| The New Year | |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Origin: | United States |
| Years Active: | 1999–present |
| Spinoff Of: | Bedhead |
| Spinoffs: | Overseas |
| Website: | www.thenewyear.net |
| Current Members: | Matt Kadane Bubba Kadane Mike Donofrio Chris Brokaw |
| Past Members: | Peter Schmidt Josh McKay |
The New Year is an American indie rock band that formed in 1999. The band was started by former Bedhead members Matt and Bubba Kadane. They released their first album in 2001, Newness Ends, which like their following albums was recorded with Steve Albini. The End Is Near (2004) and The New Year (2008) followed, with both being received positively by music critics at Pitchfork Media and AllMusic. In February 2017, the band announced their first album in nine years, Snow, which was released on April 28, 2017.[1]
The band was formed in 1999, a year after the demise of the band Bedhead by former Bedhead members Matt and Bubba Kadane. The New Year was originally intended to be a two-person project made up of only the Kadane brothers. Four musicians, all longtime friends of the Kadanes, were slowly recruited for live performances and the lineup solidified.
Like Bedhead in its later years, The New Year started with no real base of operations. Early on Matt and Bubba Kadane were located respectively in Boston and Dallas. The band soon added bassist Mike Donofrio (of the band Saturnine, located in New York City), drummer Chris Brokaw (in Boston, formerly of the bands Codeine and Come), and guitarist Peter Schmidt (located in Dallas, formerly of the bands Three on a Hill, Funland, Legendary Crystal Chandelier, and part-time member of Bedhead).
For a time in 2003 their friend Josh McKay (of the Athens, Georgia band Macha) joined on keyboards, guitar, and random percussion.[4] the members separated again with most working on other projects. The Kadanes recorded a score for the documentary film Hell House, the soundtrack of which wasn't released until 2004, though the film first appeared in 2001. Brokaw released solo recordings, played on recordings by Evan Dando and Consonant and collaborated on a project with playwright Rinde Eckert. Peter Schmidt played with the Legendary Crystal Chandelier, whose second and final album, Beyond Indifference, was released at about the same time as Newness Ends.
The album was well-received, earning 4.5/5 stars from Allmusic[7] and 7.5 from Pitchfork Media. A generally positive review by Pitchfork praised the album's more cheerful melodies and hopeful lyrics, while noting the melancholy sound of the band's previous releases was intact on many of the songs.[8]
Will Johnson from the band Centro-matic accompanied the band on the US leg of its autumn 2008 tour.
See also: Overseas (band). In June 2012 drummer Chris Brokaw posted on his website that "The New Year has begun work on a new LP in Chicago, again with Mr. Steve Albini at the controls."
In early 2012 Bubba and Matt Kadane formed Overseas with David Bazan of Pedro The Lion and Will Johnson of Centro-matic. Their debut album was officially announced on April 4, 2013 and was released on June 11, 2013.
The New Year announced in early 2017 that their fourth album, titled Snow, would be released through the Undertow Music Collective. Snow is the first album by the group to not be issued through Touch and Go Records, and the first album by them since their 9-year absence. Four videos were released for the songs "Myths," "Snow," "The Last Fall," and "The Beast."
| Release details | ||
| 2001 |
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| 2004 |
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| 2008 |
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| 2017 |
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| Title | Album | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | "Sinking Ship" (demo version) | Single only | Esopus Magazine |
| 2004 | "The End's Not Near" | The End Is Near | |
| "" | |||
The New Year songs have been covered by the following artists: