Anton Barbeau Sparks An Unexpected Return of Pop Legends The Loud Family

For immediate release

Six years after hanging up his guitar, brainiac pop genius Scott Miller has been lured back to the studio by Sacramento singer/songwriter (and Bevis Frond collaborator) Anton Barbeau for a new Loud Family album. Released this week on 125 Records, "What If It Works?" is a perfect coda to the band's five acclaimed albums of the 1990s, and the Game Theory classics that came before.

Early press reviews rave "stunning. . . excellent. . . rank[ing] right up there with these guys' finest work" (Amplifier Magazine) and "a most welcome and overdue return" (Scram Magazine).

While never a household name, Scott Miller has many famous fans. Aimee Mann gushed he's "the best songwriter out there right now," and the Magnetic Fields' Stephin Merritt praised Scott's "gloriously catchy hooks" and personally selected the Loud Family as his opening act. During the 1990s, members of the group's passionate fan base were known to travel thousands of miles to catch a show. But after "Attractive Nuisance," their final disc for Alias, the Loud Family called it quits. Their return has generated a rising buzz in the indie pop world--happily the new album meets all those expectations.

The self-produced "What If It Works," recorded in Sacramento and at Scott's Palais de Good Thing in San Mateo, features nine deliriously catchy originals from the pens of Scott Miller and Anton Barbeau, and dynamic covers of the Rolling Stones' "Rocks Off," the Zombies' "Remember You" and Cat Stevens' "I Think I See The Light."

Anton Barbeau says, "It was easier than I imagined to collaborate with Scott. I'm a bit sloppier in my approach: throw lots of mud against the wall and see if it sounds like David Bowie. If it doesn't, then scrape the mud off, make a cup of tea and start banging away at a piano. Scott is much more thoughtful and quite meticulous. He seems to conceptualize his parts before he picks up the guitar. My approach was fine for us both. I can generate ideas fairly quickly, which I'd then turn over to Scott for fine-tuning. It made for a best-of-all-worlds scenario, spontaneous rockery turned into well-crafted craftery."

And Scott adds, "It was fantastic to get back into the studio, especially with Anton, Joe, and Kenny, who really did great on this. We even have cameos from Alison and Gil. Anton and I had some pretty intense discussions on theme and I came to be carefully adhering to this lyrical concept where the first song puts across a completely dysfunctional sexuality and then the
songs progress toward "What If It Works" which is the hopeful, together, enlightened one. It was only very late in the process that I referred to this supposed pattern and realized Anton didn't know what the hell I was talking about!"

Scott and Anton plan a tour of select American cities this summer. For review copies, or to schedule an interview with Scott Miller or Anton Barbeau, contact Sue at 125 Records via email, info125@125records.com or by phone 510-558-1823. Hi-res photos available for download at http://125records.com/loudfamily.html