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RX Bandits

- Los Angeles, CA Rock / Progressive / Groove Tech

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About

Members: Matthew Embree - Lead Vocals, Guitar, Steve Choi - Guitar, Keyboards, Backing Vocals, Chris Tsagakis - Drums, Joe Troy - Bass, Backing Vocals

Label: Sargent House

Manager: Cathy Pellow - Sargent House

Bio: RX Bandits first emerged in 1999, forming in Orange County, CA. The young band, fresh out of high school had already been signed to a woefully disastrous recording contract under a different name in a previous incarnation. As the band's music rapidly matured, its label didn't -- leading to many y... See Full Bio

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Press

“Mandala is a well thought out and deliberate journey that shows both the band members love of the music and love of their message. They invest themselves in the music and it shows. Their best work to date, Mandala is a perfect example of what the RX Bandits stand for: Progression.”

— Mandala Review , Indie College

“RX Bandits have been edging into a more prog direction over the years and they've really nailed it with this one. It's layered, full of depth and resists the temptation to fall into musical self-indulgence. RX Bandits are undoubtedly now at the peak of their powers.”

— Mandala Album Review 4/5, Big Cheese UK

“Mandala is a beast of an album, clocking in at a battering 53 minutes, nearly all of which is jammed with break-neck prog perfection. Here, every musician gives his all, keeping every moment razor taut with anticipation as the ebbs and flows allow for sweeping emotional (not, emo, mind you) grandiosity. The music is something like a more reggae-tinged Mars Volta, but it's obvious that through the course of their evolution, the Bandits have forged a path entirely their own.”

— Mandala UK Review , Music OMH (UK)

“RX Bandits have always been a band determined not be restricted by the narrow genre confines of ska punk. Nowadays, they sound more like a prog rock band with hints of The Police. 'Mandala' sounds a million miles away from 'Halfway Between Here And There' and, if it wasn't for Matt Embree's distinctive vocals, you'd be questioning whether this was the same band.”

— Mandala Album Review 4/5, Big Cheese UK

“They have a way of capturing the audience like no other band. The energy and talent they bring on stage every night makes them a force to be reckoned with and continues to prove why they are one of the best live bands playing music these days. Honestly it is difficult to describe the kind of energy at an Rx Bandits show and one best experience it themselves to really understand.”

— Live Review April 2010 , All About The Music

“RX Bandits were never really a ska band, really. Despite their horn section, the Bandits have always seemed to reach for something more musically complex and diverse than a mere niche genre can contain. And now, with Mandala, their sixth album, they've proceeded sans horns to make the most sonically lush and rhythmically diverse album yet”

— Mandala UK Review , Music OMH (UK)

“They have a very solid stage presence. The songs are powerful. It’s an amazing thing to see full-album shows because albums in their entirety are pieces of art.”

— Live Review NYC 2010 , Festival Crashers

“RX Bandits were much better viewed at the foot of the stage. It was essential to be able to see Steve Choi’s fingers move so effortlessly around his fretboard. What a most technically brilliant and under-appreciated Cali quartet these guys are.”

— Live Review Australia 2010, Faster Louder

“Small enough for one bus and house lights, but big enough that they can sell out 3 nights in NYC and everyone in the venue is singing every word to every song, even the ones that aren’t singles. It was powerful. Matt Embree is brave enough to write everything he feels. Very political, strong, emotional lyrics.”

— Live Review NYC 2010, Festival Crashers

“this was a band that could definitely let their arrangements do the talking. They closed their set with an intense wall of sound which built layer upon layer of labyrinthine riffs and rolls before the heart monitor flatlined under the duress they had created. No other band would end a set better.”

— Live Review Australia 2010, Faster Louder

“the band finished the song and left the crowd realizing that the Rx Bandits still put on one of the most impressive live shows of any touring band today.”

— Live Show Review - Dallas, Punknews Org

“Chock full of eccentric time signatures, hypnotic guitar riffs and poignant booming bass all backed by possibly the best drummer in today’s scene, Mandala is a force of illuminating prowess. ”

— Bedwetting Cosmonaut

“It’s Only Another Parsec was like listening to digital Armageddon and Choi revealed himself to be as handy with the keys as he is with the guitar. ”

— Live Review Australia 2010, Faster Louder

“Delivering a complex, thoughtful record that’s still catchy and accessible to the casual listener is pretty tough but Mandala delivers it all.”

