THURSTON MOORE
"The Entrance Band's new music is the most alluring and, yes, entrancing vibe I've yet to experience in this new age. A soundtrack for the new groove"

LA TIMES
"Their music creates the feeling that something fresh and powerful is afoot. A potent mix of
political mindedness -- including a few conspiracy theories -- and musical virtuosity,
their songs throb and wail and strive to open minds.”

WASHINGTON POST
"The Entrance Band plays apocalyptic psych-rock that is so good it will make you welcome
the end days with open arms, as the guitars menacingly swirl in the background and the
drums echo the sound of the four horsemen."

THE FADER
"Some dudes play guitar solos, Guy Blakeslee shreds. In The Entrance Band,
along with Paz Lenchantin and Derek James, he’s reined it all in, harnessed the guitar
magic to ridiculously tight drums and bass and turned the whole thing into much more of
a group effort. Who knew we’d be able to dance to half of this album and imagine taking
acid to the other half?"

THE STRANGER (Seattle)
"The Entrance Band play tempestuous psych-blues songs that often tilt toward the epic.
Blakeslee's serpentine riffing and fists-shaking-to-the-heavens vocals attest to rock's
reputed redemptive power."

RCRDLBL
"Listening to their music is like sojourning into a cactus field at midnight with nothing
but a jug of wine and some Gun Club records."

BALTIMORE CITY PAPER
"The Entrance Band, has honed itself into a rock-solid, mass-appeal beast that could shake
the White Stripes from their throne. "M.L.K." is both breathtaking and soul satisfying in
its massive, alluring riffs (every song has a thick, ringing riff for, like, every day of
the week); simple, reverbed-out vocal hooks; and crystal clear populist message:
"Hey, there's a reason I sing/'cause I want to hear freedom ring/ and I'll remind you all
of one more thing, remember Martin Luther King." The cloud-scraping chorus hook of
"That Is Why" could tame a lion; "Sing for the One" chugs along in a grubby stoner-rock
roil; "Hourglass" sounds like it could fucking own an arena, complete with Jumbotron shots
of Blakeslee shredding like some newly anointed high priest of rockdom.
Basically: watch out."

L.A. RECORD
“Headlining that night was The Entrance Band. Not missing a beat, their set seemed to
explode from the moment the members took the stage, with a fierce combination of
psychedelic, blues, and rock. It almost feels like a Martian attack on your soul,
especially as Guy Blakeslee’s vocals reach their coda-like watching the sky opens up
for the birth and death of an actual star accompanied by his beyond stellar,
words fail me, wicked-sounding guitar, giving proper due to Steve Vai and Zappa for
us youngins. Bassist Paz Lenchantin’s thunderous sonic mind fuck comes via a much
needed catharsis by her instrument. She maintains the same amount of attention as the
rest of the heavy elements, while the orchestration still makes you feel cleansed and
free. Please do yourself a favor this summer and get lost in this bands mystique.”

If there was a rainbow-bridge/time warp between the Los Angeles of the 1970's and the present day, Matt Popieluch's band Big Search would be its resident players, carrying the banner of Harry Nilsson, Randy Newman, and Lindsey Buckingham into the 21st century. Best known as the singer of Foreign Born, and former part-time guitarist in bands Fool's Gold, Glasser, Papercuts and most recently Taken By Trees, Popieluch is now releasing his music under the Big Search name.
Big Search is more like a secret society than a band - a scrappy incarnation of an Elk's Lodge club with members stretching far and wide. Each instrumental specialist temporarily abandoning their posts at various jobs or homes to join Popieluch in playing his new songs. He is known to have an exhausting, but rewarding turnover rate. The band membership varies according to Popieluch's location. If his preferred four or five piece band is not available, he appears by himself or in a duo. Sometimes, in Scandinavia, he plays with Scandinavians as they are quick learners and know the terrain. That being said, he has yet to play with Canadians in Canada (but is open to the idea).

Since the demise of Foreign Born in late 2010, Big Search has released a collection of home recordings on Secretly Canadian's St. Ives label called Lay of the Land and the Middle Man/Getting Warm 7" on White Iris Records. In the Fall of 2011, he returned to his former city of San Francisco to record the new single "Distant Shore" with Jason Quever of Papercuts. The two friends spent a weekend on the song at Quever's home studio and their collaboration is something to behold. Popieluch carries the lead melody in falsetto, surrounded by his lower voices in harmony while soft drums and synthesizers carry them along. The song speaks to the abyss we all sometimes feel between ourselves and the outside world and of how challenging it can be to cross. B-side "Lost Coming Down" was a song Matt recorded with Foreign Born for 2009's Person To Person album, but is only now seeing the light of day. Lewis Pesacov's tropical guitar lines and hypnotic production help give the song it's drifting "haunted island" mentality.
In the meantime, Big Search has toured the US with Vetiver, Taken By Trees and Jens Lekman, while continuing to work on a steady stream of new songs to play for the unsuspecting. While Popieluch does take certain musical advice from the past, he maintains his gaze on an intuitive horizon, following the course as it is revealed to him. Big Search's music is intended to be raw, unhidden and up for interpretation. He does not like to bury his recordings or performances in effects, preferring to rely on the strength of the song and its delivery, imperfections included.

Intense girl-garage-noise-pop from SF. "San Francisco-based gritty dream-pop act Lilac has been hitting venues in the Bay Area hard lately and having seen the evolution of this trio from their very first show, their attack has increased in intensity ten fold." --7x7's "Jam's We Love"