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American Draft



Last Updated: 12/24/2009

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Status: Single
City: CHICAGO
State: ILLINOIS
Country: US
Signup Date: 7/19/2004

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Monday, November 09, 2009 
Chicago Reader:
"I’m not certain that this local band, which includes members of Tongues and Volta do Mar, chose the name “American Draft” as a reference to military conscription—it could be about weak beer, I guess—but Hawk (Coachhouse Collective), their full-length debut, smells like victory. It delivers a startling blast of instrumental indie prog-metal, full of the kind of joyous, orgasmic energy particular to tech geeks with access to powerful amps. Tonight’s ginormous show, a benefit for no-kill animal shelter ARFhouse Chicago, has been informally dubbed “Incest Fest”—according to American Draft guitarist Sean Shipley, every band has at least one member who plays in another band on the bill. Several formed from the ashes of headliner Apocalypse Hoboken, who are reuniting for the occasion after two years off. Top to bottom, the lineup is Apocalypse Hoboken, Lynyrd’s Innards, American Draft, Papillion, Tongues, Veterans, the House That Gloria Vanderbilt, Mexican Cheerleader, Vacation Bible School, Heart Shaped Hate, and the Ronject. —Monica Kendrick"

Illinois Entertainer:
"Add American Draft to Chicago’s instrumental rock pedigree. The band’s second full-length release, the eight-track Hawk On Coachhouse, is like a less frenetic Mastodon minus the vocals. The title track showcases its multi-layered guitar attack, with variations on a soaring/airy riff. Harder-rocking tracks like “Diet Of Worms” and “Tree Of Woe” are at times plodding, faster-paced, and fuzzed-out grunge. The only vocals on the album, provided by a guest in screamcore style, are mercifully brief on “Dragon.” (www.myspace.com/americandraft)
– Jason Scales"

11:05 PM 
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Wednesday, July 01, 2009 
It's that time of year again and we're fully prepared for Phyllis' all day 4th of July party outside in the beer garden. This party is fun as shit. This will be American Draft's 5th year or something. We will have guest vocalists RORY LAKE and RON KELSO, plus a HORN SECTION featuring members of LOWDOWN BRASS BAND! Come party with us. We have more fun than those other people at that boring BBQ you were gonna go to. LOWDOWN BRASS BAND and a bunch of other bands play too.
Phyllis' Musical Inn
1800 w Division
5pm is a good time to arrive.

12:57 AM 
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Thursday, June 11, 2009 
http://www.adequacy.net/2009/06/american-draft-hawk/

"

American Draft - Hawk

June 11, 2009 by Jenn Patton O'Donnell  
Category: Albums (and EPs)
American Draft - Hawk
American Draft - Hawk
Chicago band American Draft released Hawk in mid-December of last year. I don’t think the CD has been sitting on my desk quite that long, but once I finally peeled off the shrink wrap and popped it in for a listen I knew this would be an album played over and over again in my house (or in the car, on the iPod, whatever). My love affair with metal has been on an old school bend for awhile now, not just to revisit the glory days but for the melodic joy of metal that was a bit easier on the ears. American Draft brings me swinging back into modern metal territory with plenty of progressive, melodic goodness, lots of blistering grooves, and enough technical jams to please the purists.
The eight tracks on Hawk are simply phenomenal. The title track starts the album off on a slow note - carefully calculated but smoldering - before throwing the listener headlong in to “Diet of Worms”. This is where the full-force of American Draft hits. The group’s (mostly) instrumental metal mayhem is fueled with plenty of soaring riffs and chunky bass. While so many instrumental bands try to weirdly compensate with overly complicated music, American Draft gets it just right. “Dragon” has some screamy vocals punctuating the chaos, but this actually detracts from an otherwise great song.
Eight tracks of blistering metal hasn’t sounded this good in a long time. American Draft is a tight unit, and the band has a lot going for it. Great musicianship, excellent song structure, and a balance of styles that are nuanced enough to keep the listener entertained makes this (mostly) instrumental album a keeper.
Currently reading:
Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground New Edition
By Michael Moynihan
11:25 PM 
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Friday, June 05, 2009 

Current mood:  breezy
we're totally punk now...


from RAZORCAKE.com:
AMERICAN DRAFT:
Hawk: CD
The Fucking Champs are back and they’re called American Draft. Wow. This shit is amazing and totally righteous. Perhaps it’s just because I’ve been listening to Crack the Skye lately, but American Draft remind me of Mastodon, as far as the metal guitars and how tight they are. However, American Draft is entirely instrumental save for one song, “Dragon,” and, frankly, the screamy vocals don’t seem to fit in with the music. Comprised of members from Volta Do Mar (another instrumental, albeit much different band), the sound is very reminiscent of the Champs, too, but does enough to stand on its own. It isn’t all brutalizing, as the track “Wind” shows an electronic and acoustic side to the band, but soon thereafter American Draft is back to kicking ass and taking names. I didn’t know what to expect, based on the cover photo of a hawk perched on the hand of an elderly man with a white beard, but this rocked pretty hard. If you belong to a gym, when you’re there and no one is looking, switch the music on the sound system from the shitty pop radio they’re playing to this and watch everyone get super strong in no time. –Kurt Morris (Coachhouse Collective, coachhousecollective.com)
"
9:58 PM 
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Thursday, May 28, 2009 
So that last show was fucking awesome.  Fer real.  We're happy to know some pretty rad bands.  Thanks to all who participated.  All-instrumental-bands shows are kind of the funnest.


