The Boxcar Suite Rails Against A Society Obsessed With Commodifying Everything

The Boxcar Suite is a rock and roll band from Dayton, OH formed around the release of songwriter/guitarist Tim Pritchard’s solo effort It Shall Be Revealed in 2012. Pritchard and bassist Phil Caviness previously played in Flyaway Minion and later the short-lived project Floods. As the latter deconstructed, Pritchard and Caviness recruited drummer Trevor Bell and began working as a trio before Caviness brought in former Professors bandmate Tony Moore to play guitar.

The newly formed band used It Shall Be Revealed, an affair heavily steeped in “Cosmic American Music” as a foundation to venture into territory more informed by 70s stadium rock and 90’s power pop revival. Across the Vast & Deep (2014) is an eclectic debut with the group exploring sounds on a mid-fi journey co-piloted by lauded engineer and producer Darryl Robbins (Motel Beds, Overthought Musik, Guided by Voices).

A distinct sound emerged as the band began to work more collaboratively and Pritchard took an active role as engineer and producer while building out a project studio. The Boxcar Suite aesthetic became synonymous with dueling guitar leads, a tight rhythm section and stacked harmonies over what was still very song-oriented music. This fully realized version of the group was captured on Further in and Farther Out (2018) and described as “cosmic power pop for the Age of Aquarius” with a self-proclaimed lineage including The Flying Burrito Brothers, Big Star, Teenage Fanclub and Superdrag. 

As the band gigged for Further in and Farther Out, they also found themselves routinely locked away in their warehouse studio space escaping an increasingly tumultuous time in both socio-politically and with regard personal struggles. It was a darker period, yet cheered on by “a lot of good times” spent writing, recording, and indulging in extra-curricular activities at the “the space”, an old warehouse at which The Boxcar Suite and many other Dayton area bands have emerged and/or called home . The music grew more to-the-point and began to draw on elements of punk and glam. Every Side of the Abyss is a new iteration of the band wielding a formidable soundtrack for the most bizarre time most of us can recall. It’s a melodic, crunchy, guitar driven record, and while overall more concise, the band still wanders on and off the path, incorporating what Pritchard and Moore refer to as the “jangle twang” combination of 12 string and fuzz guitars as well as presenting the groups most blithering altered states yet. The album rails against the pitfalls of a society obsessed with commodifying everything, including rock and roll records, but takes joy in the ability to still make them happen.

“Moving from urgent punk to 60s, Byrds-esque harmonies with ease, The Boxcar Suite craft songs with the energy of a band that’s been jamming together for years. It just sounds so natural.”

Glide Magazine

“Unabashedly honest and direct, The Boxcar Suite has never been more candid and unashamed.”

V13

“Time for some powerpop.”

Toilet Ov Hell

Follow The Boxcar Suite

Facebook
Instagram