minutes.

My favorite track is cut number two, “Explain the Explanation” (download). It starts with a pair of electric guitars, one in each channel, playing identical lines with the drums providing a strong rhythm. Then, in comes the acoustic guitar, right in the middle, creating a nice layered effect. It’s the most varied song on the EP; it has a terrific arrangement and would be my choice for first radio single.

While the music delivers a steady dose of adrenaline, the lyrics tend to be downbeat, depressing or cynical. In “The Man,” things get a little creepy — “You look all right, you’re not breathing, but you’re warm enough to take” — and there’s tales of unrequited love and obsession in “Betrayal” (”Fading in the night, I have no strength to live / Quickly you are fading away, hidden from sight”). Even “Explain the Explanation” has hints of hopelessness — “Reaching out and yearning, nothing left to find.” Some may feel this is a mismatch between the music and lyrics, but I like the juxtapositional aspect; it gives the material more depth and interest.

There’s not a lot of studio trickery here, no sound effects, no tape manipulation, just a straightforward recording of the band in action. It’s a little hard to believe their official bio when it states that none of these guys has any real formal musical training. They must be loaded with raw talent, because not only are they all very accomplished musicians individually, they also know how to perform together as a band.

I’d like to compare this album to something a little more recent, but in all honesty, I feel this goes back about 15 years to when alternative was just starting out in the Northwest as ‘grunge-lite.’ And I don’t mean that as a bad thing. The closest I can come to listing a ’sounds like’ group would be 3 lb. Thrill (whose excellent album Vulture shows up regularly in cutout bins…hint, hint, Jeff.) The band’s website lists “early Pumpkins and Incubus” as influences, but I think they’re a little less hardcore than that.

There is one slight criticism I have of the recording, and it’s the mixing. All in all, the EP sounds great; it has a lot of dynamic range with no distortion, and all the instruments are mixed perfectly, except for the bass drum which is miked WAY TOO LOUD. And it’s mixed right in dead center too. Now, this may be just fine for death/speed metal, but it sounds way out of place in this style. But don’t let that stop you from enjoying this fine debut. Buy the EP and help convince these guys it’s time to quit their day jobs. –DS

Link to the review:
Jefitoblog - Listening Booth: 1000 Miles From Home, "Collusion"

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3/20/2007 - Neufutur.com: 1000 Miles From Home – Collusion
Review by James McQuiston

“Explain the Explanation” is a track that recalls the emo rock that was created by the acts on the Deep Elm label circa 2000. There is a heavy focus on the instrumentation and the overall soundscape of the track. This is done before introducing the vocals to the track. While this process only last about twenty seconds, the results are great; the band feels very well rooted and can easy move to a more energetic and frenzied state when they get to the chorus. And the chorus, the chorus is something that individuals can easily sing along to, even if the vocals present during the track are still softly spoken, a nod to the prior instrumentation.

Even though there is not much in the way of direct musical comparison, there seems to be some tie stylistically to the intensity created by bands like Fear Factory. Musically, there are hints to Desert City Soundtrack, Appleseed Cast, and later Face to Face (think of a more emotional version of “Disconnected”. The band is even able to add a shrill guitar solo to the track that links together the two distinct parts of the track. There is simply something for everyone here, and this is a perfect continuation of the opening of the disc. The opening track of the disc is “The Man”, and 1000 Miles From Home were able to create this distinct yet familiar sound by including a P.O.D.-like drum opening to the track.

This continuation of instrumental before vocal is perhaps the one thing that shows the band’s maturity. While it only takes a few seconds before the vocals kick in, the installation of this framework gives listeners something to go off of, and contextualizes the vocals. The ability of 1000 Miles From Home in creating a style that works so well in the pre-2000 period while still using styles and approaches that are cutting-edge is yet another testament to their ability as a band. This may just be a six-song EP, but the fact that there is so much to hear during the album and that the album itself holds a high level of replay should bode well for any full-lengths that 1000 Miles From Home may release in the next few years. Make sure to dig out a copy of this EP or see the band live; it should be only a matter of time before they will be able to make the jump to the next level and be known equally well through all fifty states in the Union.

Top Track: Betrayal

Rating: 6.5/10

[JMcQ]

Link to the review.

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2/20/2007 - "Collusion" CD Review on PegasusNews.com
Review by Erin Rice

The biggest compliment I think I can give this EP is that after listening to it the requisite six or more times, I still want to listen to it again and again. Usually you need to take a break from the record you review for a little while, and sometimes, even months later, a song from an old reviewed album will pop up in the iTunes shuffle and you immediately think, "Ugh, not ready yet." That is definitely not the case with 1000 Miles From Home’s debut, original EP Collusion.

It’s hard to singly categorize Collusion and 1000 Miles From Home’s sound, but if you take the more recent music from Incubus, strip it down to the essential instruments (guitar, drums, bass), get rid of Brandon Boyd, and add a pinch more pop/indie, this record is likely what you would get.

Collusion starts with "The Man," a song which intros sounding like it could be from Breaking Benjamin, or even a more metal-melodic tune from Lostprophets. While this song pulls back from going into metal, it has a strong rock backing, with the appropriate guitar solo to solidify its status as the hardest song on the album.

"Explain the Explanation" is definitely the most "newer Incubus-esque" song on the EP. You notice right away that it’s a very pretty rock song, and then you get to the chorus and you’re hooked in:

"All that’s left in my head,

I remember one thing, I missed what you said.

All that’s left to be said,

Was her faint breath misread."

I have no idea what that means. I hope I figure it out, however, because that first line really is all that’s left in my head, as it has battled out every other catchy tune to come by this week. At first I wasn’t sure how I felt about this song, but after a few listens, it has become my favorite 1000 Miles From Home track.

"Betrayal" is an interesting one, as the lyrics are pretty downtrodden but the tempo is incredibly upbeat. It’s a conundrum, but I still really like it. "Confiding in Pylons" is the darkest sounding song with more of those darn infectious lyrics (though no match for "all that’s left in my head").

The fifth song, "When You Go," is rather different from the rest of the album to this point. It breaks into a slightly faster tempo, and has a kind of emo, (Emo? Bite your tongue!) SoCal, beach-angst type sound. I can definitely picture an MTV teen reality special, set amidst an oceanic view, with this song running through the soundtrack. It’s a fun track and a nice addition to round out the album’s range. Finally, "Long Drive to Texas" seems to be about how the mind wanders and questions itself when left to do nothing but think. If you have made any cross-country drives lately, you’ll easily be able to identify with this one.

Overall, Collusion is an incredibly catchy album with prettier songs mixed among slightly darker tunes and lyrics. At points I was wishing that lead singer Zac Carrington would take some more risks with his vocal range, maybe a little more emphasis or passion here and there. But then there are track like "Explain the Explanation" and "The Man" where he completely nails it, so my criticism is ever so tiny and fleeting as I fall more and more in love with this album.

Collusion will be released March 9 via iTunes, Rhapsody, Napster, and the band’s site, among other places. 1000 Miles From Home will be having its first CD release party at RockHouse Live on March 10.

Link to the full review

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