Up next is TIGERPAW's final show.  Ever.  05/28/09.  A sad occasion that we'll just have to make fun.  We've known these dudes forever and they put on a show like nobody's business.  Anyone remember WonderLoaf?  Fuck...  Also on the bill are Team Band and Mr. Russia.  We play slot number two.  So you can still get home in time to masturbate and cry yourself to sleep without ruining you chances of being at work on time in the morning.  If you actually have a job.  Or a job that requires waking up at disgusting hours.  Like any time before noon.  That is.  (what?)

UPDATE:  Team Band had to back out of this show.  And someone smart asked us if we could help find a band to fill the slot.  Fortunately for us and for you, our first choice stepped up on short notice....   HEART SHAPED HATE will now be on this bill.  No offense to Team Band, but this makes us very happy.


Come suck it down with us.  It's a Thursday and the Bottle always sounds fantastic.  Not to mention cheap drinks and that old Empty Bottle charm.  We'll go ahead and pencil you in for 9pm.

Cheers and fucklings-

AmDraft
Currently listening:
Sunrise
By Circle
Release date: 2007-10-23
1:36 AM 
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Thursday, April 30, 2009 

Current mood:tripping balls
We're still trying to understand the blogging business.  Does anyone actually read these things?  Hopefully you do because we're gonna tell you something.

First, we'd like to extend a huge thank you to the almighty PELICAN for asking us to open for them at the Empty Bottle last week.  We played to a sold out crowd with lots of people who had never even heard of us before and everyone let us know how much they enjoyed the set.  We probably enjoyed it even more than you.  But we're ever so glad you like us.  Welcome aboard!

We're all super excited for our next show.  And you should be too.  Four instrumental bands.  Each totally different.  There is a common element between all the bands (besides being instrumental), we're just not sure what it is.  It might be that we all love metal.  It might be more philosophical... or visceral...  But it's definitely not our haircuts.  Or our pants.

===================
DOSES, ADAM'S CASTLE, AMERICAN DRAFT and MICHAEL MICHAEL MOTORCYCLE.

In that order (doses playing last).

@Metal Shaker, 3394 N Milwaukee, 8pm, 21+
===================

Go listen to to the ones you're not familiar with.  They're at the top of our friends list right now.  Adam's Castle is on the road from New York for this show so you don't want to miss your chance to see them.  We're not sure how much time will pass before their next visit.  They're old bros from way back and we guarantee you'll be happy you saw them.

Thanks for your time.  Keep representing and supporting the good shit.

When's the last time you tripped balls?

-American Draft
Currently listening:
Attahk
By Magma
Release date: 2007-03-27
4:28 PM 
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Tuesday, April 14, 2009 
Link:  http://www.lostatsea.net/review.phtml?id=199577480649e1a4c8291a9
Text:
American Draft
Hawk
CoachHouse Collective

Rating: 8.3/10

April 14, 2009

When your everyday job has you on the computer all day long talking about music, it takes something significant to want to write a 400-word after-hours album review in your downtime. American Draft is an instrumental metal/heavy indie rock band that I've been following for a few years, and with a recent release entitled Hawk the band have again drawn my full attention, so much so that I feel compelled to spread word of their prowess to others.

Throughout their two-album career the Chicago four piece hasn't really re-invented the metal wheel in any way, but they have become a personal favorite due in large part to their eccentric, Zappa-esque attitude towards music: have fun and make jams while doing it. The band first made their mark several years ago with their tongue-in-cheek double-album debut, Volumes II:III, a couple dozen songs that exhibited the quartet's technicality, sense of humor, and genre versatility. But where Volumes II:III touched on many stylistic points, it also failed in terms of relentlessness by not always going for the jugular in the way that makes most imposing metal bands exceptional. Hawk is a more succinct effort -- a single disc that runs just over 40 minutes -- and gets to the point without leaving too much fat on the bone.

Hawk is interestingly bookended with two droning, partially free-ranging stoner rock pieces, the title track and "Rise of Man," which combine to give the album a free-flowing, almost jammy (think Black Sabbath vamps, not Phish noodlings) intro/outro aesthetic. In between the warm up and cool down exercises are six songs loaded with proggy hooks, pick harmonics squeals, breakneck punk rock-slash-speed-slash-thrash-slash-heavy metal drum batterings, and 30 seconds of shrieked vocals. I like all of those things.

