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press for TICKER SYMBOLS
The Big Takeover: "overlord - Ticker Symbols (Storm Tower) I'll cut to the chase: this is one of my favorite records of the year. Filled with gorgeous guitar-based power-pop, this is the album that I've been waiting for Outrageous Cherry to make ever since their 1999 masterstroke Out There in the Dark. Who knew that it would take a one man band with a misleading heavy metal moniker (shouldn't he be writing about minotaurs and motorcycles?) to pull it off instead. Whether it's beautiful pastoral psychedelia ("Boy Shiva"), Shins-like crooning ("The Walking Microphone"), or jaunty indie pop ("Should've Done Drugs"), there's an effortless melodic grace to everything Pasles touches. And while the production is a bit muffled, it doesn't detract from the sheer genius of these songs. I can't recommend it hightly enough." Review by Theo Cateforis.
Indiepages: "Overlord - "Ticker Symbols" cd (Storm Tower) This band lives in New York City now, but they were originally from Philadelphia, which makes a lot more sense to me, as they are perfectly in tune with the dreamy pop sounds that bands like Lenola, the Photon Band and the Twin Atlas have been making for years. Like those bands, Overlord has the ability to make even the simplest pop songs like "The Very Next Person To Hold My Hand Can Have Me" and "World Without Mirrors" seem dreamy just by giving it some reverb and a fuzzy sound (not distorted, but more like an equivalent of vaseline on the lens, as if this were the soundtrack to a dream sequence). In fact, there are a variety of classic pop styles seamlessly running through these songs, that reminds me a lot of the Magnetic Fields' habit of genre-hopping, as well as similar bands, like La Musique Populaire or My Teenage Stride (whose Tris McCall is also a member of this band). I've gotta say, I'm really quite impressed with this record - the first time I listened to it, I was just astounded that every new song was as good as or better than the last. And even better, there were a few songs that stuck with me after the record was done! This record is the reason I wait until the year is over before making year-end best of lists... MTQ=14/14" (Top Ten of 2006) Review by Chris McFarlane.
Dagger Zine: "OVERLORD- TICKER SYMBOLS- STORM TOWER- Sometimes I’ll read a review that Chris Macfarlane (Mr. Indie Pages to you) had written and I’ll say, “Wow, sounds like something I’d love !” Well, that happened with this record, I read his review and decided I had to hear the record. The label was kind enough to send me one and lo and behold, it’s fantastic. The band hails from Philly but have apparently all moved to NYC (and took their name from a losing horse in the 1993 Kentucky Derby) and I’m convinced that TICKER SYMBOLS will be hailed as a classic if not now…..then sometime in the future (hey, you know how music fans are…it could take 25-30 years). The opening “Is this Thing On?” sounds like something Brian Wilson would have concocted in his sandbox while “The Family Plot’ is pure jangle pop bliss. Elsewhere you have the heavenly “Boy Shiva” (like prime Magnetic Fields) and the upbeat, chirpy (and awesomely titled ) “Should’ve Done Drugs.” You’ll also hear echoes of Stereolab, Outrageous Cherry or even 60’s soft-poppers like The Association. I dunno if I should give all the credit to the vocalist/instrumentalist George Pasles but heck, I gotta blame someone, right (My Teenage Strides Tris McCall is also a member ) ….so George you have my sincere promise that if we ever meet face to face I’m buying you dinner. Seriously…..this record is THAT good. A classic if anyone’s looking." (Top Five of 2006)Review by Tim Hinely.
