Press Check us out on www.charlottelivemusic.com We were just named Best New Local Band by Creative Loafing Readers! It may have taken FNOE founder Wes Grasty some time to get another band together after his former, Laburnum, split. But as the saying goes, some things are worth the wait. - Creative Loafing "First Night On Earth, on No One Knows Anything For Sure (Liquilab), spotlights the expressive vocals of Wes Grasty (ex-Laburnum) while deploying a high-drama stealth arsenal of arpeggiated U2ish riffs, sonorous keys, restless percussion and tingly female backing vox. It's all wrapped up, womb-like, in the richest and most luscious wooly post-shoegaze atmospherics." - Fred Mills, Magnet Magazine, Issue #53 Ex-Laburnum frontman Wes Grasty developed a shimmery dream pop sound with First Night on Earth, deviating far enough from My Bloody Valentine and Lush for a unique sound of their own. Their debut album, No One Knows Anything for Sure, swirls around atmospheric loops, hazy guitar work, and crashing percussion waves, but it's Grasty's low, boyish vocals that make First Night on Earth's sound bit a different from their influences. Vocalist Tina Cargill is a nice addition, particularly on the cascading trip "Subside." "Misunderstood" is dark in subtle electronics while echoing Joy Division-like appeal, and "A Good Reason" plays around with jazz threads. No One Knows Anything for Sure is an honest, ambitious effort for First Night on Earth and definitive of what's musically affected Grasty. He knows what lies ahead. - MacKenzie Wilson, All Music Guide "Brit Pop has found another American incarnation in the group First Night on Earth. This five piece hails from Charlotte, NC with a dizzying, dreamy sound. Lead singer and founder, Wes Grasty, assembled the group two years ago with his vision of hazy yet melodic tunes. Grasty is formerly known for his work with Laburnum, though his newest effort with FNOE would not be still in past shadows. The album, entitled No One Knows Anything For Sure, is refreshing, tender and otherworldly. Overall the recording is a combination of shoegazer guitar-wash, trip hop, and Emo/Indie vocals. The vocal melody is always clearly heard while bubbling keyboards and synth noise (care of Tina Cargill) blur the tracks. Grasty's voice gently anchors each sonic web with innocent, waverly charm. And Cargill interjects with angelic harmonies. Bassist, Chris London infuses an active and interesting countermelody and drummer Vance Carlisle provides a complimentary rhythm while inciting FNOE's sense of drama. Stephen Yount makes his guitar echo with shimmering tenderness, taking care to unfold the nature of every song. This debut is a worthy reflection of a dedicated and artful band. And though they posses many popular elements of our day, FNOE transform them into their own sincere sound." - Monica Arrington, Southeast Performer Magazine - "It’s always a pleasant treat to turn on a record with an instant psychedelic bombardment of sound. Such is the case with First Night On Earth’s debut record and their opening track "Misunderstood." There’s no misunderstanding the British influences that this North Carolina band obviously include in their sound. The instrumental mix is excellent. A brilliant wall of sound is produced without being too overly pretentious. Lead singer Wes Grasty has a clear, enunciated and melodic voice...highlights of the album are the sweet backing vocals of Tina Cargill and the uniquely mixed electronica and drum loops." - Andrew Cohen, Chart Magazine (Canada) - "This LP bears the stamp of a band that did its darndest to make a $250,000 album for about two grand. Read that as criticism if you like, but you can also recognize this dreamy little record as the labor of love it is. "The Other Knowers" suggests an affinity for Spiritualized (big shoes to fill in terms of production and grandiose studio wizardry). On tracks such as "Misunderstood" and "The Thrill," guitarist Stephen Yount borrows tones and drony melodicism from U2's October and The Cocteau Twins' Blue Bell Knoll. . . While there¹s plenty of self-searching to endear the band to the emo and shoegazer types, "The Thrill," "Someday," and "A Good Reason" offer hopeful glimpses of possibilities and new beginnings." -The Big Takeover - "First Night on Earth could easily be tabbed as being from the U.K. thanks to the Manchester via London posture on No One Knows Anything