Former members: Ben Dover, Chris McKinney, Jeff Miller
Influences
Gavin: HUM, Chavez, Sunny Day Real Estate, Jawbox, Smashing Pumpkins, David Bowie, At The Drive-In, ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, The Afghan Whigs, Mogwai
Kate: Failure, Sparklehorse, Stone Temple Pilots, Joy Division, The Police, Foo Fighters, Blur, Rival Schools, Claude Debussy, Burt Bacharach
Gabe: Jeff Buckley, the Smiths, the Jealous Sound, Built to Spill, the Dismemberment Plan, Modest Mouse, Elliott Smith, Catherine Wheel, Elvis Costello
Ashraf: World of Warcraft
Sounds Like
Post hardcore sneaks up behind powerpop with a piece of piano wire.
The Alphabetical Order was a DC post-punk quartet from 2004 to 2008. Below is its old bio:
"I Am Magically Happening!", the first full-length from Washington, DC's post-punk quartet The Alphabetical Order shows a great deal of DC indie influence, with hints of Fugazi and Jawbox skating across the soundscape. The album is raw and the songwriting employs ambitious tactics—odd time signatures, unexpected key changes, and non-traditional structure are littered across the 10 tracks. Still, the Order's love of hooks cannot be muted—"Submarines" boasts a sing-along chorus with brilliant harmonies and the anthemic "Shot From Cannons" gets heads nodding with its thundering cadence. Beyond the music, however, "I Am Magically Happening!" is a treatise on the nature and formation of identity and how the definition of self is distorted in a relationship. In support of the album, The Alphabetical Order has journeyed up and down the east coast, earning praise regionally and nationally.
"Were 'I Am Magically Happening!' recorded by J. Robbins, Ted Nicely, or Ian McKaye with Don Zientara at Inner Ear and released on Dischord, it would be instantly hailed as a great post-punk indie rock burner.... It's got urgent, tightwound post-punk guitars, ultra-rhythmic, propulsive bass and drums, Gavin Dunaway's forceful, highly enunciated vocals, and tunes. Not surprisingly, this reviewer digs it, and hopes that its lack of affiliation with the above won't prevent it from wider recognition."—Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover
"'I Am Magically Happening!' is full of twists, turns, and F-1 chicanes as not-too-common time signatures find themselves employed with massively entertaining choruses and memorable hooks. Impressive guitar solos are the secret weapon behind an infantry of lock-step beats. A little less feedback than typical post-punk, a little more color and flavor than typical post-hardcore, The Alphabetical Order have given us a clever debut LP which is fantastically catchy, awesomely rocking, and rarely misses a step."—Barrett King, Any Given Tuesday
"['I Am Magically Happening!'] is like a post punk / college rock explosion full of songs that take a while to get used to listening. The melodies jump around and it's impossible to casually listen to their songs. The Alphabetical Order demands your attention and they assault your ears to get it."—Grog Mutant, The Chickenfish Speaks
Highlights:
"I Am Magically Happening!" ranked in top 10 DC albums of 2007 by OnTap Magazine
"Submarines" awarded Track of the Day at Garageband.com, July 7, 2007
The Alphabetical Order nominated for "Best Modern Rock Duo/Group" in 2006 by the Washington Area Music Association
"Krakow Krakow" ranked in top 25 MP3s of 2006 at Indie-Music.com
Regional finals of the 2005 Emergenza Music Festival
Invited to play the concert series at Ft. Reno in Washington, DC; the Dewey Beach Popfest; Midem Music Festival; MEANY Fest; the Millennium Music Conference; and countless benefit concerts at DC-area high schools, colleges, and churches.
Stream all of "I Am Magically Happening" as well as your favorite older Order tunes at Garageband.com. You can even give us a good review...
Indie-Music.com ranked "Krakow Krakow" as one of its top 25 mp3s of 2006. You can also download high-quality versions of the I Am Magically Happening sampler at The Alphabetical Order's Indie-Music.com page.
You know, the whole last show on May 17th, which just so happens to also be my birthday, has left me completely traumatized and depressed since I could not go...
TONIGHT (MONDAY MAY 19TH) A VERY RARE OPPORTUNITY TO SEE MY BAND LEFT OF AVALON (see www.myspace.com/leftofavalon) PERFORM AN ALL ACOUSTIC 'UNPLUGGED' SHOW AT THE GALAXY HUT WITH FLO ANITO AND JOSHUA JESTY. THE SHOW IS ONLY $5 AND DOORS OPEN AT 8PM ET. WE GO ON FIRST AT 9PM...GET THERE EARLY...DON'T MISS THIS RARE ACOUSTIC SET (NO EARPLUGS REQUIRED). THE GALAXY HUT IS LOCATED AT 2711 WILSON BLVD ARLINGTON, VA 22201 AND IS EASILY METRO/CAB/CAR/WALK ACCESSIBLE. I HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL THERE...EARLY, CLOSE, CHEAP AND EASY...WHAT MORE DO YOU ALL WANT...A RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRUBBER BISCUIT!?!?!
I'm sad to know that the order is in disorder. Maybe now you'll have time for some open mic night action on Thursday nights at Firehouse Grill starting on May 15th. I had to spell it out since you disable HTML codes like it'll touch your page in the naughty place. :-P
cool dude glad you liked our set! u still in town? wish we could catch your show at iota! we'll be passin through just a couple days later on our way down south, maybe we can meet up and chill!
