Saturday, March 15   10:00 p.m.
Creekside EMC at Hilton Garden Inn   (500 N IH 35)

The A-Sides present Silver Storms

"This album was written outside of movie theaters and on grandparents
farms, in libraries and public parks, in basements and on beaches. For
two years, the margins of our lives were completely filled in with the
bits and pieces of what would become Silver Storms." —Jon Barthmus

Here in Philadelphia, we don't get many big waves. But recently, we've
been getting a little bit closer. The A-Sides suggest the ocean, the
clouds, love, fury, life and death, with a sound that's like sunshine
on your arms, seeping in right after the biggest waves in the world
have torn you down.

The band's second album (and first for Vagrant, 8/28/07) is called Silver
Storms. It's got a big sound, a heap of tenderness, and advice for
those of us that need it. From the track "Cinematic":

"Oh say something cinematic, or become a tragic figure who never, ever
says something to remember."

Now that is good advice.

To make a long story a little bit shorter, The A-Sides three founding
members Jon Barthmus (vocals, guitar, keys), Mike Fleming (bass,
vocals) and Patrick Marsceill (drums, vocals) met while attending
Drexel University and formed the band over five years ago. It's
amazing how you can end up somewhere completely different than where
you started. The A-Sides early days may have been comprised of
studying and emulating the pop genius of the Beatles and Beach Boys
but after the recording of their first album, "Hello, Hello," they had
graduated the course.

The addition of Charlie Cottone (guitar) and Christopher Doyle
(keyboards, guitar) only reinforced what the other members already
knew: This was becoming something entirely different. It may be
impossible to not be influenced by anything but writing Silver Storms
was about transcending influences and letting musical imaginations run
wild, striving to make something relevant in a world where so much of
what one hears is utterly disposable.

"In writing and recording this album we definitely came into our own
and defined our roles in the band. We gained a better understanding of
who we are and what we want to do with music." says Barthmus.

Silver Storms was produced by Brian McTear (Mazarin, Danielson,
Espers) and runs the gamut, from reflective numbers like "My Heroes
Have Always Been Crazy" to all-out burners like "We're the Trees." The
album was recorded looking out of giant windows on the city of
brotherly love as the days were getting longer and Spring was turning
into Summer.

Philadelphia may not become beachfront property any time soon but for
now we've got the romance, adventure, and warmth of The A-Sides and
Silver Storms.