Delusions of Adequacy "overlord - Ticker Symbols - (Storm Tower) - What a find this CD is. I had never heard of overlord, even though they are originally from Philadelphia where I have been living. Judging by their name I was fearing schlock-metal, but they are nothing of the sort - I guess the lower-case “o” is a hint. Overlord is really a guy named George Pasles, joined by what, apparently, are various regular and irregular band members (the credits list I don’t know how many drummers). In any event, the group has been kicking around for a few years now—this is their fifth release. Ticker Symbols is a definite keeper. The album opens with an excellent Brian Wilson homage (shouldn’t every album have one?) in “Is This Thing On?,” replete with what is referred to as a “Penfield mood organ” (a Philip K. Dick reference). For the rest of the album, the retro-fetish is on and it is all done very well. The influences quickly shift from Wilson to the jangle guitar of The Notorious Byrd Brothers-era Byrds (especially in standouts, "Should've Done Drugs" and "Evergreen"), the harmonies of the Summer of Love darlings, The Association, and Parles’[sic] very British-feeling vocals, ala Morrissey, often have a haunting echo-effect reminiscent of, again, the Byrds, but also the Charlatans UK and the Stone Roses. If you haven’t noticed, I cannot write this review without throwing out tons of band references. Of course, sometimes when the influences are so clear and so frequent, the word “derivative” isn’t far behind—but that’s not the case here, at all. Overlord has taken some under-appreciated and somewhat disparate influences and managed to charter some new territory of their own. The only artist I can think of with a similar style might be retro-power popper Chris von Sneidern. But, like von Sneidern, overlord doesn’t merely rehash the past — they both build on it as well as milk it for everything its worth. Hey, if it sounds this good, why not? The entertaining CD booklet quotes self-help form icon Melody Beattie (of “Codependency No More” fame), Nietzsche, and comedian Stephen Colbert. Given song titles such as, “The Very Next Person That Holds My Hand Can Have Me,” my take on all of this is that Parles[sic] has worked really, really hard at getting his relationships right--not to mention finding the meaning of life. Yet sometimes, I guess, you just have go with your love for Brian Wilson, The Byrds and Morrissey, make great music, and forget about the rest." Review by Jim Cosby
UsedWigs.Com: "For years a good buddy of mine has been telling me to check out local Philly band Overlord (they've now relocated to Brooklyn), and it became an (admittedly lame) joke between us how little I knew about their music. Of course there was the typical banter that has plagued the band from the onset…"Overlord? Do they open for GWAR? Har har har…" Their latest release, Ticker Symbols, proves that this was clearly my mistake. Far, far, far from metal (a little research reveals that their name comes from a losing horse in the 1993 Kentucky Derby), the band pumps out very quirky pop/rock that on this release sounds to my ears like a mix of XTC, the Beach Boys (the good Beach Boys, not the "Kokomo" Beach Boys), and maybe a sprinkle of The Smiths in there too. Point of interest: check out "The Walking Microphone" — the vocals on the first few lines are a dead ringer for Andy Partridge. That's not to say in any way that this album sounds derivative — in fact, it sounds more like it inhabits a time and space all it's own, assumed influences aside. All of the tunes have a bit of an otherworldly quality to them, owing to interesting application of reverb to various instruments and the psychedelic pixie dust that has been sprinkled on, providing overtones of say, The Zombies circa Odessey and Oracle. But let me reiterate: this collection is a fresh and modern take on the elements that made previous pop music in this vein so endearing and powerful in the first place. Jangly guitars and brit-pop drum beats abide, toy pianos pop up on "Cruel People Don't Lie", and tunes like "Evergreen" could be forgotten gems from the British Invasion collections of the late 60's. Elsewhere, "We'll Never Get Away" sounds like Dear 23 era Posies, and "World Without Mirrors" plays with delay over top of a driving pop tune that has some hints of early Cure.The song with the best title on the album, "The Very Next Person To Hold My Hand Can Have Me" also boasts my favorite line: And everyone I've ever loved is somewhere / Loving someone else who isn't me. It's an excellent album, and one that truly reveals more to the listener with each spin. Pick this up and live with it for a while — and while you're at it, check out some of the back catalog as well — particularly the release with one of my favorite album covers of all time, 2003's The World Takes, featuring a gorgeous and highly contextual shot of the second half of a famous Trenton area bridge." - Russ Starke
Razorcake: "This Philly five-piece plays jangly '50s/ '60s pop rock reminiscent of the Beatles meeting up with Guided By Voices and running into Belle & Sebastian. Throw some Elvis and Jetenderpaul (anyone remember them?) in there and fourteen songs and thirty-five minutes later you have their album. Most of the songs are catchy, upbeat, and definitely a throwback to another era when rock and roll was simple and straight-forward. That's not to say that Overlord's style is entirely from your parents' generation; they've obviously had their share of filtering all of it through an indie pop filter in order to throw a few curves in there. I'm not real excited about this, but neither can I just say that it sucks because it's well done and well produced. However, I can't imagine too many Razorcake readers being real stoked on this." –Kurt Morris
Exclaim! (Canada): "Overlord - Ticker Symbols - (Storm Tower) - Right from the first track of Ticker Symbols, it is clear that Philadelphia’s Overlord are making no attempt to conceal their musical influences. The group’s third album is the work of unabashed Anglophones fixated with ’80s Manchester jangle and British invasion hooks. The songs are swathed in muffled lo-fi production, which provides the songs with an early shoegazer veneer, but this cannot obscure the dominant focus of the album — pop. It’s something the group are more than capable of pulling off — as on the tongue-in-cheek Smiths tribute “The Very Next Person Who Holds My Hand Can Have Me.” Singer George Pasles employs a flowery, melodramatic lyrical style, and it’s desperately hard to avoid comparing his narrative voice to that of the infamous Morrissey. But something doesn’t seem quite right as Pasles goes blue-faced trying to contort his verbose acrobatics around his songs. Utterances like “byzantine ribaldry” and “moral torques are in static equilibrium” should be used with caution at the best of times. Morrissey, meanwhile, has a distinct knack for dry wit and keen poetic instinct to make lyrics like these work for him in spite (or because) of any perceived pomposity. Pasles still has some work to do in this regard, because on Ticker Symbols, he comes across as forced and clumsy. This is a shame, because otherwise the songs on this record have a palpable capability to get lodged very firmly in people’s heads." Whuppin' by Pras Rajagopalan.
