WHAT ARE THEY SAYING ABOUT
THE AMPERSANDS?

MUSIC-NEWS.COM

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The Ampersands will remind you of the effortless genre-hopping of The Super Furry Animals, the stylish experimentation of XTC and the melodic imagination of the great 60s bands. That's a lot to ask from one track, but 'The Pigeon' accomplishes it all with considerable panache.

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Review of The Pigeon

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MOONCRUSH MUSIC

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The Ampersands, an indie band (for lack of a more applicable genre-label) do a little bit of everything in their tracks, and strike a balance such that there’s never too much of anything. These guys manage to pack so many styles and influences into a given track, from disco pop to piano ballad and back again, without losing the listener and without crowding the ears. This is especially true of their latest single, The Pigeon. The Ampersands are accessible but complex, soul-stirring but light-hearted, and after a long hiatus, they’re finally back. 

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Interview for The Pigeon & Happy to Be Here

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MONKJACK PUBLISHING

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Aaron McQuade and Jim Pace make up the easily identifiable duo known as The Ampersands and they bring a sound to music that is unlike anything else on the scene. Musically, The Ampersands are hard to define and the same goes for “The Pigeon.” At the song’s beginning, it sounds similar to Electric Light Orchestra’s “Mr. Blue Sky,” but it does not stay like that for long; it quickly evolves into something with a little more attitude sounding like something from the indie rock scene of the 2000s. After that, the song transforms into something much funkier straight from the disco scene, all while telling a story about being stuck between the future and the past.

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Review of The Pigeon

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THE DIVIDED

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Quite a blend of styles there, I didn't even know what to make of it when I first heard but the way that track flows, (it's) something unique. I don't know if I've heard a sound like that coming from anywhere in the world.

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(On-Air) Review of The Pigeon

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DIFFUSER.FM

The pounding backbeat comes in, a fuzzy guitar flails and Aaron McQuade starts his manic, melodic ramblings. What better way to package such an important message than to place it in a song that may never leave people’s heads after the first time they hear it. (Try This is) the perfect pop song?

 

Year-In-Review Best of 2012
 

PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS

Fans of brainy power-pop and bands like Fountains of Wayne or Apples in Stereo should devour the latest effort from The Ampersands. The songs on the 12-track "This Is Your Adventure Too" are excellent as Aaron McQuade and Jim Pace ensnare listeners in their musical web. There's some real potential here. 

 

Review of This Is Your Adventure Too
 

SYFFAL

If you're into no-holds-barred holy-shit-these-assholes-are-talented Fuck-I-wish-I-could-stuff-them-and-mount-them-above-my-knitting-chair I would like to recommend (The Ampersands) which looks like a drunk G: &
 

Review of This Is Your Adventure Too / Try This
 

IN FORTY

This Is Your Adventure Too is alternately manically noisy (”Try This”) and touching in its simplicity (”King Fumble”), but the exquisitely penned lyrics reveal both a keen sense of irony and a wonderfully human generosity – as well as a vocabulary that puts other bands to shame.
 

Review of This Is Your Adventure Too / Try This

BROOKLYN BASED

Like And, the music on This is Your Adventure Too contains one exquisitely crafted melodic track after another ... (while) the music from This Is Your Adventure Too is catchy on the surface, the lyrics convey a serious mood.
 

Review of This Is Your Adventure Too / Try This

Remember the Seinfeld episode where Elaine’s boyfriend tells her to be quiet because the Eagles’ “Desperado” was on the radio, and then he goes into a sort of trance? Okay I’m exaggerating, but that’s how I kind of feel when I listen to this gorgeous ballad by the duo the Ampersands. From the terrific power pop album, This Is Your Adventure Too, “Alsace Lorraine” is an amazing track not just for the melody, but also for the extraordinary lush orchestral section and the beautiful harmony singing between Aaron McQuade and his wife, Evie. This may be my favorite song of 2012.
 

Year-In-Review Best of 2012

 

AIDING & ABETTING

The Ampersands play exuberant, mannered power pop, a sound that touches on prog at the edges. These songs are about as shiny as can be, but the band's energetic performance keeps these songs from getting too plastic. The depth of sound is impressive. The full, thick production gives these songs plenty of oomph. And when the hooks finally kick in, they set immediately.

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Review of This Is Your Adventure Too

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TO ELEVEN

The powerpop duo are making my kind of music: it’s catchy, relatively happy music by a band that not only sounds like they love what they’re doing, but they are also damn good at it. It’s complex, well-performed, and cleverly-written.
 

Review of This Is Your Adventure Too

 

SNOB'S MUSIC

Whether it's alongside the fuzzy keyboard of "Try This" or slick hooks of "You", there's a near constant bounce to the songs that simply refuses to be contained.
 

Review of This Is Your Adventure Too
 

32FT/SECOND

Like the instructions of the refrain, the listener is sort of helpless in the face of the hook, drawing gravity from splashy high-hats and even a bit of cowbell. 
 

Review of This Is Your Adventure Too / Try This

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GERMAN NAPSTER

 

An "Alt-Rock Near-Miss"