No Filler Music Podcast - Niche-less Indie Rock: The Music Of Ambulance LTD

Episode Date: January 31, 2022

We're taking a break from the dream pop resurgence of the 2010s to reminisce over one of Quentin's favorite indie rock records from our high school years: Ambulance LTD's "LP" from 2004. With a frontman in constant struggle to keep his band together, and a bankrupt record label preventing him from releasing new material, Marcus Congleton's Ambulance LTD was rather short-lived. Though they may not have had enough time to evolve their sound and bring it to maturity, a band that once said "their niche is not sticking to any particular niche" somehow managed to release one of the better guitar pop records from 2004; a true gem in the era of cookie cutter indie pop. Tracklist: Primitive (The Way I Treat You) Ophelia Sugar Pill Sugar Pill (demo version) Stay Tuned Drug Cabin - Steely Dad Visit tiestatea.com and use promo code NOFILLER15 for 15% off at checkout. This show is part of the Pantheon Podcast network. Pantheon is a proud partner of AKG by Harman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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And today, we're jumping all the way back to 2004. And we're going to cover an album by a little band. called Ambulance LTD called LP. So taking a little break from the 2010s to revisit an album that I hold very dear to my heart, dude. This song was on heavy repeat in 0.405. We were sophomores, juniors, juniors in high school. This was it for me, dude. I was all over this album.

Yeah, this is one of those records that, like, there's just something about, these songs that like made it stand out you know like it it feels like a gym like it feels like this is a record that we're going to be by gym i mean like a hidden gym right yeah it feels like this is going to be and maybe i'm wrong but like i i feel like this is going to be an introduction for a lot of people tuning in i hope so i don't think i've ever ran across anybody who's familiar with this group not that i it's not like i'm talking about them all the time but like i've name dropped them. Well, they were a very, they were a very short-lived band, and I was looking into this today. So, um, the, the main guy behind the band, and he's actually not even a founding member, his name's

Marcus Congleton. And he joined the group, which was actually founded by two dudes, Michael and David. I'm not, not even messing with last names today, dude. Um, they founded the group back in 2000 and Marcus joined and continued on with the name of the band and the ideas like I guess the sound that they started with completely different members

so Michael and David were just like we're out I don't know like I don't know what the circumstances are but they left and they're like you can have the name we don't care which is interesting so Marcus continues on the band brings in new members and then they released a couple tiny EPs

then dropped this debut album, which is called LP, in 2004, not shortly after that, the rest of the members left. And he was once again all by himself. So made it very hard for him to continue to write and release music the way he was hoping to in ambulance LTD. So that's a quick and dirty rundown of possibly why they didn't last as long as they could have because yeah there is something about this album and honestly so let's just get this out there right now dude this one we're pulling out of our ass you know it's been a while since we've done that

but i mean well you know cue we got a lot we got a lot going on our personal lives right now cue we do somebody is going to be a daddy oh dude we're just how we're dropping it sure yes that's me i'm going to be a daddy quentin uh sent me a little um what does it call you the picture of your baby sonogram? Sonogram. Triff. Q sent me a sonogram the other day.

Said, check this out. And it was, you know what? It was a little more ceremonious than that. It was, sure. But anyway. Yes, the news is out.

We've shared it with the rest of the family. We're super excited, dude. And I'm on track to finish school by May if I bust ass. Because I'm at a college that is, you know, take it at your own pace, competency based. So I make my own.

schedule and I'm like well I'm gonna finish it in May and that'll give me a few months of time between school and I also got a job. Are we just sharing all this with our with our pod fam trap? Just so much stuff going on. Yeah. So I got a job that's waiting for me when I graduate. Yeah dude. It's like the cards, you know, you just got a nice deck. What do they call it? Did I say you just got dealt a nice hand. There you go. There we go. Yeah. It feels good, dude. I haven't I haven't been dealt a nice end in a while. So, yeah, dude. Well, on my front, I'm getting prepared for a nice, lengthy road trip.

That's right. That happens next week. So we'll see about what next week's show is going to look like. But, well, I guess I'll be in Arizona when this episode drops. But anyway, one thing that every music lover has to do when they prepare for a long road trip is get that playlist in order, you know. So that's what I've been doing. Nice. You know, you got to get that curated playlist for the road.

You know what you should do is hit shuffle on our old Whatcherard playlist. It's not a bad idea. Yeah. So last week, we had our first What You Heard episode of the year. That's an episode that we do once a month where we bring music to the table, just songs we've been listening to in between recordings. And we have a massive What You Heard playlist with every single song that we've played on this podcast as a Whatcher Heard.

