Tera Melos performing the songs Kelly, Skywatch & Aped from the album Patagonian Rats. We’ve got this whole live show recorded and will be releasing them a song at a time. It was filmed while on their most recent tour with Marnie Stern at the Backbooth in Orlando, Florida on Feb 27, 2011. Thanks to Erick R. Wilczynski and his gang for shooting it and cutting it for us.
When combined, the two opening tracks on Tera Melos’ 2010 album Patagonian Ratsmake for one of the more pop-sensible and instantly likable moments in their discography. In this video, the stage-setting “So Occult” serves as the soundtrack for the introduction, which features a masked skateboarder bearing an upside-down cross on his shirt. Soon after he falls, the intro ends and “Kelly” begins, and things only get weirder from there.
Tera Melos’ sound on “Kelly” is so expansive and anthemic that it manages to make a masked dude in a robe smashing soda cans with a baseball bat seem incredibly meaningful and important. They probably could have put whatever they wanted in this video and it would still look awesome. - The Needle Drop
Tera Melos are a prolific bunch. Their latest LP – Patagonian Rats – only hit shelves about nine months ago, but the boys from Sacramento, Calif. have already put out a cassette (yes, cassettes continue to make a comeback) and a 51-minute single since then. “Kelley” is a remix pulled from an EP centered around the Patagonia cut, “Kelly”. With an extra letter and a minute-and-a-half’s worth of music in tow, the new version works wonders over an array of visually stimulating images. It all starts out innocently enough with moving pictures that find the band making creative use of prime advertising space, but the clip quickly moves into that morbidly entertaining territory with shots of exploding heads, worms, and cannibalism making its way onto the screen. Directed by Behn Fannin / Story by Ray Roa
“When we heard Sacramento, California psychedelic genre destroyers, Tera Melos, were in town we invited them to stop by and play a couple songs. The dimly lit Theatre of Human Health was the perfect environment for the guys to perform "Kelley” off their Exclaim! approved album, Patagonian Rats, with their freaky life-size Freddy hanging in the background.Keep an eye out for an interview with Tera Melos, coming soon to Exclaim! TV.“
Tera Melos have changed. But that shouldn’t be a surprise. Tera Melos hate ‘the same’. And ‘normal’ and ‘safe’ and ‘simple’ too. So while the Californian combo have kept the instrumental math-rock backbone from their early efforts, they’ve added loads more fuzzy layers, blissy melodies and smooth hooks to the mix for album number two. Oh and vocals too. Yeah, vocals. And guitarist Nick Reinhart’s words don’t come out like you’d imagine either- all surfy vibes and subtle pop tones instead of any spat venom or spazzy rage.
Opener proper, ‘Kelly’, is the case in point- spacey, bright and breezy but a blistering wall-of-noise that sounds intent on smashing not just your eardrums but whole mountains to dust; it’s like Rivers Cuomo writing Slayer riffs. ‘The Skin Surf’ makes like a nursery rhyme for a minute before feedback and fragmenting guitar patterns neatly pull and push it apart, ‘Trident Tail’ is half fidgety limboscape, half sleazy desert session, and ‘Frozen Zoo’ could be a Beach Boys song. Basically, Tera Melos are now the only group capable of appealing to fans of Daughters, Ed Gein, An Albatross, and the Beatles. It’s the last thing anyone would expect. And that’s exactly how the band like it. Ace.
What can I say about Tera Melos other than they are truly one of my all time favorite bands ever. So, it is with great joy and pride that we announce the release of their new LP Patagonian Rats on September 7,2010
Click To listen to or download for FREE in any file size the first track release called FROZEN ZOO from the new album.
Tera Melos - Patagonian Rats (LP) CD/DIGITAL/VINYL 2XLP Release Date: September 7, 2010 Label: Sargent House
01. So Occult 02. Kelly 03. The Skin Surf 04. Aped 05. Trident Tail 06. Frozen Zoo (any file format) 07. In Citrus Heights 08. Skywatch 09. Party With Gina 10. Another Surf 11. Westham United 12. A New Uniform/Patagonia
oh and did we mention it will come out as a 2x 12" Vinyl with 3 bonus tracks. well that’s the deal. Pre-Orders going up soon.
Tera Melos has become infected with a strain of pop. The Sacramento trio are slurring melodies and scurrying rhythms on their new full length album, Patagonian Rats. We find our clever friends delving deeper into intricate and more complex song structures. While traditionally Tera Melos is covered with a dense sound, on this album there are melodic hooks that almost seem to defy the band’s experimental edge. Heed my prose, though, and know that this does not mean they have lost their sound, but don’t be surprised by clear and undistorted vocals layered throughout the mixes.
“From start to finish, Patagonian Rats is a wild and chaotic ride that ultimately is nothing short of a masterpiece. Between maintaining this site and actively searching for the best new music/bands, I listen to an enormous amount of albums, day after day. Before we go any further, it demands to be said… Tera Melos’ Patagonian Rats is one of the absolute best new releases I’ve heard in a very long time. Prior to the release of this album, I was aware of the Sacramento trio, appreciated their sound, but had never considered myself much of a fan. Let that speak volumes for this album, and the transitional growth Tera Melos have engaged over the past several years. The math rock warriors have always had a penchant for the bizarre, showing an undeniable gift for spastic and explosive time signature manipulation seemingly capable of auditory epilepsy. Their musicianship travels on another plane of existence from your average punk, post-rock, or even prog band, but there was always the lingering question whether the band could stay in one place long enough to write a succinct “song”. While the thought of trying to put vocals over their musical contortions seems daunting to say the least, Patagonian Rats proclaims not only are they capable of adding vocals to their music, they damn well excel at it.” - EXPLODING IN SOUND (click for full review)
“Totally coolio!! Way to describe Tera Melos’ new full length album, Patagonian Rats, released September 7 on Sargent House. Lead by the genius Nick Reinhart, the three-piece from Roseville, California incorporates a blend of experimental, rock, jazz and even *drum roll* pop music elements, creating a fairly accessible math-rock record. Why so accessible? It’s very simple. Math-rock is an emerging genre, it’s enrolling fans from a very broad palette of genres including post-rock, jazz and even punk. That being said, I would expect a lot of people to nourish an interest for the new genre.
This is a very innovative album, a sort of noise meets pop at a jazz concert, constantly jumping back and forth in a pleasantly abrasive way. Even after 3 complete listens, every song got me surprised at some point. Sometimes you’re just wondering what’s going on, if you should head bang or dance, or simply tap to the beat with your feet. But no matter what, this cacophonous mess is still a cohesive assortment of consistent songs, with their hooks and punches.
Tera Melos = The Flaming Lips + Fang Island + Yo La Tengo Combine technicality with acid-induced songwriting and add a flare for the dramatic and you might get Patagonian Rats, the latest LP by Sacramento trio Tera Melos. Distorted vocals and distorted guitars thrash and spiral over thunderous drum fills everywhere on this record. When I said technical, we’re talking about Deerhoof, Umphrey’s McGee, and Hot Club de Paris all rolled into one slinging spooky pop album with anthemic choruses à la freak pioneers the Flaming Lips. It’s kind of hard to express in words, but it’s a lot of fun. On tracks like “Skywatch,” their chops almost get the better of them, just like the Mars Volta, and the freakout loses the song. Others, like “Trident Tail,” sound slightly overcrowded with ideas, but most songs are like “Kelly” and “The Skin Surf,” which make me want to yell along with the sonic crowd. “Frozen Zoo” may be my favorite track, with its almost funky guitar groove. I highly recommend this disk for anybody looking for some surprises in their music—this stuff kicks ass. –Rio Connelly