— Synthesis

“there is so much going on with Mandala, recommending it in your own words seems rather trivial. This is the kind of album that begs for expensive headphones in order to truly listen to all it's lovely value.”

— Absolute Punk

“Take a circle and pack it full of meaning and you’ve got yourself a mandala. The word itself is comes from Sanskrit and can be translated as “completion” or “essence.” These two possible translations seem to sum up an album that marks a new stage in a band’s evolution.”

— Synthesis

“RX Bandits have been completely enveloped in their own universe for the past five years, releasing some of the most forward-progressing and innovative music that the underground has to offer. ”

— We Wore Masks

“That they were able to lose the ska classification and find a way to continue their precipitous evolution shows how talented these guys are. They have repeatedly referred to themselves as “groove-tech”, a title that fits them exceptionally well”

— Behind The Hype

“Rx Bandits have transformed themselves into more than just an ordinary band -- they are "ear art," which is to imply that what your eyes cannot visually locate, your ears do... and they send all that delicious candy to every other sense in your body.”

— Absolute Punk

“Mandala isn't meant to be skipped over; this is an album that intentionally strings itself together, twisting and turning, leading the listener on a trip that is both turbulent & composed.”

— Absolute Punk

“But regardless of where they came from, Mandala is an achievement. This year has brought many impressive albums already, and yet here is another. 4.5 Stars out of 5”

— Antiquiet

“It isn't just about hooks and snap with the Bandits -- they want to hit you from all sides with everything they've got. Literally. RXB are creating music that is meant to be listened to.”

— Absolute Punk

“FINALLY. Manadala might as well have been that huge gasp of air that Rx Bandits had been holding for years now. 4.5 out of 5”

— Sputnik Music

“The songs on Mandala are the culmination of 10+ years of musical adaptation and tight musicianship, and find Rx Bandits clearly on the absolute top of their game.”

— Behind The Hype

“Not only are the RX Bandits some of the best modern musicians around, they have managed to withstand a huge personal blow and flip the script to continue progressing and improving as a band. It’s hard to imagine this band taking any real steps backwards or creating bad music in general,”

— We Wore Masks

“Mandala remains a strong listen and an essential album in the Bandits’ evolution and discography. With its fluctuating tempo bringing you from the highest of high’s to the lowest of lows, the Bandits continue to know just the right prescription for a rocking summer album.”

— Consequence of Sound

“Mandala is another stunning effort by Rx Bandits. The band’s sixth studio album is a fiercely creative and visionary collection of songs. ”

— Behind The Hype

““Mandala” is the band’s most exuberant album, showcasing the band’s skillful mastery of their instruments and entirely being themselves. I strongly recommend you buy this album. Like, now.”

— Emotional Punk

“If there’s a single idea that’s existed within the Bandits’ ranks since those early days, it’s evolution. If there’s a second, it’s a ferocity that follows the ensemble from its searing live show into the studio.”

— Austin Decider / The Onion

“RX Bandits have created a more laid-back Mars Volta, complete with some prog rock stylings and complicated guitar work. ”

— Deckfight

“Mandala is an expression of all the best things from the Mars Volta mixed with the ability to get to the point a little quicker and with a little more style. It’s simply infectious”

— Georgetown Voice

“The melodies reach and explore far beyond the ska-pigeonhole the band was quickly stamped with four LPs ago, and the members reach for bending, twisted notes that only a skilled artist could pull off without sounding atrociously underqualified.”

— Dallas Observer

“This is not a band to be digested light-heartedly. This is a band with an undefinable genre, and a force of prog rock chemistry to be reckoned with. You can't help but but drink something stronger, and shout out in between songs. Most importantly, you can't help but pay attention”

— Dallas Observer

“Seeing RX live is one of those situations people talk about where you have to experience it yourself to really know what its like. The energy through the band's music and performance is met with an equal energy from the crowd and it becomes one collective and connecting force. ”

— College Music Network - Live Review

“Surely one of the best bands today.”

