“Garage A Trois skew grittier and more psychedelic with the current lineup, combining heavy-riff distortion with a rough-and-tumble funk delirium.” – The New York Times
“Insolently awesome since 1999, the instrumental quartet Garage a Trois consists of the hair-raising saxophonist Skerik, whiplash keyboardist Marco Benevento, Galactic drummer Stanton Moore, and vibraphone-whacking percussionist Mike Dillon; brutal yet meticulously deranged blast of raw, jazz-rock power.” – Village Voice
“Garage a Trois is a supergroup essaying the tuneful/psychedelic side of instrumental adventure and electronic tweet.” - Metal Jazz
Garage A Trois was recently described by noted photographer John Margaretten as, “A transformative, punkalectic, pornographic seizure of sight and sound.” Few descriptions have ever so perfectly encapsulated the modern day post-rock/freak-jazz super group. A force greater than the sum of its colossal parts, Garage A Trois features Seattle-based saxophonics master Skerik, Brooklyn-based sound-sculptor/keysman Marco Benevento, punk rock vibraphone hero Mike Dillon and New Orleans funky drummer/beat master Stanton Moore.
After the rousing success of the quartet’s 2009 release, Power Patriot (also the band’s debut with Benevento replacing original member Charlie Hunter), Garage A Trois headed to Studio In The Country in Bogalusa, LA (where masterpieces by The Neville Brothers, Stevie Wonder and The Wild Magnolias have been cut) to record with revered engineer/producer Randall Dunn (The Cave Singers, Sun City Girls and Black Mountain). As has become the band’s primary focus in its current incarnation, a laser sharp focus was paid to capturing Garage A Trois’ sinewy, fourth-dimensional, polychromatic instrumental songwriting. The resulting album, Always Be Happy, But Stay Evil, delivers from track to track exactly as its title boasts.
A massive draw in clubs and festivals around the U.S., this latest opus from Garage A Trois will only help fuel the fire for a growing legion of fans amassing around the most dangerous instrumental band on the scene today.
TRACK LISTING:
01. Omar
02. Resentment Incubator
03. Earl Harvin
04. Shooting Breaks
05. Kansas (interlude)
06. Swellage
07. The Drum Department
08. Thumb
09. Baby Mama Drama
10. Chimp & Flower
11. Dark Bogul (interlude)
12. Assault On Precinct 13
GARAGE A TROIS is:
SKERIK - Tenor Saxophonics & Efx
MIKE DILLON - Vibraphone & Percussion
MARCO BENEVENTO - Keys
STANTON MOORE - Drum Pummeling
Tracks 1,2,3,4,10 written by Mike Dillon. Tracks 6 and 8 written by Marco Benevento. Track 7 written by Stanton Moore. Track 9 written by Skerik. Track 12 written by John Carpenter.
Recorded at Studio In the Country , Bogalusa, LA.
Recorded and Mixed by Randall Dunn
Mastered by Garrett Haines, Treelady Studios.
Mike D second drum set on "Assault On Precinct 13"
Artwork by Regan Hagar
Cover Illustration by Koko Walton-Raimondi
Production Coordination: Kevin Calabro