click here for Antiques press kit

Awake-related
"I don’t know much about this Washington, D.C., trio, other than that I really do like the enticing blend of orchestrated chamber pop on their second full-length, Awake. The Antiques’ press bio mentions favorable comparisons to Felt, Orange Juice, and The Chameleons, and while I can kind of buy into that, Awake definitely has an artier vibe than anything those aforementioned bands released. These guys would have fit right in on Factory Records back in the day with their almost precision-like atmospheric sweep. The mood on “The Microphone Died,” “I Know the World Ended Tonight,” and, especially, the haunting title track definitely brings to mind Joy Division circa Closer, only with warmer vocals. The singer, Greg Svitil, really shines throughout Awake, coming off as a cross between Leonard Cohen and Stuart Staples of Tindersticks. Also great is “You’re Holding My World,” which has a similar tranceinducing quality to those amazing early Slowdive EPs, while the ballad “The Procession” could almost be something you would have found on one of those amazing Sarah Records comps back in the day."
-Ben Vendetta, Skyscraper Magazine #30, Spring 2009

"As a follow up to their debut full length album Sewn With Stitches, Washington DC based lo-fi rock outfit The Antiques have just released a brand new long player, titled Awake, through artist run label Safranin Sound. Our original feature of the haunting loveliness this band exudes happened well over a year and a half ago, so when we received our copy of the latest album last week, an immediate listen was in order. What we found was a gorgeous collection of distressed fairytales set to an ever-building tension that instantly reminded us how much of a dark mood an effective accompaniment of organ can bring to the surface."
-Milk Milk Lemonade (click for full review)

"Washington DC's The Antiques specialise in their own highly stylised sound. Essentially an alt-rock four-piece, they augment their sound with occasional guest vocals, brass and swathes of sombre organ. It's the latter, I feel, that renders the sound of The Antiques utterly unique. Themes of regret, bitterness and fatigue run right through the core of this record, each swaddled in a blanket of Wurlitzer keys. If you know Joy Division, and in particular their track 'The Eternal' from Closer, you will already have some clue as to what you might expect from The Antiques. Even the vocals have that same netherworld appeal – vocoded, anguished and lost in the mix..."
-(Sic) Magazine (click for full review)

"...And now, the band is here with its second album, “Awake,” an even stronger collection of songs and an overall chillier feel. Trust me, you need to own it. Lucky for you, the band is throwing a new album release party and show tonight at Velvet Lounge. For BYT’s interview/listening party feature on The Antiques, Greg Svitil was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to answer some questions about his mysterious, ever-evolving band..."
-Rick Taylor, Brightest Young Things, October 10, 2008
click for full feature story & interview

-We were big fans of the Antiques' (listen) last album, "Sewn With Stitches," as it filled a niche on the local music scene -- namely, sounding like awesome, obscure British bands that were around when Margaret Thatcher was prime minister. The band cast a wide net for follow-up "Awake," adding an a cappella group, saxophone and cello to the mix on various songs. Basically, don't expect it to sound less gloomy.
-Washington Post Going Out Gurus, Octobger 7, 2008

"...They remind me of listening to OK COMPUTER when I was 16, to the weird guitar and organ sounds, head in the clouds and feeling utterly floored by the sounds. The Antiques have two guitarists, a drum machine, an organist, a bass player, and organ with two keys held down by tape and a drum machine that doesn't know how cool it is. I first saw them opening for Sonic Boom, I didn't get to hear any song cos the vocals were too reverb-y, they had the dude from Kohoutek on drums and their drummer sat on a chair cos he was on crutches. During the last song, Greg, the singer fell on his knees and started playing with his pedals, Sam, the drummer repeatedly scratched his guitar Craig the bass player was hitting his bass on his amp and Kevin, the organist was unplugging his stuff and packing it.

They have a couple of releases of which I bought 'sewn with stitches' a claustrophobic creepy self hating record that I couldn't bear listen cos it made me want to curl up in a ball and cry like a baby (ref: spiritualized, spacemen 3, joy division, suicide). Most songs read like diary entries and post break-up letters, and Greg sings in a flat monotone (hey, it worked for New Order) with the vocals way front of the mix. At first this was a bit unsettling cos I loved the way his vocals were buried when they played live, kinds like when bands say they use vocals like an instrument.

