Sylvie

In 1975, John Schwab and his band “Mad Anthony” sat in a barn in Southern California and recorded their songs. It was a narrative that was common during this period - the band was close to a record deal but it never came, and the tapes were stored in a box in a closet. Decades later, in a small town in Ohio, his son Ben Schwab came across them. The recordings would imprint a sound and feeling that he would end up chasing. They were timeless, effortless, and soulful. A harmonic birthright.

Ben had a long career as a professional inline skater that sent waves through the subculture, before watching the industry fade away. Following a period at CalArts, he formed his first band, Golden Daze, and later joined the group Drugdealer. Sylvie is the full return to the musical lineage and spirit that lived in all those lost yet beloved cassettes and reels. True to Mad Anthonyʼs form, Ben and his friends also sat around in a garage in LA to make these recordings. Of course his fatherʼs voice is featured prominently, he sings one of the songs. Not much has changed. -Mike Collins (Drugdealer)

John Andrews is something of an open secret in a certain corner of the music scene: a versatile musician & animator. A film school drop out whose work hat-tips tradition as much as outsider anti-aesthetics. He's spent over a decade on the DIY circuit, playing early house shows alongside then up-and- coming peers Weyes Blood and Daniel Bachman. Today he is still out there projecting his sketchy hand drawn animations during his performances in coffee shops, small galleries and non-traditional venues. Andrews' painterly approach now introduces us to his version of New York City, the place he was bound to end up after years of dwelling in Pennsylvania farm towns and New Hampshire barns. There is handmade vibrancy to the world he's imagined for us here: intimate moments seen from the interior, looking outward from hole-in-the-wall restaurants, theaters and the fragments of peace found within the restless and dirty street corners.

"Love For The Underdog", his aptly titled fourth release with the Woodsist label, was tracked live to tape in various studios and apartments across the Empire State with help from his bandmates in Cut Worms' touring outfit, Max Clarke, Keven Lareau & Noah Bond. Buoyant melodies are supported by timeless string arrangements, translated from Andrews' head to page with the help of friend Simon Hanes. The string quartet follows the tradition of Francoise Hardy, Harry Nilsson, Margo Guryan & Belle and Sebastian, giving the whole thing a cinematic ambience with stark shadows of an Edward Hopper painting. The lyrics tie together narratives of cynical heroes & troubled lovers. Put on the record and sink into wellworn red velvet theater seats, when the lights go down and the flickering of projectors run the title: Love for the Underdog, indeed.