The March Divide

“The March Divide - Anticipation Pops (CD, Slow Start, Pop) Yet another album from The March Divide featuring cool, smart, credible pop. Jared Putnam's the main man in this band, and he never lets his listeners down. This talented fellow's music just keeps getting better. Anticipation Pops is one solid spin. The album features ten smart guitar-driven pop tracks with a heavy emphasis on vocal melodies and lyrics. Over time, most artists tend to begin overproducing their music which in many ways detracts from their original sound. Putnam avoids this trap, opting instead to present his songs using only the basics. The stripped down approach works when there's substance present. And you'll hear plenty of substance here. The chord progressions are interesting and unpredictable. The arrangements for each track are precise and exacting. And once again the vocals are just perfect. Pops is yet another exceedingly entertaining spin. Cool reflective cuts include "I Don't Care," "Spinning," "Tie One On," and "Lucky." Top pick.”

“It statrs with one of those perfect pop—with power!—songs, all jangly descending riffage culled from the Guided by Voices Book of Oomph, a propulsive back beat (that you can’t lose, natch), yearning-yet-emphatic vocals that’d make a Superchunk fan stand up and salute, a heartbeat, drop-out midsection that steers you directly up to the pinnacle. No matter that “Exit Signs” is a cautionary, pessimistic tune about good times that are in danger of going bad (although the closing chorus tentatively reassures that “it’ll be all right”); by track’s end, Jared Putnam has hooked you, in all the ways rock ‘n’ roll is supposed to hook you. (Hold that thought, please….) San Antonio-based Putnam, essentially a one-man band, now on full-length number three, has steadily been refining his musical vision, to the point that Saturdays is easily the most assured effort from the March Divide to date. There are songs so effortlessly accessible that you could imagine them being slotted into an I Heart Radio playlist without blinking—he’d teach the listening audience a thing or two about craft, methinks, as opposed to no-substance flash and image—and there are songs as visionary and forward-thinking as GbV’s Robert Pollard was back in the day, during his ahead-of-the-pop-curve days. From the insistent push-pull pulse, sinewy strums and buoyant “whoah-ohh-oahhh” chorus of “Take Your Chances” and the Weezer-esque anthemism of “I Give Up,” to the Big Star-informed, strummy acoustic reverie that is “Over and Over” and the meaty minor chord rocker (and equally anthemic) “Go to Sleep,” Putnam demonstrates his mastery of the love song, in all its myriad variations. It’s a fun album, upbeat when it needs to be and soulful when you need it to be. The kind of album that, in a just world, will be blasted from car stereos all summer long, windows down, fists pounding on steering wheels and young lovers sitting close beside one another. Speaking of “hooked,” above: Saturdays is a vinyl fetishist’s delight, pressed as it is on random shades of colored wax. Mine is a lovely magenta/purplish, blue-splotched platter, bolstered by a corresponding blue label. It’s the little touches that count, at least to these eyes and ears. If this is a March Divide, then I’m joining up.” - Fred Mills

“The March Divide - Saturdays (Independently released CD, Pop/rock) Listening to the music created by San Antonio, Texas-based singer/songwriter/recording artist Jared Putnam has been similar to watching a photograph develop slowly over time. Early March Divide recordings were kind of fuzzy and not yet well-developed. But the essential ingredients were there. Now that a few years have passed, Jared has fine-tuned his craft to the point where his songs have a sheen and brilliance that was only hinted at in the early days. Saturdays is mostly a solo album although drums were played by Austin Busbee. In terms of sound quality and songs, this album is probably our favorite March Divide release to date. The songs tread on that fine line that separates commercial pop from art. Just about anyone could enjoy and appreciate these tunes, but that's not to say this is shallow commercial dribble. Because it is anything but. Some songs are punchy pop, while others are in a more folky vein. Throughout all fourteen songs Putnam keeps things interesting, all the while presenting several tracks that could easily become hugely popular. Our favorite cuts include "Exit Signs," "I Give Up," "Go To Sleep," and "Stacey." Recommended. Top pick. ”

“Spinning, The March Divide (from the Slow Start Records release Anticipation Pops) San Antonio, Texas-based Jared Putnam, aka The March Divide, has been on a creative tear of late. Over the past several years he’s released a slew of new music, the latest of which – Anticipation Pops – has just arrived. Putnam continues to wear his heart on his sleeve, filling his songs with tension and anxiety. That said, the melodies are as catchy as ever, even with their occasional air of melancholy. “Spinning” plays as an alternative love song. “I know you think I’m crazy, I’m not crazy, I’m just kind of bored,” he confesses at the beginning before professing “I don’t know, why the world spins around, around, around, but all I know is I’m glad you’re spinning on it with me.” He captures the pivotal decision point of a failing relationship in the resolute “I’ve Got Mine”: I’m alright, I’ll be fine, It’s like the light came on, & it happened just in time You’re alright, you’ll be fine, We don’t have to live the same, You’ve got your way & I’ve got mine “We’ve Got Time” is a piano-tinged ballad that finds him mourning a lost love with a bit of contempt. “I guess I’m never going to know what you had to say, but I bet it wasn’t really much of anything.” “Lucky”, the album closer, confronts the angst with an air of hope. “Familiar feelings, abandonment & the beauty that comes with it,” he sings, “ But I’ll pick myself up, just like I always have.”” - Mayer Danzig

