it's one of those names. some people hate it, some people love it. some people think it's cute (bastards!). and based on that name the original cover for our ocean records national debut release (being you) was originally going to be a quaint little gingerbread house with a candy heart in the V of the roof. ("did the artist even LISTEN to the fucking album?" we asked our producer who to his credit was very embarrassed, so a compromise was put out there and we ended up with the little girls playing inside the human skull... at least that was a LITTLE more thematic.)

Yes, a very misunderstood name. but there's a reason we've stubbornly kept it, beyond the fact that we just think it's funny the way some fans SAY it (like fat drunken french men, the "LOOOOVE" rolling off the tongue in a bombastic growl).

Some people suppose the name refers to the fact that the band was born over Flanagan's Bar in Schroon Lake, New York. Yes, you could probably say our band room was kinda like an attic, i guess, and yes, the room certainly did see it's share of sexual encounters (it was, after all, over a bar). but these are not the true origins of the name.

We owe it all to one individual, a disabled vietnam veteran. at the time he was struggling, must have weighed about eighty pounds, drank (and whatever else) himself to oblivion every day. there were rumors around town that he was the victim of some kind of secret military chemical warfare or experiment... the details were a little fussy.

He used to come to the bar while we were practicing and beg us to let him come upstairs and turn his poetry into songs. finally one day we decided to let him. He went upstairs, got unsteadily in front of the microphone, pulled out some crumpled sheets of paper from his pocket and smoothed them out.

"Bare bear beWARE, because i don't WEAR any underwear. Rub a dub dub, a bear in the tub. ATTIC OF MY LOVE, ATTIC OF MY LOVE, what are you thinking of?"

when it came time to decide on a name, well, it just seemed obvious. as for our friend, i've heard that he's kicked a few of the monkeys on his back and has put on a few pounds. i'm glad; our vets don't often get much in terms of rewards. we wish him well, and thanks for the name, man.

Press Reviews

Being You
The Daily Vault
http://www.dailyvault.com/toc.php5?review=86

Big Day Out
Troy Record
Concert Review
Big Day Out 2:
Blink 182, Green Day, Cold..and Attic Of Love
June 2, 2002

Summer Starts with punk party
By Greg Haymes


SARATOGA SPRINGS-
"Attention! Moshing may take place. Be aware of your surroundings. Moshing and entering a moshing area may be dangerous and is at your own risk….

So declared the signs posted throughout the amphitheater at Saratoga Performing Arts Center as the Spa City venue opened its 2002 season with a punk-rock party featuring Blink 182 and Green Day.

… Local Heroes Attic Of Love cranked out a short set of progressive alt-metal to open the festivities, as bare-chested vocalist-flutist Andrew Tisbert led his cohorts through raging anthems like "Klorox,""Therapy" and the new "Lesson" with a punishing Tool-meets- Jethro Tull approach

Albany, NY Reviews
Metroland Magazine
THE SNAKE PITS
By J. Eric Smith
Valentine's
Albany, NY
April 6, 2000

…So I scooted downstairs when I couldn't stand it anymore and caught a bit of Attic and Love, who I had seen ages ago, narrowly losing to Swingset (remember them?) in a battle of the bands at Smoothy's (remember them?) The flute-fortified four-piece immediately addressed and dispensed with the inevitable Jethro Tull comparisons by opening with a crunchy version of stock Tull chestnut "Cross-Eyed Mary." It was well-done, as were their later Rage Against the Machine and Pearl Jam covers--but none of those three songs held candles against the raw power of their own fare. So while Attic of Love could do very well on the tribute circuit if they chose to go that way, I certainly hope I get to see them again in another five years, winning big crowds and praise as one of Northeastern New York's most original hard-rock, original-song-playing ensembles.


Best Flautist
Andrew Tisbert
(Attic of Love)
We know, as soon as we say "flautist," visions of Ian Anderson singing "Cross-Eyed Mary" pop into your head. But there are other things that can be done with a flute in a rock & roll setting, and Attic of Love's Andrew Tisbert does many of them very, very well. The coolest thing, though, is that instead of doing them atop aspirated-sounding, folkified Brit-rock, he does them in front of an ass-kicking, Tool-flavored modern metal band. Gotta see it to believe it.

Battle Of The Bands Review
The Record
Live & Lively
By Don Wilcock, The Record
05/29/2002

Attic of Love exploded from the stage into the audience at Northern Lights like flaming red napalm to grab the Battle of the Bands contest by the throat.

So intense was their delivery in winning the competition, it was almost as if they'd intimidated their win over the three other competing local bands….

…"I think that we're a really consistent band," says Tisbert, "and when we get excited about playing somewhere, it comes off the stage. We like to play. I don't think there's any place on this planet I don't feel more free or more utterly myself than on stage. It brings out in me what I believe I am."