— Anti Consciousness- ATBB Review

“The new album suggests the horns, are now taking a backseat to an ever progressing assortment of instruments heavily featuring Choi's effervescent keyboard playing, and Chris Tsagakis eccentric beat making. Recorded live as well, each and every song on the album sounds unique in its own way.”

— Daily Game Cock - ATTB Review

“Each track on this album is flawless. Constantly changing through different rhythms, tempos and keys, this album is sure to dazzle any person looking for something new and original.”

— I Sound - ATBB Review

“Gone are the days of simple song structure from the earlier albums in lieu of riffs, which seem to continue throughout the entire song, start, stops, and enough different signatures to constitute a petition. ”

— Daily Game Cock - ATTB Review

“To those are not yet familiar to any of the RX Bandits albums, their latest release is like nothing you have ever heard. If you can picture Bob Marley and the Skatalites, mixed in with Refused and Fugazi, you're somewhere near the music heard on this”

— I Sound - ATBB Review

“Their new album shatters any genre you can find. Recorded partly in front man Matt Embree's garage, and produced and mixed by the band, this album is the purest example of talent giving birth to beautiful, uncorrupted and uncompromised music.”

— I Sound - ATBB

“And the Battle Begun is nothing short of amazing. Once again the band has impressed me with an album that I will be listening to over and over ”

— All Things Go -ATBB Review

“RX have become masters of improvisation and put on a unique performance for every show. I’m always impressed by how the band blends every song together with a little jam, giving the show a constant flow”

— All Things Go

“The Resignation changed everything. The band dropped the poppy get-up and evolved into a surprisingly powerful musical force. ”

— All Things Go

“The album relies on complex and intricate songwriting, incredible, tight musicianship, the band's trademark crushing breakdowns, unique chord progressions, and is pulled together by Matt Embree's tenor howl”

— Rainy Dawg Radio - ATBB Review

“And the Battle Begun, the fifth full length studio Album by the RX Bandits, is nothing less than amazing from start to finish”

— Rainy Dawg Radio - ATBB Review

“RX don’t play ska any more. Their newest album, And The Battle Begun, is probably more “progressive rock” than anything else. But it really goes beyond a simple term. The eclectic yet powerful sound of the new RX album is more reminiscent of “21st Century Schizoid Man” than any Less Than J”

— Read Between The Frets - ATBB Review

“And the Battle Begun is without a doubt one of the most compelling and inquistive releases of the year, and one with a response that will assuredly be less than comatose.”

— Absolute Punk - ATBB CD Review

“I was absolutely blown away by the energy and emotion that comes from listening to their music. Each song usually falls under two categories. It’s either fast-paced, energetic rock, or relaxed reggae. Either way you hear it, it’s brilliant. No one song on this album is bad”

— Sputnick Music - ATBB CD Review

“Constant progress came to personify the band and the way they operate. Their album, The Resignation, might as well have been titled Revolution, as it severed all ties with their old ways. The band recorded the album live. Since then, they've recorded all their material in the same manner.”

— OC Weekly - Band Feature

“The lyrics call for social change, the music evolves and the styles flow, proving that for RX, as they say in the latest album's "A Mouth Full of Hollow Threats?": "The only thing left that's constant is a change."”

— OC Weekly - Band Feature

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Wed
Jul 24

Metro Chicago
Chicago, IL, US | 8:00pm
Metro Chicago
Chicago, IL, US
Wed Jul 24 8:00pm
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ON SALE THIS FRIDAY 5/10 @ NOON Wednesday, July 24 RX BANDITS http://rxbandits.com/ NORTHERN FACES https://www.facebook.com/northernfaces Tickets: $18.50 adv. - $21 day of All Ages Doors: 6PM / Show: 7PM www.metrochicago.com

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chrishanson420
The Greatest band on the planet!! The new acoustic shit is awsome!!
Planes Departing
hell yes you guys are effin amazing! you make me better even after the night! :D
atila
i want to lay inside of you muahaha.. see you in pomona/LA