Ultimate Fakebook release new full length
Power-pop favorites Ultimate Fakebook release new full-length, Daydream Radio is Smiling Static, for free via ufbrocks.com
Daydream Radio is Smiling Static is a collection of lost recordings from 2000-2003, and the groups first release after a seven year hiatus.
It’s a story you’ve heard a million times. Bursting with huge hooks and some of the best songwriting to emerge from the power-pop movement of the late ‘90s, Ultimate Fakebook came close but never achieved superstardom. For some bands, it was the wrong single at the wrong time, or an apathetic major label with a crowded roster and little foresight. Sometimes the stars just don’t align…
This is the story of Ultimate Fakebook. A group of guys from Manhattan, Kansas who got a whiff of the big time and then quietly disbanded in 2003, Ultimate Fakebook left a dedicated legion of diehard fans dreaming of just one more album. The wait is finally over, and with Daydream Radio is Smiling Static, Ultimate Fakebook’s first release in over seven years, the band reemerges with a gift to their devoted fans and a perfect summer soundtrack for the uninitiated.
“Coincidentally, July happens to be the 10th Anniversary of This Will Be Laughing Week, which is the record that’s still really dear to our hearts. It’s what started it all for us.” says Bill McShane (lead vox, guitar). Released by Sony/Epic Records, This Will Be Laughing Week was Ultimate Fakebook’s short lived dance with the mainstream. “I don’t think Sony compromised our vision but you feel a certain responsibility to live up to the expectations of a major label and that can get a bit grueling,” says drummer Eric Melin. “It may not have earned us a hit single, but we amassed a small but loyal fanbase through all our DIY van touring. So, it’s a tradeoff I guess.”
Daydream Radio, a collection of unreleased material written and recorded between 2000 and 2003 captures the sound of a band maturing while retaining their raw authenticity. “Half of these songs were written and recorded to be a follow up to Laughing Week and the other half were written after 2003’s Open Up and Say Awesome, which was our last album as a band,” says McShane of Daydream Radio. “This is 100% a gift to our fans, and we hope that we can gain some new fans as well. Sometimes it just takes awhile for the stars to align.”
Favoring the pop sensibility of early Elvis Costello and adding the rowdy spirit of the Replacements, Daydream Radio is a perfect introduction to Ultimate Fakebook; 16 originals, 1 cover (Guided By Voices ‘Echoes Myron) – a rollicking, giddy salute to making music on your own terms.