Though loaded to the brim throughout, Hawk is best characterized by its second track, "Diet of Worms," which moves between varied tempos and temperaments and in the end pays off with a palm-muted, fist-pump inducing, chugging breakdown. There is something about "Diet of Worms" that conjures visions of the first waves of metal and grunge bands, and the rawness that they could bring to a rock genre that had gone stale with the homogenization of CD sales and radio play. It is that spirit of nostalgic freshness that makes Hawk such a satisfying listen.
3:18 PM 
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Tuesday, February 24, 2009 
You can always come to a show and buy our records but if that's not an option for you, you can also buy HAWK directly from CoachHouse Collective's webstore here:
http://coachhousecollective.bigcartel.com/
 
The album is of course available on all those streaming websites and iTunes and what not.  But you should really keep it real and own the actual CD.  It's fetching.

Keep your dick out of our pants.
 
5:41 PM 
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Thursday, January 08, 2009 

Current mood:  nostalgic

This Friday, January 9, marks the 5th Anniversary of American Draft's DEEP KUTZ.  To celebrate five years of this event, we will be playing a "Best Of" selection of songs played at the first four DEEP KUTZ eventz.

 

At DEEP KUTZ, you can join American Draft in celebrating the odd rock songs that are otherwise ignored.  Those songs that never quite made the radio play list and are seldom, if ever, played live by the original artist.  They're not bad songs.  They might even be great songs.  Sometimes your favorite song on the record…  But for some reason they remain shunned in the corner, not allowed to play with the other kids.  They're misfit songs.  American Draft believes these songs deserve recognition and we, with the help of some very talented friends,  have the means to do it.

 

We also really like that guy with the deep voice on Chicago's local radio station "The Drive".  Especially when they run a "deep cuts weekend" and he says "Deep Cuts" like five or six times every hour.  It's really amazing when he says it.  So we paid him to record announcements for the songs we play at Deep Kutz.  A hefty fee to be sure but worth every penny.

 

To better understand our criteria for song selection, here is a list of all the Deep Kutz performed to date.  If you like what you see, we hope you'll join us this year (and every year on the 2nd Friday of January) for a shit-kicking good time.

 

Friday, January 9, 9pm

Phyllis' Musical Inn

1800 W Division

21+

 

 

The list:

=============================================================

Australia – The Kinks

Baby Bitch – Ween

Blessed Relief – Frank Zappa

Booze Me Up and Get Me High - Ween

Come On and Dance – Motley Crue

Conan Troutman – Kyuss

Day Off - WonderLoaf

Det du tanker idag ar du i morgon – Dungen

Diversion – The Equals

Doctor Rock – Ween

Down With the Bass – fIREHOSE

Escape  - Metallica

Farewell to Kings – Rush

Five Time Loser – The Moistboyz

Friends – The Beach Boys

Fuse

Garden of Hate – Ween

Genghis Khan – Iron Maiden

Glass Museum – Tortoise

Goodbye to Romance – Ozzy Osbourne

Harry Rag – The Kinks

I Think I'm Going Bald - Rush

I'm In Love With My Car – Queen

It's Gonna Be a Long Night – Moistboyz

Mandatory Suicide – Slayer

Merry-Go-Round – Motley Crue

Mommy Can I Go Out and Kill Tonight? – The Misfits

Nothing Matters Except Ian's Happy – The English Softhearts

Orion – Metallica

Piece By Piece – Slayer

Psyched-Out – The Ventures

Randy Scouse Git – The Monkees

Red – King Crimson

Re-make/Re-model – Roxy Music

Rock & Roll Creation – Spinal Tap

Rocket Queen – Guns & Roses

Sparks – The Who

Spill the Blood  - Slayer

Standards – The Jam

Supa Scoopa and Mighty Scoop – Kyuss

The Bat – The Ventures

The Fourth Dimension – The Ventures

Transylvania – Iron Maiden

Who Are You?  - Black Sabbath

7:01 PM 
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Wednesday, December 17, 2008 

 The List (Music) Apocalypse Hoboken, Mexican Cheerleader, American Draft, Papillion, Tongues, Heart Shaped Hate, Vacation Bible School, Lynyrd's Innards, the House That Gloria Vanderbilt, Veterans, the Ronject  When: Sat., Dec. 20, 5 p.m.
Phone: 312-949-0121 or 866-468-3401
Price: $10

I'm not certain that this local band, which includes members of Tongues and Volta do Mar, chose the name "American Draft" as a reference to military conscription—it could be about weak beer, I guess—but Hawk (Coachhouse Collective), their full-length debut, smells like victory. It delivers a startling blast of instrumental indie prog-metal, full of the kind of joyous, orgasmic energy particular to tech geeks with access to powerful amps. Tonight's ginormous show, a benefit for no-kill animal shelter ARFhouse Chicago, has been informally dubbed "Incest Fest"—according to American Draft guitarist Sean Shipley, every band has at least one member who plays in another band on the bill. Several formed from the ashes of headliner Apocalypse Hoboken, who are reuniting for the occasion after two years off. Top to bottom, the lineup is Apocalypse Hoboken, Lynyrd's Innards, American Draft, Papillion, Tongues, Veterans, the House That Gloria Vanderbilt, Mexican Cheerleader, Vacation Bible School, Heart Shaped Hate, and the Ronject. —Monica Kendrick

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11:42 PM 
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