So back to the songs, "bedsit bones" is white disco, opener "tied to nowhere" is a garage stomp that recalls the bunnymen at their lightest, and "there's nothing to explain" is just a perfect song in every sense of that word. All chiming guitars and twelve string guitars, when they play it live Sam makes his guitar sound like a millions women wailing or cats being burnt alive. They do not sound like an American band and thank fuck for that, they remind me of late eighties. Pedals, organs, reverb, pedals, hair in their faces (they audience, not the band) and more pedals..."
-Jack Abok, excerpt from To Hell With Good Intentions fanzine #5

Sewn With Stitches-related
"Sewn With Stitches is simultaneously trippy, dark and lingering. It's the type of album that would be terrifying to listen to while driving anywhere at night - lit parking lot, heavily wooded dirt road, you get the idea." -Holly L. Perry, Broken Dial album review, August 31, 2007

"'Tied to Nowhere,' from The Antiques' recent Sewn With Stitches, is magnetic. It�s a song that pumps you up on your morning commute and simultaneously leaves you questioning everything from personal life ambition to why you decided to go with an iced latte. It has an anxious, Brit feel, and it introspectively examines something that we can all relate to: not relating."
-Holly L. Perry, Broken Dial What Were They Thinking? feature, August 22, 2007

"Lock yourself in your room and listen to "Closed Curtains". The dark baritone of the male vocals, followed by the scathing and piercing female part, gets magnified by the accompanying organ, making for a sadistic breakup song to cry alone under the sheets to with the lights off and the stereo cranked to 11. Where the organ reaches into the internal depths of despair, the reverb of the guitar in "Tied To Nowhere" provides a reprieve. Still despondent, but less "the sky is falling" and more "let's tear it down." Sewn With Stitches is deeply cynical, rife with self-loathing, forlorn, and absolutely quaking with unrequited love. Fortunately for the Antiques, if found that love would be their demise. They'll have to go on suffering to bring more of their shoegazing, hopeless-yet-glimmering pop."
-Any Given Tuesday album review, August 13, 2007

"'Sewn In Stitches' is a bitter claustrophobic collection of melancholic psych tinged shoegazing for fans of '80s British glum rockers Echo and the Bunnymen, The Comsat Angels , The Sound and The Chameleons and early 90s Brit shoegazers, Ride.

The album starts with what sounds like a false start before it hurtles headfirst into 'Tied To Nowhere', a sub two minute blast of Interpolesque miserabilism. Two tracks in and it doesn't take a genius to realise that Greg is really pissed with someone, a former lover perhaps, who used to make his pulse race and his heart beat a little quicker but who now only makes him angry. A quick scan of the lyric sheet that helpfully accompanies the album tells you all you need to know about Greg's current state of mind. With lyrics such as "I don't want to hear from you anymore...when did you become so psychotic" ('Don't Stand In My Room'), "You've stabbed me in the neck so many times I can't keep count" ('You're Everything I Don't Need'), "I stare at the wall, I gather dust, now that I've lost faith in us" ('There's Nothing To Explain') and "I've learned to get along ever since you left me here" ('One Day You'll Be Sorry Too'), the wounds are obviously still raw. But Greg's also pissed with himself, there's a nagging doubt that he's not entirely blameless for whatever happened, "all these stupid things I've done have left me on my own" ('You're An Act That Can't Be Followed'). In the mist of all this bitterness, rancour and self immolation Greg produces some classic glum rock including a great moment when he rhymes glistens with aneurysms ('Auburn Aumbry').

'Sewn with Stitches' is an exhausting, emotional and entrancing album that gets better with each listen. I don't now what effect baring his heart and soul on the record had on Greg but I certainly felt purged after just one listen. File under cathartic."
-the devil has the best tuna, july 28, 2007

"...I mostly agree with some of the previous reviews of The Antiques in that there is a feeling of early 80's British pop/rock threaded heavily with that time defying lo-fi garage sound we know so well. The difference found and contained within the the brand new CD "Sewn In Stitches" is that there are seemingly no limits or guidelines to which the sound is relegated. The healthy dose of organ accompaniment lends another dimension to the sound and the reverb levels don't hurt things at all. If, for no reason whatsoever, we were given three words to describe this music? Haunting, hollow and lovely would be the front runners although I might not be doing the slightest bit of justice to the music you are hopefully listening to right now..."
-milk milk lemonade, july 28, 2007

"The organ adds a feeling of church or funeral music and the haunting vocals serve only to accentuate the feeling. "Don't Stand in my Room", manages to depress the listener even further. A highly recommended album that may end up bringing the organ back into the mainstream."
-Off The Record Magazine album review July 8, 2007

"...a pithy combination of baritone postpunk vocals, uplifting chord changes, and a strong backbeat..."
Washington City Paper One Track Mind on "Chutes and Ladders", June 14, 2007

"A complete album that you should own and hear from start to finish with no deviations whatsoever. It features fourteen wonderful (melancholic) songs that capture (and pierce) your sad old jaded heart. This is not sweetness and light but stories of loves-u-have-lost, with melting guitars and a bass in your head. It has been far too long. However, the desperateness of the lyrics and deep-drawl vocal delivery is counter-punched with a kind of spikey, cynical guitar-led "pop" that reminds me of The Go-Betweens at their absolute peak, possibly mixed in with a little early to mid-period Felt. I recommend this album highly and ask you to open all ears and take a listen (from the first few seconds of fast and furious spunkytastic album-opener, Tied To Nowhere, I think you will be hooked in and cooked for tea...)."
-And Before the First Kiss (Glasgow) album review, May 31, 2007

