Pela is an American rock & roll band. At a time when the word “America” has never been more fraught with meaning, songs that speak to our basic feelings and emotions about life could never be more resonant. Lost amongst all the geo-political tumult are the stories of every day America; the aches and pains and the beautiful possibilities. Yet amidst this turmoil and uncertainty, new stories are being written and told by a new generation of American bands. Pela is clearly one of those voices.
Long based in Brooklyn, New York but hailing from the hinterlands of New York state and California, Pela are 4 working class artists who have struggled nobly to pursue their dream of making music, be it busking in the metros of New York and Europe, selling neckties in Times Square, tending dive bars, catering food, doing carpentry, working in the A/V department at a major record label or playing polka at Croatian weddings. Along the way, various members have put themselves through college, learned to play multiple instruments, studied jazz, toured Europe with other bands, lived in Africa, learned other languages, consumed a lot of beer, had some teeth knocked out and knocked out a few of their own.
Guided by the voices of Bruce Springsteen, Hubert Selby, Husker Du, Raymond Carver, The Replacements, Andre Dubus, The Pixies, Wilco, and the Hold Steady, amongst others, Pela's brand of pastoral punk has been beautifully described as equal parts desperation and inspiration, which they have masterfully crafted into a signature sound. Their upcoming debut album, Anytown Graffiti, is a prism of songs reflecting the broken love, reckless hope, confusion, celebration, isolation, discovery, addiction, loss, small town stares and big city angst of American life through the eyes of 4 young men uncompromisingly living it. Achingly imploring melodies and infectious hooks permeate crowd favorites like “Lost to the Lonesome”, “Tenement Teeth”, and “Waiting on the Stairs”, while the near orchestral grace and detailed narrative of “Cavalry” is as uniquely compelling a composition as the fragile overture “Your Desert's Not a Desert At All”. These are songs that Pela has spent a lifetime writing, songs for any town in New York, California, everywhere in between and beyond.
Pela has toured ambitiously in America over the past 2 years, playing in any room that would have them, and rewarding audiences with a passionate, and occasionally explosive, live show. Along the way they have shared stages with The Flaming Lips, Norah Jones, Sleater-Kinney, Mission of Burma, Devendra Banhart, The National, The Decemberists, Gomez, Rainer Maria, and others, earning a devoted and passionate following in the process. They have previously released 2 EP's, All in Time on Brassland in 2005, which received rave reviews, and in fall 2006 self-released an iTunes-only EP, Exit Columbia Street. They are also featured in the upcoming documentary, Rockin' Brooklyn, alongside TV on the Radio, Coco Rosie, The National, Vietnam, The Big Sleep and others, Their song “Episodes” was featured in a recent episode of the NBC TV show Scrubs, and have had several tracks licensed for compilations. Pela will be touring the world in support of their new album.