I mean, I don't even know how many hours. dude, this playlist is clocking in it right now, but 19 hours, man, nearly 20 hours, actually, of music. Dude, that's about the length of driving that I'll be doing. There you go, at least one way. Give it a shuffle. There you go. So, yeah, you can find that playlist on Spotify.

So anyway, needless to say, you know, like you said, Q, we're pulling this, pulling this out of our asses. We like to say sometimes, but that doesn't mean the tunes won't be a, uh, Plenty. That's right. And the, yeah, who cares what we have to say or how prepared we are? We're here to listen to music, you know. Totally. So, you know, I seem to remember, and it may have been pitchfork. So, you know, take this with a grand assault because pitchfork back in the early O's were pretty brutal, I feel like. But I don't remember this album getting too much love. I'm surprised it even made it on the radar of pitchfork, honestly. Yeah, yeah. Well, we all heard the clip coming in our intro was one of the singles on the album. It's called primitive parentheses, the way I treat you. That had like a, I don't know, man. How would you describe that intro like riff, you know, and the little jangly piano bit?

Like, how would you describe their sound? Because that was one of the, one of the criticisms was that they're kind of all over the place. Yeah, I mean, I can, you know, like this was around the time that the quiet is the new loud kind of folk indie bands, you know, where they crank the distortion down. Yeah. And so like this, I feel like they kind of fall into that vein of like those more light indie rock bands, if you will. Yeah, you could throw them in the mix with like Peter, Bjorn, and John at Pompeii. Yeah, that's where I've always grouped them in my mind. But like as far as that song that played us in, like it's almost got like a, I don't know, dude, like that little piano, that little jangly, jangly piano is kind of like a, like a, how did they describe them?

Just indie rock. Okay, well, here's how they describe them themselves. And now I'm pulling everything from Wikipedia today. Okay. So, sir, the band has said that their niche is not sticking to any particular niche. Okay. I mean... And that they do not want to be stuck in any subgenre of rock.

That's fine. I think that's a bit of a cop out of me. Yeah, but see, because what I was going to say is like, you know, a lot of bands for their first EP, LP, or whatever, you know, it might take a group, a couple of tries to figure out their sound. That, to me is what's happening with these guys. And maybe they just never, they never got to really iron it all out and figure it out. You know what I mean? No, they didn't... Marcus couldn't keep the...

bands together, right? Right. He lost members immediately. The founding members of the band were like, sorry, we're out. And then right after this LP comes out, other members of the band that he, when he regrouped with new members, also left. So these guys were just weren't even, you know, it didn't even get off the ground really. Right. Exactly. Now, before we play our first song, and I know we're kind of all over the place today, but I've thought this was funny, dude. And I don't know where this, let's see, the, okay, I think this is coming from NME. You know, sometimes it's hard to tell what lines are coming from where in Wikipedia, but it says here, the band mixes the genres of dream pop, nope, indie rock, sure, and the British

shoegaze movement of the late 80s and 90s. No, sir. Yeah, I, I don't know where that came from. Neither flavor of shoegaze. No, not dream pop, not proper shoegaze. I'm not hearing a lick of that with this album. I agree with that. Yeah. I don't hear it. Not at all. I mean, really. I mean, is there at least, like, is there one song maybe where it kind of flirts with Shoegays? Because other than that, like, maybe I've got one in mind that, that maybe we could say it. His voice isn't, isn't Shuegazy. No. We know, we know a thing to you about Shuegays Q. That's a, that's a, that's a term you're going to hear every week on this podcast. Week. Yeah, we can't, we can't escape it. All right, well, let's Let's jump into some picks.

I'm playing my favorites from the record that are not singles. And, I mean, let's just point out again, dude. This album was very special to me in my high school years. Got me through a breakup, dude. Got me through a breakup. I was playing it on the heavy shortly after, I think, my second proper girlfriend, dude. And by proper, I mean, lasting more than like a week, dumped me. dumped me, man, for another dude.

That happens to the best of us, Q. Especially in high school. Yeah, and I found solace in this record. So, all right, here we go. We're going to jump to track five. This song is called Aphilia. That's the song that I always remember, that I always think back to.

Whenever I think about this band, that's the song that I hear in my head. I love that song, man. Here's the thing, like, these guys are, solid, man. As far as like, musically, everything about it is like, is, is pretty damn perfect, right?

As far as like, uh, just how, how these guys sound together when they make music. So it's unfortunate that they, they bailed. It's a, yeah, it's a damn shame. Because they had a good, a good thing going, you know? They did. And it makes you wonder why they left, you know?