AOL Viral Videos (World Without Mirrors Video Review): "Rock, Clown, Rock. Imagine if Luis Bunuel directed a music video for an indie Brit-pop band. Oh, stop imagining and just bathe in the weirdness."
press for THE WORLD TAKES
Philadelphia City Paper (DVD Review): "Philly's own Overlord almost steals the show with the hauntingly bleak love song "Landlubber" and its equally stark single-shot, black-and-white video. In it, singer George Pasles emerges backward from the ocean, his clothes becoming ever drier as waves pull away from him and he reaches the shore. For a second, he turns to face the camera before time switches from reverse to forward and his journey into the ocean begins. Eventually his head slips beneath the water and you fear the worst. You can't do that on television." Review by Patrick Rapa.
SSMT: “No, Overlord is NOT a metal band, but they sure make some tasty pop music. A far more somber affair than its predecessor (2001's The Wonderful World of Chemistry), The World Takes is a diverse and often gorgeous collection of reverb-drenched, lo-fi pop songs. Band mastermind George Pasles, a Pennsylvania-based one-time calculus professor, has found a near-perfect balance of shoegazer rock (the Slowdive-influenced "Secrets in Pairs"), folk ("Warm Body"), Smiths-derived mope-rock ("A Boy in Name Only"), and fuzzy pop ("The Brand New Panic"). It can be said that Pasles looks to the recent past for his influences, but he is not content to straddle one artistic fence. The bevy of instrumentation and depth of emotion found on such tracks as "Landlubber" and the aforementioned "Warm Body" are worth the price of admission alone, but special mention must go the 11-minute epic "Stillbornagain". Highly recommended.” Review by Alec A. Head.
INKBLOT MAGAZINE: “...Overlord, whose brilliant album title (The World Takes -- what up Trenton!) more than compensates for their crap band name. Oh, and there's music, and it's pretty fab, a kind of powerpop Smiths whose lyrical conceits and easy tunes should shame anyone who bought into last year's alleged Morrissey comeback. Emperor Moz has no clothes, kids, Overlord nicked his robes....” Review by Jesse Fahnestock.
SPLENDID E-ZINE: “Who knew the '80s would make such a strong comeback? Before you roll your eyes at the thought of yet another new wave revival act bouncing to cheesy dance pop synthesizers, you should be aware that this isn't the aspect of '80s music Overlord most adores. Nor is it hair metal, although the band name does scream Aqua Net and spandex. Instead, Overlord worships at the alter of mope-rockers like Joy Division, The Cure and The Smiths, and you can bet all of those bands' fingerprints are smeared all over songs like "Landlubber" and "Secrets In Pairs". However, it isn't all tortured romanticism for this Philadelphia group. While it's true that you'd probably never tag Overlord head honcho George Pasles's writing as vivacious, he does demonstrate a certain knack for spare, bubbling, almost-upbeat pop. Lyrics like "So there's one / and only one / person that you will know / and if you're lucky / they'll stick around till you go" still lumber "One And Only One" with an aura of melancholy, but that doesn't stop Storm Tower from occasionally oozing sweet pop goodness. Any band that can employ a ukulele as convincingly as Overlord does on "Warm Bodies" obviously isn't concerned that all its songs can be neatly filed into a single genre. Whether it's the Beach Boys-like pop of "A Boy In Name Only" and "A Brand New Panic", "Human To The Corps"'s surf rock, or the brooding yet strangely sunny "Give It Up! Let It Go!", Pasles isn't afraid to dabble in whatever genre strikes his fancy. All of these songs seem vaguely familiar: you'll be almost certain you've heard them somewhere before, and you'll instinctively feel comfortable with them. That could likely be misinterpreted as a criticism, and it probably would be if it were aimed at any of the of uninspired leg warmer-wearing synth-pop bands currently battling for the retro throne. Maybe calling Overlord's material familiar implies that it's recycled, unoriginal and uncalled for, but that's definitely not the case. Perhaps merely telling you that you need to hear these songs is the most direct and sensible approach.” Review by Trevor Fisher.
