The Forms are an American indie rock

Indie rock

Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

 band from Queens

Queens

Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....

, New York, whose style incorporates aspects of math rock

Math rock

Math rock is a rhythmically complex guitar-based style of experimental rock that emerged in the 1980s and that was very influenced by progressive rock like King Crimson, Frank Zappa, Henry Cow - and 20th century composers such as Steve Reich and John Cage...

, dream pop

Dream pop

Dream pop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s, when bands like The Passions, Dif Juz, Lowlife and A.R. Kane began fusing post-punk and ethereal experiments with bittersweet pop melodies into dreamy, sensual soundscapes. The term was almost...

, and emo

Emo

Emo is a style of rock music and its associated subcultureEmo may also refer to:- Businesses :* Emo , an Irish oil company and filling station chain* Emo Speedway, a racetrack in Emo, Ontario...

. The band members include Alex Tween (vox, keyboards) and Matt Walsh (drums, sequencers).

History

The Forms released their debut album, Icarus, in 2003. The album was recorded with legendary producer Steve Albini

Steve Albini

Steven Frank Albini is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman, and Flour, and is currently a member of Shellac...

 (Nirvana, Pixies, P. J. Harvey) at the helm. They worked with Albini again on their latest (self-titled) album, which was released in October 2007.

The Forms recorded a cover of Billy Joel's

Billy Joel

William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...

 "We Didn't Start the Fire

We Didn't Start the Fire

"We Didn't Start the Fire" is a song by Billy Joel. Its lyrics are made up from rapid-fire brief allusions to over a hundred headline events between March 1949 and 1989, when the song was released on his album Storm Front...

" for Engine Room Recordings

Engine Room Recordings

Engine Room Recordings is an independent record label with a roster of Indie rock and Alternative rock musicians. Beyond marketing and distribution for its artists, the label does booking and artist management....

' compilation album Guilt by Association Vol. 2

Guilt by Association Vol. 2

Guilt by Association Vol. 2 is a compilation album released November 18, 2008 by Engine Room Recordings. Like its predecessor, Guilt by Association Vol. 1, it features indie rock artists covering well-known pop and R&B songs.-Overview:...

, which was released in November 2008.

The band has shared the stage with bands like The National, The Hold Steady, St. Vincent, Ok Go, Deerhunter, Minus the Bear, Ted Leo, and Nick Cave.

Reception

At the time of the debut release, reviews were generally very positive, and critics compared the band favorably to early-emo rock group Sunny Day Real Estate

Sunny Day Real Estate

Sunny Day Real Estate is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington. In the 1990s, the group expanded upon the grunge style that was popular in the local scene to make a more melodic sound. While not the first band to be classified as emo, they were instrumental in establishing the genre. In...

. Mac Randall of The New York Observer described the band as "aggro-artsy trio fond of awkward time signatures, sly rhythmic manipulation, curlicuing vocal lines, and giving one song two separate track numbers for no obvious reason... [T]hese guys make a virtue out of attention-deficit disorder." PopMatters

PopMatters

PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...

 called the band "one of the most exciting, if not one of the best, new acts in indie rock right now."

Albums

• Icarus – 2003
• The Forms – October 23, 2007
• Derealization - 2011

Compilations

• "We Didn't Start the Fire" from the Guilt by Association Vol. 2
  Guilt by Association Vol. 2
  Guilt by Association Vol. 2 is a compilation album released November 18, 2008 by Engine Room Recordings. Like its predecessor, Guilt by Association Vol. 1, it features indie rock artists covering well-known pop and R&B songs.-Overview:...
  
  compilation

External links

• www.MySpace.com/Forms: The official MySpace page of The Forms.