“A good time from start to finish, will have you foot stomping and clapping along to the Americana garage rock beats and old school pop-punk guitar...I would put this album right next to El Camino from the Black Keys, as far as quality and style.” —Curtis Silver, Wired.com "Opener 'Turn the Tables' is a raucous rocker that recalls Guided by Voices, 'It's All True' does the Pixies-like quiet/loud thing, and the late 60s Nugget-sounding 'We Know (Who We Are)' earns them the Kinks komparisons. —Absolute Powerpop "The album title (and overall energy level) recalls early Elvis Costello, but the spirits of late-'60s Stones, Gram Parsons, and the various 'Nuggets' compilations all crash the party, too." —Ron Ehmke, Buffalo Spree Only a year ago, Mark Norris was through with music. A chance encounter with one of his idols and an unexpected loss changed all of that. Now, Norris' group, The Backpeddlers, has released what has been called the best recording of its six-year career and all it took was a lot of pain and a little inspiration. A Little Bit of History For over a decade, Norris fronted the powerpop outfit girlpope-hailed as one of Buffalo, New York's best live acts for its breakneck, sweat-soaked performances. Forming the Backpeddlers in 2005, Norris was looking for a new approach. After a few key shows opening for the likes of Elvis Costello, Steve Wynn, and The Pernice Brothers, the band released its debut CD, Stranded Between Stations, in 2007. Filled with stark, quiet ruminations, the disc was a step away from girlpope's bombastic, uptempo songs. The disc was described by the Buffalo News as “The Basement Tapes recorded with Ray Davies instead of Bob Dylan.” Once in A Blue Moon Norris wasn't looking for inspiration in November 2009, but inspiration found him. It was during that time that the songwriter bumped into one of his long-time idols, Alex Chilton. Chilton was in Buffalo performing a one-off gig with the Box Tops. Attending the show, Norris met his musical hero and chatted about Chilton's lack of new material. "I don't create much without a deadline and I never have deadlines" was the gist of Chilton's response. Sadly, the Buffalo appearance would be one of Chilton's last. However, for Norris, the meeting inspired the need to create something new, something different than he had released before. Songs of Guilt and Revenge Held in the summer and fall of 2010, the recording sessions were drenched in catharsis. Forgoing the moody quiet of the band's previous efforts, the Backpeddlers focused on making music that sounded raw, live, and loud. Attention was paid to the details, but the details were the small mistakes and flaws that are normally wiped from the finished tracks. The band harvested the flubs and wild notes and featured them as key components of each song. Chilton's Like Flies on Sherbet was a key inspiration. One listen to Songs of Guilt & Revenge doesn't convey all of this backstory, of course. On its own, the album is a celebration of American music songs forms: From garage rock ravers to imagined dance crazes and from country tear-jerkers to mod-action packed blazers, the album covers a lot of ground in just over a half hour.