Like, maybe Marcus is, it's hard to work with. Yeah. Maybe the guy's an asshole, you know? Yeah. It's very possible. But yeah, it is a bummer because they've got a, a really great sound. And he was apparently working with John Kale, who was one of the founding members of the Velvet Underground

for their next record in 07. So three years later, in Los Angeles, writing new material, none of which has officially surfaced. And then the band kind of dissolved. So, yeah, man, the one thing that I love about this record, just killer, killer riffs, man. Yeah.

song after song, really cool guitar lines. Yeah, I was trying to think of what it reminds me of. And I was thinking maybe some of Coldplay's first record. Yeah, sure. Parachute. Yeah, I can see that. Parachutes, right? As far as, like, the really clean guitar style,

but like that open chord kind of, like, a riff, right? Yeah. Yeah, that's good, dude. I was trying to, I was trying to find more bands to, to kind of group them in. And, you know, I don't know why we always try to do that, right? It's not always necessary, but it helps. Dude, we're humans.

Humans like to group things together, you know. And you're right, dude. Yeah, definitely. That's the same. I guess Colplay came around a little bit before this time, right? Parachutes came out in 2000. Okay, yeah. So, right, yeah, all around the same time.

Quiet as the new love. And I think this record is, what I like about this record is it's not all quite, quiet. Let's go back to that quote from Erland Oia from Kings of Convenience. When he was explaining that quiet is the new loud, which is the name of their debut album, Kings of Convenience. Yeah. I think he said something along the lines of like when like the quietest parts of a song or the parts that you want to pay attention to the most, right? Or something like that. Yeah.

But what I like about this record is there are some more a little bit heavier or more lively songs. It's not all quiet. Yeah. I mean, that's one of those songs that to me has just been, always been there, right? Yeah. Like in my rotation as far as like songs that I always go back to, right? Yeah, it's a great, great track.

Now, speaking of changing things up a bit, I think they do it in a really great way. And we'll see what I'm talking about here with this next track we're going to pick. You know, if they're trying to not get pulled into one sound like what they were saying, their niche is not sticking to any particular niche, I think they do it in a really good way on this record. All right, so we're going to jump down. I think this one might be my favorite. This is track seven.

This song is called Sugar Pill. Kill the Moonlight Era Spoon on this one. Yeah, dude. That was the first time that, uh, you know, that they really leaned into the piano, right? The Brit, Daniel leaned into that piano, right? Because, like, he was, remember, as we kind of covered, when we talked about all the spoon records,

like, they were sort of, like, burned by the studio the last time around and, like, we're just tired of making rock, you know, and, like, didn't want to have to follow the prescribed, like, path of a rock band, right? Formula. Yeah. They were like, fuck it, man. And you know what, dude?

That, this just made me think of. radio head and Tom York's you know getting burnt out on on the whole rock and roll like star kind of thing and then they transitioned from a rock band to super experimental like electronic stuff same same kind of deal yeah and kill the moonlight is the first record of theirs where they started kind of working with loops you know or like um not all just analog instruments same here man this is You know, the song comes out of nowhere with, I mean, it's hard to tell if this is all just real instruments or if there is like a loop drumbeat going on or a loop, like that one note, the sound that kicks off the song is very prevalent in the background. And it doesn't go throughout the whole song, but it's always there throughout that first verse and it picks back up in the second one. Yeah, that's interesting.

I love that. I mean, it sounds like a note from like the bass or something like that, but it's like looped, you know? Yeah. So yeah, dude, I've always loved this song. Actually, you know what would be fun, dude, since we're going to be running light on this episode. And we did this with the Beach House episode that we did. I want to hear something really fun, dude. Listen to this demo version of Sugar Pill.

It came out on an EP called New English. That actually, this EP was released after LP in 06, and they just dropped a couple demo versions of their early stuff in it. check this out dude yeah i think that's more proof of of just how how these guys were were really trying to figure out what what they wanted to sound like right i'm curious when this demo version came out you know i mean that yeah that's a very different different but i mean it's kind of a toss-up for me which one i like more i mean the lp one is fantastic the one that they went with on the lp sounds like the rest of the album so like that it makes sense more melodious I wonder if the producer of the record had anything to do with that.

You know what I mean? You always have to wonder about that, but he may have helped them, like, just kind of polish the sound to kind of make it more cohesive. Yeah. But, yeah, heavy on the distortion with that, it's the guitar that's front and center. Both great. And, I mean, really, Ambulance LTD is Marcus Congleton.

