Mandala (Rx Bandits album)

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Mandala
Studio album by
Rx Bandits
ReleasedJuly 28, 2009
Recorded2008-2009
GenreProgressive rock, alternative rock
Length52:40
LabelSargent House
ProducerChris Fudurich
Rx Bandits chronology
...And the Battle Begun
(2006) 		Mandala
(2009) 		Gemini, Her Majesty
(2014)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
idiomag(favourable)[2]
Sputnikmusic[3]

Mandala is the sixth full-length studio album from Rx Bandits. Released on July 28, 2009, it is the band's second album released through Sargent House, and their first as a 4-piece band.

Writing and production[edit]

Between July and September 2008, the band toured across the US with Portugal. The Man and Maps & Atlases.[4][5] The band began writing and recording the album in late 2008[6] with producer Chris Fudurich, who had produced 2 of the band's prior full-length albums: 2001's Progress and 2003's The Resignation. At some point early in the album's development, trombone player Chris Sheets left the band for undisclosed reasons. The album does feature horns on a few tracks such as "Bury It Down Low" and "Bled To Be Free (The Operation)" which were provided by Nat Love (The English Beat) and Steve White.The album was completed in spring of 2009.Throughout production of Mandala, RX provided video updates of their progress, and in the near future, a DVD is to be released that contains studio footage from during the recording of Mandala as well as footage of an acoustic show at Saint Rocke in May 2009, and various other unreleased videos.

Artwork[edit]

The album artwork was created by visual artist Sonny Kay. The band posted the album artwork on their blog along with a video featuring an animated version of the artwork and a 30-second clip from a new song.[7]

Release[edit]

On May 13, 2009, Mandala was announced via a trailer.[8] Two days later, the album's track listing and artwork was posted online.[9] On June 16, 2009, "Hope Is a Butterfly, No Net Its Captor, She Beats Her Wings and Softly Sings of Summer Scent and Children's Laughter... (Virus of Silence)" was posted online; nine days later, "Bring Our Children Home or Everything Is Nothing" was available for download through ReverbNation.[10][11] In July and August 2009, they went on a co-headlining US tour with Dredg; they were supported by Good Old War, Zechs Marquise for the first half, and As Tall as Lions for the second half.[12][13] Mandala was made available for streaming on July 21, 2009, before being released on July 28, 2009,[14] through Sargent House. The album's press release promised a "more rock-oriented four-piece, scaling down the use of horns to create a new twist to their constantly evolving dynamic." On June 18, 2009, the album was made available for pre-order with several different packages available.[15]

The album was leaked onto the internet through various filesharing sites on June 26, 2009. The album was later released digitally a week early through Amazon MP3 as a special deal for $2.99. As a result of the sale, the album reached #1 on Amazon's Bestselling MP3 Albums on July 16, 2009.[16] In November 2009, the band supported Glassjaw at a few of their Californian shows.[17] Following a stint in Australia as part of the Soundwave festival, the band went on a North American tour through to April 2010, with support from the Builders and the Butchers and Zechs Marquise.[18] During three of the New York shows, the band performed three of their albums in their entirety, including Mandala; the trek also included a performance at Coachella.[19][20] In August 2010, the band performed at the Reading and Leeds Festivals in the UK.[21] They repeated the album performances on the West Coast across three days in September 2010.[22]

The album peaked at #117 on the U.S. Billboard 200. It also peaked #3 on the top heatseekers chart and #23 on the independent albums chart.[23]

Track listing[edit]

All lyrics are written by Matthew Embree; all music is composed by Rx Bandits

No.TitleLength
1."My Lonesome Only Friend"4:03
2."It's Only Another Parsec..."4:44
3."Hope Is a Butterfly, No Net Its Captor, She Beats Her Wings and Softly Sings of Summer Scent and Children's Laughter... (Virus of Silence)"4:23
4."Hearts That Hanker for Mistake"4:31
5."Mientras la Veo Soñar"6:36
6."March of the Caterpillar"4:12
7."White Lies"4:30
8."Bury It Down Low"3:33
9."Breakfast Cat"5:16
10."Bled to Be Free (The Operation)" (Lyrics co-written by Joe Troy)4:37
11."Bring Our Children Home or Everything Is Nothing"6:19

Personnel[edit]

  • Matt Embree - vocals, guitar
  • Steve Choi - guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
  • Joseph Troy - bass, backing vocals
  • Chris Tsagakis - drums

References[edit]

  1. ^ Allmusic review
  2. ^ idiomag review
  3. ^ Sputnikmusic review
  4. ^ Paul, Aubin (April 24, 2008). "Rx Bandits / Portugal The Man". Punknews.org. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  5. ^ Paul, Aubin (June 2, 2008). "Maps & Atlases with mewithoutYou, Rx Bandits". Punknews.org. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
  6. ^ "Rx Bandits video update." Punknews.org. November 30, 2008.
  7. ^ "Introducing Mandala." Rx Bandits blog. May 12, 2009. Retrieved May 14, 2009.
  8. ^ Paul, Aubin (May 13, 2009). "Rx Bandits title album, post music sample, artwork preview". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  9. ^ Paul, Aubin (May 15, 2009). "Rx Bandits release tracklisting, album art, tour details". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  10. ^ Paul, Aubin (June 16, 2009). "Rx Bandits: 'Hope Is A Butterfly, Not Net Its Captor'". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  11. ^ Yancey, Bryne (June 25, 2009). "Rx Bandits: 'Bring Our Children Home Or Everything Is Nothing'". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  12. ^ Paul, Aubin (May 20, 2009). "Rx Bandits / Dredg / Good Old War / As Tall As Lions / Zechs Marquise". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  13. ^ Paul, Aubin (June 13, 2009). "Rx Bandits / Dredg / Good Old War / As Tall As Lions". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  14. ^ Paul, Aubin (July 21, 2009). "Rx Bandits: 'Mandala'". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  15. ^ "Rx Bandits announce release date." Absolutepunk.net. May 14, 2009.
  16. ^ "Support Real Music - Buy This." Absolutepunk.net. July 14, 2009.
  17. ^ Paul, Aubin (November 2, 2009). "Rx Bandits to support Glassjaw in California". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  18. ^ Paul, Aubin (January 19, 2010). Bandits / The Builders And The Butchers / Zechs Marquise "Swellers". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 16, 2022. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  19. ^ Yancey, Bryne (January 20, 2010). "Coachella 2010 to feature Pavement, Sunny Day Real Estate, Public Image Ltd". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  20. ^ Paul, Aubin (February 9, 2010). "Rx Bandits (Full Album Shows)". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  21. ^ White, Adam (May 26, 2010). "Bad Religion, Alkaline Trio lead Mike Davies' Lock-Up Stage at Reading and Leeds". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 18, 2022.
  22. ^ Paul, Aubin (May 5, 2010). "Rx Bandits plan full-album shows". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 18, 2022.
  23. ^ Mandala at Billboard.com. Retrieved September 18, 2009.
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