THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Service are an urgent, howling, earnest rock ’n’ roll band who have steadily cemented their reputation as a great live act — and bring that same brand of explosive energy to their debut album Drag Me.
Formed in the Manhattan apartment of renowned drummer Russell Simins, Service are now based in Indianapolis, home of the other two core members: Jilly Weiss (We Are Hex) and Mitch Geisinger. The band sum up their sound with the quip, “post-punk then punk again,” which reflects their smart, self-deprecating lyrics as much as the music.
Jilly is an iconic frontperson with the boastful confidence of Nick Cave or Mark E. Smith, combined with the sort of confessional sincerity of PJ Harvey. Mitch’s wild guitar manipulations recall The Birthday Party and Butthole Surfers with an array of effects that Liars would admire. At the helm from behind the kit is Simins, best known for his tenure in N.Y.C. garage-rock and blues-punk heroes Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. Simins’ uniquely hard-driving, powerful beats give Service their huge sound.
Released on Let’s Pretend Records, the album is very much a guitar record — a two-guitar assault really — but the propulsively grooving beats keep it almost danceably post-punk. Drag Me is certainly unorthodox, but has choruses that will have you yelling along, making for an audacious, swaggering rock and roll record that is about to put Service on the map.”
