Quiz Show - Flotsam
New Jersey-based indie rock trio Quiz Show presents their 'Flotsam' EP, released via Montclair, NJ-based Magic Door Record Label, following up their eponymous debut album, an electrifying collection full of protest, friendship and frustration, released in 2023 to wide acclaim.
Quiz Show is made up of Shudder To Think's Chris Matthews and bassist Jesse Krakow, together with drummer Joe Billy, who replaces the original drummer Kevin March (Guided By Voices, The Dambuilders, Shudder To Think).
These songs are the first that the current Quiz Show lineup wrote together from scratch. Each adding their instrumental work and vocals, in the process, they discovered something new and unexpected – a whole that was far more than the sum of its parts. The EP is three original songs that tell stories about living – both now and in the past. There is something melancholy about the record, but also a resonant chord of joy and perseverance.
Recorded and produced by award-winning producer Ray Ketchem (Guided By Voices, Luna, Versus, Elk City, Gramercy Arms) at his Magic Door Recording Studio, this EP was engineered by Ketchem with Brian Robbins (Blondie, Bring Me The Horizon, Papa Roach).
Found floating or washed up by the sea, 'Flotsam' represents the shattered, lost stories of people’s lives. It’s easy to ignore, but perhaps there is value in treating flotsam as a mystery to solve, a story to tell, a lost connection between past and present waiting to be discovered.
"'Super Concrete' was the name of the company my brother worked for before he passed. He was a different sort of person, mostly a source of the unexpected, and usually trouble. Many wrote him off as poorly adjusted – as flotsam – but that’s not even close. So, while he may have lived a nontraditional life working at Super Concrete, living in DC’s gay community, and making a home with his boyfriend, he created a life of beauty and purpose," explains Chris Matthews.
"'Packing ‘em' In explores how flotsam gets organized in the chaos of the sea. When we feel adrift, it’s natural to seek refuge. But what can feel like a safe harbor may really be something that uses your struggle as fuel for its own desires. Be careful when it feels like ‘no one knows but everybody knows’ at the same time, the answers people have are probably not their own creations nor for their own benefit.
"'China Glaze' is a memorial to a good friend who had an exceptionally brilliant mind. Flotsam here is the way it feels when someone leaves you to continue living without them. Musically, the song tries to reflect the slipperiness and scattered experiences that come with loss. The lyrics include my fractured, precious memories of the man who left, and learning to live well in a world without him. Good luck tomorrow!"
As of March 29, the 'Flotsam' EP will be available everywhere digitally, including Apple Music, Spotify and Bandcamp.
