Throat by Little Women

[AUM061]

=Little Women=
Travis Laplante: tenor sax
Darius Jones: alto sax
Andrew Smiley: guitar
Jason Nazary: drums

Brooklyn quartet Little Women create music whose aim is transcendence, via brutally precise sonic assault and ascendant melodies, attacking written and improvised material with equal ferocity. The group’s sound was distilled from a broad range of influences that stretch from free jazz through math metal, punk rock, pop music, and harsh noise. Saxophonists Travis Laplante and Darius Jones breathe together as one multi-tongued exquisite beast reveling in higher harmonics, splitting overtones to create ghost notes. Together with guitarist Andrew Smiley and drummer Jason Nazary, they create intricate yet whiplash-bestowing riffs which morph on a dime into ever-exploratory sub-groupings. There are also moments of quiet ringing-tone reflection on what has been wrought.



Throat is a suite in seven sections designed to be taken in as a whole; it is their full-length debut. Throat was recorded & mixed by Andy Taub at Brooklyn Recording, and features cover art by underground guitar maestro Mick Barr (of Orthrelm & Ocrilim).


"The interplay between Laplante and Jones is most spectacular. At times, their horns coil around each other like a squad of snakes suffocating their prey, but they frequently leave a space open that allows the tones to produce chimeras of lingering sound. It’s as if Smiley’s guitar work, which is reminiscent of a more jacked-up and deranged Andy Gill, is the glue that holds everything together. Despite the white noise residue and jangling static left on the edge of the grooves, the blinding fret moves are extraordinarily intricate. Nazary’s accuracy is remarkable, as he manages to return from the dangerous depths of aleatoric frenzy to hit each rapid time shift flawlessly. Throat is a timely battle cry for both the unstoppable force of experimental musics and the fact that no mode of domination can ever fully conquer the wild energy and potentiality that blooms inside the body, waiting to explode out into the world and shatter that which must be shattered." –Elliott Sharp, Tiny Mix Tapes


“Staggering. .. First you react to the emotion that is so raw, so audible. These guys are ripping their guts out, you think. And so they are. .. It has structure and elegance in a tornado of noise, and beauty that cuts through the maelstrom like a ray of light.”
–Kevin Williams, Chicago Tribune


"Let me start by saying this album is awesome; however, I understand the noisy, disturbing, abusive sounds this Brooklyn quartet makes are not for everyone. If disorienting musical aggression isn't your thing, I understand. But if it is, then your ears need to be on this band's debut full-length. This group features elements of math rock, free jazz, metal, and punk sped up until they've disintegrated into a fine powder that gets you pretty messed up when snorted. Lots of replay power, great sounds, and raw musicianship. How are we gonna know what's pretty if we don't hear the ugly? This rules."
–Anthony Fantano, The Needle Drop

"A tour de force of a composition, somewhere between Brötzmann, The Ex, and The Flying Luttenbachers. It rips, it’s mad, but what artistic vision, and what result! I think I’m in love!"
–François Couture, Monsieur Délire blog

"Little Women can do whatever they want. They tell me to turn the volume up as loud as possible and I do it. They see genre boundaries and completely disregard them. They set out to collectively write a suite that’s at once as tight as great metal and as sonically adventurous as the mind can possibly comprehend. Not only do they do it, but they set the bar insanely high for anyone wishing to do the same. .. Fluidity and subtlety on their instruments, even in the rawest and most vicious of exchanges, is always there."
–Dean Christesen, RVA NEWS

=Little Women=
Travis Laplante
Darius Jones
Andrew Smiley
Jason Nazary

portrait by
Ben Gerstein