ID:RB – Alternate/Opposite | Album Premiere on Psychedelic Baby Magazine

November 20, 2024

Ian Davis: Rock Band walks the line between careful songwriting and spontaneous bursts of energy. It’s the kind of project that feels less like a band and more like a collective—friends coming together to make music when the stars align.

Ian Davis, a New York-based guitarist and composer, steers the ship, but the band’s sound is shaped by the creative input of its members, making every release a little unpredictable.

Their debut, ‘passing phase’ (2020), leaned into softer, synth-heavy textures, but with their second album, ‘Alternate/Opposite,’ things have shifted. “It’s a more guitar-driven record,” Davis explains. “We added Julian Cubillos to the lineup, so now there’s this dynamic interplay between the two guitars. I was also listening to a lot of punky bands from the early ’80s like The Nerves and The Dils, and that energy seeped into the songwriting.”

The band itself is a powerhouse of players: Jason Burger (Witchduck, Scree, Adeline Hotel) holds down the rhythm on drums, while Dandy McDowell (b o t, Amen Dunes, Rubblebucket) adds groove on bass. Julian Cubillos brings his sharp, versatile guitar work, with four albums to his own name. Michael Coleman (Michael Rocketship, tUnE-yArDs, chris cohen, Sam Evian) adds texture on synths, and Renata Zeiguer (an acclaimed artist with her own second album out) brings a mix of melodic depth and atmospheric keys.

Recorded in Red Hook in 2021, ‘Alternate/Opposite’ captures the energy of that odd post-lockdown era when the world was still trying to find its rhythm. The result is a set of 14 songs that feel immediate and alive without losing the band’s careful attention to detail.