Gods of Convenience by The Invincible Czars

The Invincible Czars gained a great deal of attention during the winter of 2004 when they premiered their modernized version of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite arranged for rock instruments.

The band released its first true studio CD "Gods of Convenience" in July 2005. This recording finally closed the book on many of their earliest composition and songs and is very much a "best of" documentation of the band's 3 year existence. "Gods" also debuted 3 new tunes: pop spoof "Richman", a rock arrangement of the Klezmer khosidl "A Glezele Vayn" (which was chosen for the soundtrack of the documentary film Swordplay by Eric Power) and the title track "Gods of Convenience".

A Brief History:

The Invincible Czars began as a horn/guitar outfit in April of 2002 when trumpetist Rick Redman met guitarist Josh Robins. Josh had an enormous catalog of material that simply needed a band to perform it and some arranging. They began with the idea of making spooky, instrumental music and would require that all members be able to read music. Early line-ups featured pump organ and accordion which didn't exactly endear the band to Austin's Red River rock club scene. Still they persevered, mixing a wacky polka-rock style with covers of movie theme songs, jazz/latin standards and even some Van Halen. The band recorded and released various demos during this long growth period. Weekend trips to various regional destinations followed, culminating in a tour of the west in August 2004.

The standing line-up played its debut show in October 2004 at the Caucus Club in Austin and surprised everyone in attendance with their newfound power and the surprising presence of vocals... including themselves. This performance marked the realization of the sound that Josh and Rick had in mind when the band began. They experienced nearly seasonal turn-over in the first 2.5 years but holding out for good players paid off over time. Bassist Adam Kahan had joined the group May 2003 after a messy split of the original line-up. Keyboardist Willie Poland enlisted a mere 2 weeks before the band's western tour (and only days after the group fired its second accordionist) in July 2004. The Czars returned from that tour drummerless and enlisted Tommy Holton to sit on the Drum Throne of the Czars in September 2004.

Since the debut, the band has worked hard to erase their image as a novelty act and re-invent their material to become one of Austin's premier weird rock groups. The Austin-American Statesman's Joe Gross called them "The Official Opening Act for Anything Weird Happening at Emo's". KUT 90.5 FM's John Aielli has called the band one of his favorites in town deeming them "weird and wonderful" at their last appearance on the program. The San Antonio Express-News and Ft. Worth Star-Telegram both praised and recommended the Invincible Czars' version of "The Nutcracker Suite" and the band sold out its performance of the work in Austin. The band played to its biggest audiences in Spring 2005 with heroes NoMeansNo and Japanese spazz-rockers Melt Banana and then packed Austin staple The Hole in the Wall with their CD release show in July.

The Invincible Czars completed their first mid-western tour in August 2005. They returned to Austin and debuted their second and third classical rearrangements for Halloween: Mussorgsky's "A Night on Bald Mountain" and Schubert's "Erlkonig" as well as their metal medley "Hallowed Be Thy Ween" in Houston, Ft. Worth and Austin. They will re-release their "Nutcracker Suite" CD-R in December with new and improved studio demo versions of each piece.

WEB SITE - www.invincibleczars.com

PRESS - www.invincibleczars.com/EPK.pdf

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