Fat Possum Records are happy to announce that they have signed Bass Drum of Death, a two-piece from Mississippi, and will release their debut album GB City on April 12; the band are also gaining attention for their use of the highly popular marketing device, the “Extremely Confident Press Release.” A popular way to grab the attention of record store clerks, news writers, and bloggers, the “Extremely Confident Press Release” has seen a rise in usage since the digital age began and bands had to fight harder for attention. At the same time we talk about Bass Drum of Death, we would like to explore the “Extremely Confident Press Release.”
The “Extremely Confident Press Release” is easily distinguished by its “smash you in the face”-style remarks that attempt to push the band’s abilities to Herculean levels. Once getting past the standard press release openers of location and instruments, the band got straight to their extreme confidence and offered this quote: “Together [the band] make blown-out, blazing songs.” Whille seemingly innocent, this early performance-booster is merely the first nibble in a feeding frenzy.
Bass Drum of Death next offered this assessment of their prowess: “He [band member John] wrote and recorded the whole record himself using just a drumset, a guitar, a usb microphone, a computer, and a shitload of talent.” The band, who sound like a mixture of energetic 60s pop and fuzzed-out 90s distortion, wisely used the “Extremely Confident Press Release” to talk about the minimalism of the album’s recording, because everyone knows that minimal recording is dope.
In perhaps the band’s most confident moment they used the “Extremely Confident Press Release” to describe the entirety of the album with a super-special device known as the “Kick-Ass Two Sentence Boil-Down.” This is what the band came up with: “The songs are about drugs, trying to make it with religious girls, panic attacks, stealing stuff, mild to severe depression, Elvis appearing in your dreams and giving you advice, gravity bongs and the devil living inside your brain. This record is the soundtrack playing in your head when you’re fucked up and walking home in the middle of the night.”
Let’s step back for a moment and marvel at this spectacular use of the “Extremely Confident Press Release” and allow the band to have a moment of your time: “South by South-West shows are confirmed and will be announced shortly, a super-limited vinyl pressing will be released by Inflated Records, buy our album on April 12, and we are the best band ever.”
• Bass Drum of Death: http://twitter.com/bassdrumofdeath
• Fat Possum: www.fatpossum.com
• Inflated: http://www.myspace.com/inflatedrecords
