Monahans (formerly Milton Mapes) CD Release Featuring Sunset (Bill Baird of Sound Team)

The Austin and San Francisco-based band Monahans began in the spring of 2006 as a new project by Milton Mapes collaborators Greg Vanderpool, Roberto Sanchez, Jim Fredley, and Britton Beisenherz. The band's first release, "Low Pining" (Undertow 6/12/07), weaves anthemic melodies in-and-out of ambient tranquility and rhythmic intensity. The songs have a distinct nautical theme, decisively apolitical, with strands of detachment, nostalgia, and spiritual longing stretched across vast sonic landscapes.

The ocean and water references weren't really a calculated motif. We actually approached the recordings by putting any preconceived structure aside to focus on rhythms, beats (in a Tom Waits/Califone vein) and soundtracks (like Explosions In The Sky) with the thought that there might not be any lyrics at all. But we were also drawn to the spirit of some of our favorite older records by U2, The Police, The Stone Roses, etc. So ultimately melodies, phrases and fragments started working their way in, and before long we had this album by which we were very invigorated.

The album also features multi-instrumentalist Chris Dye, Todd Pertll on pedal steel, and Margo Timmins, vocalist of Cowboy Junkies (with whom Milton Mapes toured in 2006).