Thursday, Oct 23rd, 2008 hey...guess what? we've a new line up together, it just so happens to rock. we're going down to olympia to test the waters. we have all new and improved tunes, plus a few golden oldies. come down and enjoy the capitol city with us...we'll be up in seattle soon. more news to come...hope all is well.

Monday, Jul 7th, 2008 summer has finally hit full swing, and we have been in our rehearsal space created new material. it has been a lot of fun to let go of some of the older tunes that we have played over and over for some of the newer stuff we're not sure how to play yet...we are getting close to a baker's dozen of new material, and are thinking of going back into the studio to try and capture an ep's worth. this time we may switch it up and record a more stripped down version. do some of the new stuff acoustic. hopefully that will all go down before the end of summer...right now just trying to work out scheduling details.

other then that, we haven't been up to too much other then enjoying the sunshine. we went down to the oregon coast and did a few little impromptu shows in manzanita. it was a lot of fun to play outdoors for friends. plus the fireworks were awesome on the beach...it was like being in a firework warehouse that had been set on fire. debris flying everywhere, still burning ash falling, and people running and ducking for cover as the soot turned everyone a nice shade of gray. definitely one of the best firework displays i've ever seen...we kept thinking this must be the finale. this must be the finale...then this has got to be the finale, and it just kept going.

fyi, for those of you who are interested in getting our last album online, you can get a digital copy at apple's itunes store, amazon, cdBaby, and others. just go to those online stores and search for estocar. you can also, always email us directly from the bottom left of this page, and we will send out a hard copy to you for 10 smackers. anyway, i'll be in touch when we get some shows booked, and we end our summer hiatus. hope all is well for you. take it easy.

archived news:

Saturday, May 24th, 2008 hello. the art action show was an enormous success. over $6000 was raised, including $2796 to wscadv. we were super stoked to get to join forces with maddyE and her 3ply event...and great big ...more

albums:

giraffe riot

...tugging at the abstract notions worn on the everyman's sleeve. giraffe riot bolts thru the angles of shifty brain rock...careeming off obstacle to obstacle. a stampede of songs yelling out the observations of forward motion. a circus barker delivering a garage rock band through the acrobatic show. 'soupcan telephone operator' is a fine example of the nerve this album tries to strike...voice after voice played out before the words even begin to form. sound tracks of places where the microphone tuned in. found sounds breaking into the clever atmosphere of a twisted folk tune. a clawing crescendo of questions posed in the way of answers. 'wobbly arrow' steps in with a scattered groove that steers itself by the skin of it's teeth all the way to the finish line...perfect sounds teetering in and out...a pulsing indie rock dance number. it leads further into an album that continues to escalate the vibe...'mr.e' shreads, 'wittle' dives on, and 'truss' uses all the twists and turns to clamber it to the brink. the sounds continue to please as 'nacimiento' is a replenishing truck stop off the highway, a place to put chains on in order to drive thru the pass. on the other side giraffe riot continues to roll on until it explores every nook and cranny along the parade route...the final destination is reached in 'circle the wagons' revisiting the daylight, bringing back to a head..the other end of the ribbon. an oragami bow tie start to finish.

garage philosophy

...in late October of 2003, five inches of rain fell in such a short time span in seattle, that lance found his new album's basic guitar and drum tracks in serious danger of become a part of the flotsam jetsam of a quickly flooding basement. a bucket brigade was formed though, and with science tips picked up from zoom, the water was held at bay...the salvaged tunes were brought up to the main floor to be finished in dryer confines, but in the light of day it was evident that these were songs meant for a band sweating them out in one room live, not how the past albums had been built around a sole guitar...estocar's first release as a garage rock trio would hit the pavement two years later...some of those original songs rescued from the oncoming waters in the basement of the nougat house would survive...songs like 'invisible mayan', a full throttle indie folk punk anthem, 'blue heron', a bipolar art rock number, and 'capable+1', hippie metal groove rock at it's finest...those songs and other songs on garage philosophy capture the true spirit of a solid rock trio unleashing a racous sound that could only be realized within the confines of their own rehearsal space. self recorded and self released this album delivers the essence and urgency of a band completely at ease with it's underground stature...a raw intimate look into estocar's earlier psyche.

tinfoil halo

...pawn e5, king's knight c6, pawn a6...from the opening lyrics of the poet's blindspot, one can tell that this will be an album with intentions of seeing a game thru. an album truly taking form in the studio...from layered vocals, door slams, kitchen knifes tapping on linoleum, popcorn being poured into glass bowls, beer cans being crushed, sounds amped and reamped, drum tracks made from found objects, and even horn players brought in to add that true experimental texture that these four songs would coagulate into. strange birds meant to clear the palate, act as a sorbet for the upcoming entree. one where all the stops are pulled out. like a kid who just learned how to play with matches and has found a stash of them...each song strikes another and another until every match in the box is ignited and used as fuel to the fire for these intuitive soundscapes. this ep stretches out estocar's feathers, goes overboard and climbs ashore in order that no stone is left unturned...

traffic noise

...as estocar's first release eludes to in it's title, there are plenty of moments of idling buses, rumbling semi-trucks, revving motorcyles, passing cars, ambulance sirens, and even the voices of a steady stream of pedestrians wafting into the small crowded room above street level where it was recorded...an array of folk songs given a psychedelic white washing, peppered with the happy accidents that create an album when the recording process becomes an instrument as well...'six degrees from seventh heaven' the opening track is a loping mellow folk number brought in by drum rolls as it gathers steam like a tumble weed in open field...'render' adds a more sinister side as the album twists and turns thru layered guitars and keyboards. traffic noises from north street in chicago poke their head thru now and then as the album grows more rock oriented and full blown as wah wah guitars join the ruckus and drums add more drive. traffic noise continues to go down as many streets, avenues, nooks and crannies as a long commute...stretching out toward a foreboding blues folk number, 'atmospheric kettle', that explains the pit falls of finding oneself in hot water that continues to get hotter and hotter...traffic noise is a glimpse of the folk tunes in lance's head beginning to grow into numbers that will require a full fledged band...in the mean time it explores the freedom that can be found in the studio as sounds are piled up and around sturdy songs laid down on acoustic guitar.