"For fans of semi-obscure '80s British acts such as Comsat Angels and the Chameleons UK ... well, here is your new favorite band. The songs are dramatic without being overwrought, as the band doesn't get bogged down with unnecessary instrumentation. A thick organ sound envelops tracks such as "Painted Post Road" and "Don't Stand in My Room," which plod along gingerly while Greg Svitil gives a perfect deadpan delivery of lines like, "Don't light up my life / Yours is the light I don't need / When did you become such a creep? / When did you become so psychotic?" Things are more sprightly on "One Day You'll Be Sorry Too" and "Auburn Aumbry," recalling some different obscure '80s U.K. acts -- let's say Felt and Orange Juice this time. People who are serious about their 7" record collection will seriously love this album.”
-Washington Post Going Out Gurus album review, May 10, 2007

"The meticulously crafted songs are full of drama, sometimes heavy on thick organ, other times with reverb-laden guitar."
-Washington Post.com, May 10, 2007

"Sewn With Stitches is an unqualified success in every sense. Each track was clearly meticulously crafted and executed brilliantly, and the end result fills the listener's ears with some of the most beautiful and heartfelt sounds they're likely to hear this or any other year."
-Rick Taylor, We Fought the Big One

"There was a time in DC when practically every month saw a new indie pop release of merit. Nowadays the pickings are slimmer, and so we rejoice with extra fervor when the goods get delivered. This The Antiques have just managed. Check out "Chutes and Ladders," which is the opening to our "Streaming P*ss" offering at www.dcsoundclash.com."
-Deejay Mark Williams, "Taking the P*ss" June 19, 2007

There is also a nice write-up on Antiques & Safranin Sound in general in The Last Pop Song (Germany). Here is a (very) rough translation:
"After the year unfortunately last itself Alcian Blue dissolved have, remained the volume members not idle and have under the name "Safranin Sound & design" a small Label in Washington established. Here publish a row of young volume out of the atmosphere of Alcian Blue. Next to Screen Vinyl image (former Alcian Blue members), Ceremony, The Offering, safe ace home also The Aniques. A class portfolio! Would like to introduce I here deputy for the Label the Antiques that have now the receptions of 2004 until now on its neune CD "Sewn witch stitches" together vicinity: Grow psychedelic Dreampop with atmospheric song that are very melodieorientiert unaufgeregt daherkommen and with the hearing. On the websites are found a row songs to the download, at the same time also a 15 minute live reception of Awake. Recommended."

Sewn With Stitches was the featured album of the week on Spain's Cielo Líquido radio program for the week of June 18-24. Fernando has been playing songs such as "You're an Act That Can't be Followed," "Brown Balloons," "Tied to Nowhere," "The Ides of May," "Chutes and Ladders" and "There's Nothing to Explain" alongside some very good company in his always-stellar playlists. Check out the show via the link above.

DJ Will Eastman includes "Tied to Nowhere" in Biss Pop's monthly hit parade for May 2007.

Other Reviews
"The best moody British band from 1986 that's somehow making music in D.C. right now."
-David Malitz, Washington Post, August 11, 2006

"You're an act that can't be followed" is one of my favorite songs from 2005. It's exquistely written and arranged. Melancholy as hell but also strangely beautiful. They're local, so check this band out when you get a chance, especially if you dig The Velvet Underground."
-Rick Taylor, We Fought the Big One

"This quartet is on the 80's Brit tip, but with more of a Joy Division/Wedding Present meets Gang of Four thing."
-Sound of Music Studios

"While Svitil's guitar playing may echo Johnny Marr, the band he has assembled is no Smiths tribute act. With the tasteful styling of John Rickman on drums and texturing of Theresa Kim on organ, The Antiques are equally reminiscent of early R.E.M., while producing a sound all their own. Originally Svitil's solo project, their songs are conceived in his bedroom and possess a certain intimacy and urgency that can only be wrought in private."
-On Tap Magazine, December 2005

Washington City Paper Pop Quiz, 9/9/2005

"They're called The Antiques and I'm predicting that they're gonna be huge...The show they put on was just great. I was hooked from the first few songs. I'm not sure how to describe their sound, but comparisons have been made to bands like the Smiths and Felt..." read more
- Glueslabs, August 2005

"There's Nothing to Explain" is a plodding, depressing song about nihilism that I hope was cathartic for its writers, but could make an emotionally weak person cut their wrists."
- Impact Press, Feb./Mar. 05