EXCLAIM! (CANADA): " ...overlord revel in the echoed, hazy indie pop that fans of the Smiths and early ’90s British bands like Adorable based their short but memorable careers on. There is much variation to the composition of the songs, but befitting the name, there is a definite vision of how everything should come together. Opener “Room Enough” is the blueprint of the Overlord sound, and it works wonderfully, with the slight British tinge of Pasles’ voice either enchanting or providing fodder for easy derision. “Give It Up! Let It Go!” comes closest to the Murmurs-era R.E.M. and combined with evocative, “Landlubber” furthers the notion that Pasles is a bit of a music historian. Hiding behind quips and big ideas — the liner notes state that “overlord is a federally-funded reason-based initiative” and with their e-mail address “all questions answered, all answers questioned” — Overlord actually have made a wonderful, if not too deep, piece of dreamy pop goodness. Its feet are firmly in the near past, but this could also easily stand among contemporary torch-bearers like Stars. Like the epic closer, “Stillbornagain,” The World Takes may be easy to encapsulate on surface, but it is only through time that its sheer sonic delights truly come forward." Review by Chris Whibbs.
TRENTONIAN: "Faintly misleading name be damned, overlord makes quiet but arresting, jangly but sad melodies in the tradition of the Magnetic Fields, the Smiths and the Cure. The Lyrics? A little on the depressed side. But Pasles' melodies are bouncing, light and beautiful. 'It's all about ripping off the right people,' said Pasles. 'I grew up on the Beatles and Led Zeppelin. I doubt that comes across but they really are it for me.' So there you have it; overlord is well versed in modern rock classics." Show preview by Alexandra Richmond.
VILLAGE VOICE: "Voice Choices: George Pasles, a Philly hybrid of Morrissey and Stephin Merritt who strangely calls himself Overlord (and tours with a band), may well do both men justice, thanks to his dandified singing and quaint melodies alike." Show preview by Chuck Eddy.
VANITY PROJECT ZINE (UK): “...Rather than the metal band they sound like, we’re in Magnetic Fields territory with Chills-like melancholy at root. It’s a cold grind at times and seems to take a very English approach. Apparently two versions of Overlord were in operation on each US coast performing Pasles’ songs. Anyone care to form an English version?” Review by Skif.
PHILADELPHIA CITY PAPER: "On The World Takes (Storm Tower), the fifth release from Philadelphian George Pasles' one-man project, he hones to a razor's edge his brooding, 1980s-style synth pop. Pasles' ethos -- which nods to kindred spirits Morrissey and Stephin Merritt -- celebrates dark clouds, not silver linings. Even on the superficially chipper, toy-piano-enlivened "Warm Body," Pasles sings cynically, "Better here than on your own/ Better me than all alone." Dour, yes, but the hooks get under your skin." Review by Brian Howard.
CMJ NEW MUSIC MONTHLY : “Hearing overlord for the first time, you might assume the group is a latecomer to the ‘80s revival, or just aping the Magnetic Fields. But George Pasles' one-man Pennsylvania band has been turning out first-rate, '80s-style Manchester mope-rock since the mid- '90s, and it's about time the rest of the world caught up to his personal retro-revolution. overlord revels in the austere beauty of a haunting synth peppered with a four-note guitar lead and spare, driving snare hits. Every song drifts along at nearly the same misty pace while remaining ever so slightly distinct: The 10-minute-plus "Stillbornagain“ melts and slides with a backwards-masking effect that suggests a harmonium; a spry ukulele and toy vibraphone perk up "Warm Body." Yet none of it overwhelms Pasles' guttural pining, as he oozes out lines like, "The sad are wretched/ And the happy are merely wrong/ And you shift your pitch/ To match who you'll string along." While Pasles‘ lyrics may be maudlin, his melodies temper the melodrama with economic refrains that soothe and celebrate each song's dour glory. overlord reminds you that you needn't look back in shame at '80s angst. Just leave the Kohl eyeliner and dippity-do in the drawer. File Under: Mope-rock; Recommended If You Like: The Magnetic Fields, Joy Division, New Order.”