It was really just him in a backing band in a way. I mean, even with this record because they didn't stick around for very long, but he did kind of bring the band name, I guess, back into play in 2008. He legally acquired ownership of the band name in 2007. So he technically didn't even have legal ownership of that band name, even though those two dudes back in the early O's were just like, that's fine. You can keep making music under this name. He went on in 2008 and hired a backing band and started touring again as ambulance LTD. So this has been his baby basically since the beginning. And to add more bad luck for this dude, the record label that he was on, it's called TVT Records,

filed for bankruptcy around 2008, which prevented ambulance LTD from releasing new material. It says here, TVT All right. also attempted to sell artists back catalogs, resulting in Congleton, along with labelmates the polyphonic spree, to file a lawsuit against the label and its parent company Universal Music Group in 2008. So that sucks, dude. That record label sounds like they were trying to pull a fast one on him, play dirty, and prevented him from releasing new material. Good Lordy, man. Yeah, that's terrible. But, you know, at least we have this gym of an album. Now we've got one more song to play. And this one I always forget about, which is this, okay, let me say,

this is one thing about this album that's fantastic. I'm going to say the majority of the songs are great on the record, but the way it flows, I'll get three quarters of the way through the record. And then another song plays that I just love. And I'm like, oh, yeah, I still haven't heard this awesome song. And that's this one, dude. This is track nine. The song's called Stay Tuned. So yeah, it's hard to say like how much of the actual music you give full credit to Congleton poor, right? Because I mean, yes, he's the primary songwriter, but was he a Casablanca's

right? Because remember for the first Strokes record, you know, apparently Casablancus wrote most of the instrument stuff too, right? I'm going to say yes, dude, and here's why. So why doesn't this guy just make music by himself, right? What was the draw to like the name and having the band? Like I know he was like permitted from releasing music. Well, I mean, they sold like 100,000 copies of this record.

So he, you know, he probably just didn't want to start over as far as like trying to attach, you know, bring fans of ambulance LTD along to a new act. So he just stuck with the name. But it is absolutely all him, dude. He's actually in another band. I'm not sure if they're still making music, but he has since started a new band called Drug Cabin. We're going to outro us out with one of their songs. Dude, if you've been just itching for more ambulance LTT,

just play a drug cabin song. I just found out about him today. And it's him, dude. It's straight up. It's ambulance LTD. Okay. Yeah, cool. It's great.

So a song filled with more killer risk. dude really really catchy guitar I love their their melodies man yeah this one's got a little bit more of a proper rock flare to it you know with that riff totally yeah but I love dude I'm just gonna play it again man that just the the opening bit of this song pay attention to both the guitars man because like I really love how how the two guitars basically create the main riff of the song but there's two guitars working here I love that guitar the strumming in the background, right? Yeah, even the strumming is great. Yeah, you're right. It's so cool, dude. Anyways, this is one of those records for me that I'll always bust out at least

once a year and play through, you know? Yeah, totally. And I feel like this is kind of a good transition to where we're going next. And, dude, we're wrapping up, man. Short and sweet. That's all I got for this one. But yeah, I think we're going to venture into 90s, all, no, I don't know, not Alt Rock. not alt rock because i learned uh recently when i read that book on sonic youth by david brown alt rock was the name that they were throwing on grunge before they had a name for grunge but we're going to dive into some of the more like easy listening kind of 90 stuff um think r em think i mean yeah i honestly i would have called them alt rock very different from grunge but call it maybe college radio rock maybe we should call it that let's call it college radio rock maybe we should

call it that? Let's call it College Radio Rock. We're going to dip our toes in the 80s too, because we're going to cover, you know, both sides of this band, I guess. So we're talking about, I mean, we've hinted this before, but we're going to play some music from a band called Miracle Legion. And then we're also going to play some music from a band called Paleris. And then we'll talk about how, you know, it's essentially the same band, right? But the the record that we're covering from Miracle Legion, it's called The Backyard, came out in 1984 Q. So, you know, just like REM, right, started in the 80s. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, college rock maybe. College, alter rock. So, yeah, well, maybe we'll dive into that cue because,

because I haven't, I haven't heard this, this knowledge that, that you picked up by reading a book. I mean, who knew that you could, you know, you could pick up some, some knowledge from a book. but yeah it was it was right before grunge I guess exploded and before the term was was coined so yeah I guess we'll look into it maybe maybe that was such a large umbrella

that all these bands kind of fell into it and I want to hang out in this era dude mid 80s through the 90s maybe we should do another REM record oh dude all day all day I'll do that yeah because I would love to do murmur I say we do murmur that's their first record

and Miracle E'sia is great because you can definitely hear the influence that maybe not they had directly, but this style of music from the mid-80s to 90s had a big influence on bands like real estate. And, you know, all those bands from that dream pop resurgence of the 2010s. Totally. We're going to dig into it. We're going to get to the bottom of it, try to trace the origins of that sound.

