Army Navy

The music of Army Navy is best described as impeccably crafted melody over blankets of guitar fuzz that creates a delicate balance between melancholy and joyful resignation. The band looks to groups from the past like Teenage Fanclub, The Smiths, The Posies and The Libertines for inspiration, while keeping a firm eye on the future.

Aided in the studio by producer Adam Lasus whose previous credits include Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Helium, and Yo La Tengo, the band is setting to eschew the major label process and release its eponymous debut in the US under its own label, The Fever Zone, October 14, 2008.

Army Navy was born in the bedroom of frontman Justin Kennedy. After parting ways with Seattle band Pinwheel where he shared frontman duties with Ben Gibbard (who would later go on to form Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service), Kennedy moved to Los Angeles and focused all of his energies on his new project. His demos quickly spread through LA’s creative community and ended up in the hands of bassist Benjamin Gaffin. Gaffin, who was from the Oregon Coast and had played in a handful of indie rock bands before relocating to LA to focus on his music career, immediately fell in love with the music. He passed the songs on to composer and solo artist Louie Schultz. Schultz was instantly hooked, and with the addition of mutual friend and drummer Josh Zetumer, Army Navy left the bedroom and moved to the clubs of Los Angeles.

When drummer Zetumer’s fledgling screenwriting career began to take off, he was forced to part ways with the group. Drummerless, but with producer Lasus on hold to record their first full length, the band asked the legendary Pete Thomas of Elvis Costello and The Attractions fame to drum on the record. Thomas, a friend and longtime supporter of the band, agreed to take on the project and the boys went to work on recording their debut.

Knowing that Pete was a temporary replacement, the band continued to seek a permanent drummer. Enter Douglas Randall, a native of St. Louis who transplanted to LA after his former band Greenwheel parted ways with Island Def Jam and disbanded. Randall had just split from his latest project when he discovered that Army Navy was looking for a fourth member. It was love at first listen, and the current lineup of Army Navy was born.

With a firm lineup, an explosive live show, and a fair smattering of internet and magazine press, the band is beginning to attract a steady following in their adopted hometown of Los Angeles. They’ve shared the stage with such acts as The Arctic Monkeys, Wolfmother, and Teenage Fanclub. The band has recorded an exclusive song to be on the soundtrack of the new Michael Cera movie, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, which will be released this fall. The band’s advice to fans of indie pop everywhere can be echoed by a review in Pitchfork, which urges people to “catch a whiff of Army Navy’s sweet jangle.”