for Sure. Surprise: the band is from Charlotte, N.C. Led by former Ole Laburnum tunesmith Wes Grasty, FNOE may herald a full-blown 1980's revival anyway. Grasty's fat-free baritone is evocative of Morrissey, David Byrne, and Gary Numan as he leads a frisky vintage/modern rock posse through an intriguing set of soundscapes congruous to the time-honored Psychedelic Furs and Cure's cannon of minor-key musings. Though Grasty ruminates over the apparitions of human relationships and the fragile state of his psyche with linear melodies, keyboard whiz Tina Cargill's angelic harmonies and guitarist Stephen Yount's counterpoint exude a warm and fuzzy feeling. The occasional loops and techno beats meld with bassist Chris London's pedal tones and Vance Carlisle's double-time drumming to the point where it is hard to discern where the machines end and the humans begin." Tom Semioli, Amplifier Magazine - "...all soothing vocalisations and that familiar spilling guitar that makes the mind leap back a decade and think, ah, Slowdive. But fortunately in this writer’s book that counts as a good thing. Lovely." Luke Turner, theStereoEffect.com - "Formed by Wes Grasty, this five-piece band from North Carolina has a sound that is similar at times to some British guitar groups from the 1980’s. This gives First Night On Earth an edge over other upcoming American bands, as this is the sort of sound that is quite unique these days to which a lot of bands, if they tried, would otherwise fail to reproduce. With a pulsing bass and a hypnotic echo guitar sound, this album would at times make you want to drift away. ... excellent guitar work from Stephen Yount mixed with atmospheric sound effects and haunting backing vocals from Tina Cargill. ...what First Night On Earth has started should stir up some interest to see where they will next take themselves. Let’s hope there will be a second night on earth." 4 out of 6 stars EDF © 2002 PHASE9 ENTERTAINMENT “The rich, low, booming bass keeping steady heartbeat-time; the echoey, chiming, reverb saturated guitar ringing like heaven's bells; the percussion's thunder & crash; the loftly, distant vocals carrying dreamy imagery. That's the sound of First Night on Earth, a 5-piece band from Charlotte, NC. Yeah, you can call it "shoegaze," replete with easy comparisons to Slowdive, Breathless, Mellonova, Chapterhouse... FNOE has a solid, forward-driving style in their songs - they don't just float around in space like a lot of spacerock/dream pop. You might recall the vocals of Wes Grasty, ex- of Laburnum. All clean." Bob Weyersberg, Triage Music Intl. "A uniformly tight five-piece...a nimble exercise in Brit-flavored dream pop augmented by keen melodies and well-timed dabs of electronica." Melanie McGee, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) "Ole Laburnum lead singer Wes Grasty has been recording and shaping the debut of FNOE, No One Knows Anything For Sure (LiquiLab Records), and has come up with (alright, here goes the name dropping) a Spiritualized influenced record of moody, droney rock. Brit-pop has been Grasty’s obvious leaning since the old days and this fine new record and band expand on that thought more so. Bloody cool.” "Watery, electronic treatments mixed with guitar manipulations and tasteful vocals make up the sound of FNOE. Long running rocker Wes Grasty has assembled a musically mature outfit that's ready for the long haul with layers of ethereal tuneage on their debut record. The first few notes permeate your brain and trigger an evening long slo-mo head swaying." Samir Shukla, Creative Loafing "Gorgeous, shimmering songs that meander between retro electronic and simple, minimalist pop. The production makes these well-penned songs glisten. A joy to hear." Aiding and Abetting "The music has a hefty brit-pop influence. The electric guitars are so drenched with effects and delay that they barely even sound like guitars anymore. The result is a dreamy, almost psychedelic wall of beautiful noise. Add in spacey keyboards, the perfect blend of real and synthetic percussion, and a driving bass line to hold it all together and you have a winner. The vocals are American indie-rock: sensitive, enunciated, and delivered by a singer who knows exactly when and when not to sound serious. These are often accompanied by pretty female backing vocals from a woman who sounds like the genetic clone of Julie from defunct Canadian