What Tisbert is is a study in contrasts. His flute playing obviously gets compared to Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull. Like Anderson, Tisbert breaks through the "Locomotive Breath" intensity of a band that makes the term heavy rock an understatement to deliver horn lines with a subtlety of a ballerina in full flight.

While he admits Jethro Tull's influence, he says it's simply by default. No other heavy rock bands have featured a flute player worth mentioning….

…The tightrope Tisbert walks between the lacy flute runs and Drew's steel-furnace guitar and Jim Gould's thundering bass makes for an intense delivery underscored by Tisbert's speedball vocals.

The dynamic had the crowd moshing at Northern Lights, with a couple of bodies being hoisted 10 to 15 feet in the air. Tisbert says this is nothing compared to the 4th of July shows the band does in their hometown bar, Flanigan's, in Schroon Lake.


Rock in a Hard Place
Adirondack Life
ADIRONDACK
L  I  F  E   

Rock in a Hard Place
By: Paul Goldsmith
December 2003

…One of the most promising bands in northern New York State, Attic of Love may well prove Tisbert right. With a professional sound that rivals many major-label acts, the group has built a thriving regional fan base and earned themselves semi-celebrity status in the Capital Region and the southeastern Adirondack Park. At once blistering and melodic, their music is a potent, yet refined, take on today's progressive heavy metal. Combining the surgical brutality of guitar player Dru Gillings and the jackhammer rhythm section of bassist Jim Gould and drummer Mike Speziali with Tisbert's soaring vocals, cryptic lyrics and Eastern-influenced flute work, the band boasts a modern, anything-but-lighthearted sound not unlike multi-platinum-selling bands Tool or Rage Against the Machine. Attic of Love's passionate, thunderingly manic live shows and their reliance on mostly original material set them apart from the bulk of regional acts….

…Following the release of their finest album, the self-produced Lessons, they were named the Capital Region's "Most Original Band" after winning a contest sponsored by radio station WHRL, earning an opening slot for a Green Day/Blink 182 show at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in front of a crowd of fourteen thousand people….


Press Quotes
Various
PRESS QUOTES



"…Attic Of Love exploded onto the stage with enough enthusiasm to win a world war! The singer was an amazing vocalist, as well as a flute player – the flute was in perfect sync with the riffs being blasted by the rest of the band…"
Rock & Read Magazine, Albany,NY




"Instead of making it sound of wimpy, diluted or just plain stupid, the flute actually gives the music sort of a mystical, ethereal hint that, accompanied by some of the most intelligent, insightful lyrics I've ever heard, creates a sound that's in a class by itself…This is the only band I've ever heard that has the balls to mix kick-ass rock'n'roll together with the flute and still end up with a very legit sound."
Ami Johnson,Head-Ache Fan Magazine,WN




"…Andrew Tisbert's thoroughly sweet and rounded flute melodies swirl and soar above Andrew Gilling's crushing guitar chords…."
Karl S. Brunig,Glens Falls Chronicle,NY



"…Their music can be described as poetic, intelligent, creative, and energetic alternative rock. The thing that makes this band special is their ability to write and perform excellent original music. Attic of Love's original music is well structured and intelligent. …The songs are explosive, and can drift from calm and rhythmic to hard hitting and raw. …The live shows are just awesome. …They deliver a great performance consistently…."
Nick Tisencheck, www.atticoflovefanclub.com


CD Baby Reviews
Cd Baby Customers
Picture Tool doing a compilation with Jethro Tull...
Reviewer: cavedude
An awsome mixture of hard hitting rock and time inspired melodical foregrounds, with incredibly deep and insightfull lyrics. This CD is making me feel really philosophical right now, lol. Definately inspires a great mood, but you must see them live to really feel it, as I have the pleasure of saying (Riverwood, Casey's North, Luna's Underground, Big Day Out II).


A MUST HAVE!
Reviewer: Mona Lisa
The Lesson's album is the best representation of live Attic of Love to date. Every song has raw drive, and the sentiments and mood of the music resonates. Tisbert really knows how to economize his language, which I find appealing. His stark metaphors and images prove more evocative and sophisticated than any other contemporary rock lyricist I can think of. This is, hands down one of the best albums I own. It always moves me.


It's All Good !!
Reviewer: Tony
From the killer riffs on the title track to the haunting melody of Uncomplicated, this cd has it all. The album is also lyrically sound, which is refreshing in this day and age when a lot of bands think of lyrics as just filler. Awesome album, great follow up to Being You.


Better with every listen.
Reviewer: Garrett
Why are these guys not super giants in the industry?. More Balls than Creed. More creative than Pearl Jam. Throw back Tull sounds that nobody has touched since Tull. all strong dynamic Anthems. Buy this album and tell your friends!


This CD is amazing
Reviewer: Sparky
Lessons is truely a magnificent CD. Every song is well written, with good beats and contains messages that the listener can relate to.