Local post-punk/hardcore band Number Station may be relatively new to the scene, but as the saying goes, this isn’t their first rodeo. Vocalist Ean Clevenger, formerly of Northern California hardcore punk band Pipedown, who were signed to A-F Records (Anti Flag’s label) and toured/played with bands like AFI, Thrice and The Bouncing Souls, started Number Station after he witnessed the local punk/hardcore scene “cave in on itself” while playing with his last band Dance for Destruction.
“It seemed bands, punk, hardcore, heavy, what have you, were beginning to be targeted for having too much heart and substance,” Clevenger recently told Submerge. “It was particularly hard to see the scene I was so closely connected to, one which I felt always had such a deep love for politics and meaning, drift toward a very provincial attitude.” So he said the hell with it, took some time to himself and started writing songs that were powerful and important to him regardless of what was cool at the moment. “When the energy was right, I sought out some of the best musicians I know, and luckily we were all on the same page.” Number Station is currently comprised of Clevenger and fellow seasoned musicians Theron Francis (guitar), Barry Crider (guitar/vocals), Pat Freeman (bass) and Jonathan Barklage (drums). They spent a fair amount of time working on material in the third story of a “fucked up art space” in downtown Sacramento and as Clevenger put it, “the magic seemed to happen.”
Number Station’s new five-song EP, recorded with Patrick Hills at EarthTone Studios, is sure to tickle the fancy of fans of Sacramento rock staples like Far (who they point out as a large influence) but it also will interest fans of, dare I say, screamo. Think The Used, Story of the Year, Hopesfall, bands in that vein—plenty of guitar riffage, melodic vocals with screaming mixed in, solid song structures and a mature use of dynamics. They might be one of my favorite new local bands, even if the style of music they are playing might not be the most hip thing in Sacramento at the moment. “Once the people get behind it, we can help break people out of their own fears about what is cool or approved by the status quo,” Clevenger says. “Its fucking music from the heart, we don’t care how cool we are, we just care how much we can help people be free.”
Number Station will have an EP release show on Saturday, June 1, 2013 at Assembly (1000 K Street). March Into Paris, Saint Solitaire and Goodbye Black Sky (featuring members of Will Haven) will also perform. For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/numberstationtheband.
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