favorite, Eric’s Trip. The songs have pop hooks that will embed deep into your brain. The writing and arrangement are top-notch. All this is followed through with stunning production, resulting in very little to complain about here. If I did have to complain about something, it would be the inclusion of the painfully rambling liner notes (just print the lyrics next time). My favorite song (though all of them are good) would probably be “The Thrill,” simply due to the “Nothing’s wrong with my heart...” part. You can’t understand its shimmering beauty unless you hear it for yourself. I highly recommend this album, and am proud to live in the same town as this band. Pretend it’s the last night on earth and listen to this CD while you still can." Jason Erb, leftoffthedial.com "First Night on Earth has a knack for writing old school shoegazer tunes with catchy rhtymic hooks and deep walls of swirling guitar sound. Now, i really like this sort of stuff, and to me they do it very well. Other shoegazers i have chatted with on the Internet also seem to think that First Night on Earth do this stuff well, so that's something. It is, really, the guitarwork that draws me to this album. And there are several wonderful moments. My favorite is the song Subside. Rich and fuzzy chorused guitars are combined with dueling vocals from Grastly, Grastly, and Cargill. What i mean is, he and she sing, but he is also layered underneath. It adds some more depth to this tune, and combines really well with the guitarwork. The dueling voices of Cargill and Grastly also stand out on The Other Knowers. Here, she sings a counter-melody to his voice, while keys and guitars chime. Its a light delicate tune that builds to a frenzy of guitar. In general First Night on Earth's songs follow the slow-building guitar noise style of the shoegazer genre. They do it well, and combined with the dueling male-female vocals, i am reminded of Slowdive. Not specifically mind you, just in a vague sort of way. Which is to say that although i recognize many of the influences that went into this album, it still comes out sounding fresh." Post Libyan, Evilsponge.org "This North Carolina band have a deep abiding love of 1980s British pop, but they blossom into a melodic variation on shoegazing loveliness, with references to Cocteau Twins and Slowdive. Boy and girl vocals, small and warm in a cold world, emanating light and warmth through a waterfall of sorrow and cool delight. Soaring sad and beautiful in a spacious propulsive atmospheric headrush of weightlessness, euphoria and gravity; playing their games with guitars, bass, drums and keyboards. Dream pop stretching a low budget production into something truly grand. Lofty cloudlike, and at the same time muscular and energized." George Parsons, Dream Magazine #3 "An honest effort, ten songs from this Charlotte, North Carolina group which seeks to dissemble moody modern rock and re-calibrate many of its electronic elements back towards the heart. Wes Grasty, formerly of the band Laburnum, may be the strength behind First Night on Earth with the veracity of his melodies comg through clearly on No One suggesting a fairness in dealing with everyday figures and symbols. But the band’s line-up also includes Stephen Yount (guitar), Chris London (bass), Vance Carlisle (drums) and Tina Cargill (keyboards) and its these talented musicians who help create an overall tone along the lines of Tobin Sprout jamming with Spiritualized while adding in a bit of a drone pop influence. Simple chord changes along with just the right amount of experimentation make this “labor of love” recorded at mainly Scrimshaw Studios surprisingly strong track-to-track and rarely vacillating in mood . . . So we may well be awed by the extraordinary unity of plastic and poetic elements that went into its making the record and may measure the distance separating it from the that literary symbolism to which critics periodically attempt to reduce it. First Night on Earth stands for something more than an abstract arrangement of colors and forms. Underlying the band is a hidden meaning, or better, an esoteric one." -Justlikehoney.net “Musically, the band’s tight as hell, playing most of their CD without any noticeable drop-off, no easy feat due to the forward-thinking electronic experimentation the disc showcases. All in all...a pretty good first night on earth...” Tim Davis, Creative Loafing, December 5, 2001