Meredith Bragg and the Terminals are (or were*) an indie folk pop band from Arlington, VA, but not in the way you think of "indie folk pop." Their songs are as quiet, melodic, honest, sincere, and sparer than much of the new bunch. Bragg is more like Elliott Smith without the biting irony and angst, or like Ben Gibbard with spare arrangements and no electronica.
Check out their myspace page, and start with the fingerpicked chords and haunting cello of the introspective Below the Storm. In Work and Winter, Bragg evokes Elliott Smith as he sings "smiling as I feel our bodies align/yours and mine/smiling as I feel our breathing align/yours and mine." When you listen to I Won't Let You Down, you'll feel as though you're in a coffeeshop as someone who sounds eerily like Ben Gibbard strums his guitar, accompanied by piano, cello, and drums, as the gathering crowd freezes into place.
The debut album, Volume 1, is available July 12th, available for pre-order now.
Meredith Bragg is embarking on a solo tour.
The CD Release Party is at the Black Cat, July 3rd.
Meredith Bragg's New York (mp3 sample) was also featured on Deep Elm's This is Indie Rock compilation. You can listen to that entire compilation here.
*According to their April 13 myspace blog entry, "We are recording an EP this week at Inner Ear Studios in Arlington, VA,...before this incarnation of Meredith Bragg and the Terminals goes bye-bye, and the band reconvenes at a later date with what will likely be a different line-up."
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