And who knows what we'll do after that, man. but that is the plan. I'm excited. Dude, I can't wait to dive into Miracle Legion. Yeah. And, you know, reminisce about our love of Nickelodeon. And we'll dive into all that next week. That's the other side of this.

Yeah, dude. I just want to. Yeah. We'll save it for the next episode. But yeah, the fact that a show like Pete and Pete can exist where they literally commissioned a rock band to make the theme song and to appear in episodes and stuff. Not only the theme song, but music throughout the entire series run. It's just like amazing.

Super cool. Yeah. All right. Well, that's going to be awesome, dude. I know we see this all the time, but like we have been talking about doing a Polaris episode since the inception of the podcast. So I'm surprised it took us this long, but here we are, dude. The time has come next week.

We're going to cover him. If you were a kid in the 90s like we were, odds are that, that, that, that you have an affinity and, like, in nostalgia for the Nickelodeon era of, like, kids' entertainment. It's the orange ears, dude. Like pre- SpongeBob Nickelodeon, right? Yep. We'll put that, put that caveat out there. Yeah, there's just something about it, man. Well, dude, before we wrap up, I got a question for you.

Have you enjoyed that cup of lavender camomile yet? Yeah, it's good, man. Solid. Of course it is, dude. We're talking about Testa T again here. Travis promised me that he was going to finally brew a cup of their lavender camomile, which is one of my favorites of theirs. And surprise, surprise, it's just as delicious as all the other teas of theirs that we've tried so far.

And right now you can get 15% off your purchase at TSTAT.com with the promo code no filler. Punch that in at checkout. and just get yourself some tasty loose leaf tea. Give it a go. If you're like, you know what? Historically, I'm a coffee drinker. I've always wanted to try some tea. This is the tea to try for the first time.

If you're going to venture out into tea, TSTAT tea is the way to go for sure, man. It is no Lipton's, tell you that much. Yeah, this is not that, right? So if you're like, I don't like tea, you got to give Testa a shot. This is real ingredients, dude. Dude, I still can't get over the nutty almond cream.

I still can't get over it. It's something else, dude. Like, there's bits of almond in it. Yeah. And you just brew, and the oils from the almond just get extracted into the tea. And just, it's just the most subtle almond flavor. There's apple chunks in it. Mm-hmm.

Come on. Cinnamon. Mm. Yeah. It's like a delightful cinnamon apple muffin. Yeah. So, you know, hey. We never ask you for nothing.

So here we are asking you to go to tSTAT.com. Use promo code no filler 15 at checkout and you'll get 15% off your order. Thank you. That's TSTATT. A bold tea for a bold you. All right. So like we said next week, we'll see what happens. We might throw a no-filler rewind out there.

Oh, that's right. You're going to be out of town. So if we just got you really, excited about the Polaris episode. You may have to wait an extra week, but that's all right. Whenever we speak again, we'll be talking about Polaris and Miracle Legion and Nickelodeon. That's going to be fun. I can't wait. So next week, it'll be a rewind episode. So we'll pull something out of the back catalog. Hopefully it's an episode you haven't tuned into yet, but it'll be along the same vein. It might be the R&M episode that we did. That would make total sense, wouldn't it?

It'll probably be R.E. We covered Life's Rich Pageant. So yeah, that'll be that next week. And then we'll be coming back at you with Polaris. So yeah, we're going to outro us out with, again, one of Marcus Congleton's new bands. It's called Drug Cabin. Like I said, if you liked the tunes we brought from LP from Ambulance LTD today, give Drug Cabin and listen.

There's more of that just smooth vibe. and this song name jumped out of me, so we're going to play it. This is an album there's called Wiggle Room that came out in 2015. Songs called Steely Dad. Oh, okay. You got my interest. And hop on over to the Pantheon Podcast Network at Pantheon Podcasts.com. Check out all the other great podcasts that are in our network, all music-centered, all great.

Pantheon Podcasts.com. And as always, thank you to AKG for sponsoring the show. And until next time, thank you, as always, for listening. My name's Quentin. My name is Travis. Y'all take care. 32% of households that start the year with Peloton are still active a year later. All because of a fancy bike?

It's not just a bike. Peloton makes treadmills, too. Eh, all treadmills are the same. Our treadmills can adjust speed and incline automatically, so you never break your stride. Whether you're squeezing in a power walk or training for a marathon. Peloton can help you achieve your fitness goals. 92% stick with it.

So can you. Try the Peloton tread risk-free with the 30-day home trial. New members only. Not available in remote locations. See additional terms at one peloton.com slash home dash trial.