“Artist: The March Divide Album: “Saturdays” The March Divide is essentially just one man named Jared Putnam. His new record “Saturdays” with white cover art recruits only one other musician, drummer Austin Busbee. Putnam has almost single-handedly made his “white album.”  This 14 track project deserves to be likened to the Beatles’ celebrated 1968 musical kaleidoscope with pure white jacket because it’s so good.  The sixth day has a reputation for being the happiest 24 hours of the week and Saturdays’ music dovetails to that expectation. It’s the record’s sonic balance that’s most remarkable. Every song is a joy and none resembles the others. Gentle tempos give way to infectiously upbeat ones.  “I Give Up” is one of these adorably speedy power pop numbers. Its sweetness clocks in at a diminutive two and a half minutes. “Katherine Loves the Fall” is about a young single mother who doesn’t like her job at the mall. Putnam carefully crafts his story song about a woman focused on the future with the care of a diamond cutter.  Train wheels slapping track percussion on “I Don’t Recall” builds while conveying Putnam’s vocals and backing chorus to a crescendo. “This Infatuation” bravely cradles a whistling chorus and woodblock percussion to its bosom.  It’s a quirky break-up song concluding with a few seconds of inexplicable party noise. A White Stripes riff is delicately pinched for the opening of “Over and Over.”  There’s no blues like that of a shift worker doing the same awful job day in and day out. “Stacey” sounds like the Beach Boys on a surf perfect afternoon. That would naturally be on a Saturday. ” - Doug Hill

“We've enjoyed previous releases we've heard from The March Divide. This EP provides the most precise and direct punch yet. Singer/songwriter Jared Putnam saved some favorites for this EP...and they're bound to be fan favorites as well. Considering the fact that there are only seven songs here, they're all impressively different from one another. Tunes delve into everything from buzzsaw rock to straightforward pop to alternative rock and even folk. But no matter what the sound or style, Jared's intelligent lyrics and inspired melodies drive the music to the next level. The rockier stuff sometimes reminds us of 1990s bands like Bad Religion or Bracket...while some of the softer stuff occasionally recalls David Bowie or even very early Rick Springfield (!?). Our initial favorites are "Forward Thinking," "Slow Down," "You Save Me," and "Lessons." The super simple cover art is killer.”

“San Antonio based musician, Jared Putnam, who plays as pop-rock band The March Divide, is probably one of the hardest working guys you will meet. From constant touring and networking to cranking out an impressive catalog of music, Jared doesn’t stop. Continuing with that full head of steam, The March Divide announced the upcoming release of a new album, Saturdays. The thought of a new MD album had me drooling. I was beyond excited when I got the chance to preview Saturdays, and it definitely did not disappoint. From saucy riffs, savory melodies and succulent lyrics, there is a reason my mouth was watering. Each song takes you on a different journey and leaves you wanting more. There are a lot of new sounds and ideas that were tried on this album as well. Putnam challenged himself  to bring less traditional forms of percussion to pop songs to breathe some fresh air in his music. “I wanted to try and bring the songs to a whole new level of pop sonics,” Putnam said. “For Saturdays, I took it upon myself, even with my less than impressive percussion skills, to try and make it happen.” After explaining an idea that came from reading an article about how radio stations have begun to consider airing portions of songs to accommodate the short attention spans of their listeners, he mention another tactic he tried. “I wrote several songs that are between 90 seconds and two minutes long, I decided to use it as a personal challenge to write short songs, but without sacrificing the things that I think make a song good,” he said. My personal favorites include “Stacey” and “I Don’t Recall”, which you can hear the varied percussion and shorter styled songs, respectively. All in all, this is a solid album that  you will leave on repeat for weeks, be humming in your head non-stop and hear in your dreams. Furthermore, I think it will also help take The March Divide to the next level.“Saturdays” arrives on May 13th, don’t sleep on it.” - Jacob Andrew

“The sophomore full-length release from The March Divide. This band just keeps getting better. And we're pleased to report that Billions is the strongest effort thus far in this band's short career. These songs should appeal to folks who appreciate underground guitar pop/rock bands from the 1990s when power pop was all the rage. Ten songs here and they all have something credible to offer. These songs are fueled by power chords, urgent vocals, driving rhythms, thumpy bass, and propulsive rhythms. Recorded in San Antonio, Texas with producer Todd Osterhouse, these tracks have a nice slick sound that was created using only the essential ingredients. This band's main strength is songs. Jared Putnam has a cool knack for coming up with catchy riffs, cool melodies, and lyrics that will surely stand the test of time. Nifty pop/rock cuts include "I Told You So," "November Suicides," "Mislead," and "Situations.”

“Jared Putman is back with his new set of music as The March Divide and if you got into him for the first time with his Billions album, he’d like for you to continue with an EP simply called +1 (self-released). At first, I thought his style of singing in the opening cut (“Forward Thinking”) was a strong as Lenny Kravitz’s on his 5 album and tour but then the attitude came off like what Green Day has become, a nice mixture of punk and pop. It caught me by surprise but it’s welcome to hear something that may come off as diverse but also familiar. “Slow Down” has a slight Elvis Costello swagger to it, but “The Breakup” sounds like a ballad ready to sulk into and eat your life away through crappy chocolate bars until someone better comes along. Putnam is someone who isn’t afraid to express his deep feelings, and whether they are direct and to the point or full of metaphors is something meant to be figured out during each listen. He sounds like someone you’d love to get to know more with his music and more importantly, to hear more of what he has to offer in the future because his stories equal to those you’ve felt before. If radio was smart, they’d put the songs of +1 in heavy rotation.” - John Book

“ There are times when I feel like I've said all that I can about The March Divide.    Whenever I start to feel that way though, I just have to ask myself whether or not The March Divide has said all that they needed to say.    For me, to be able to feel as if I've said all that can be said about The March Divide would mean that The March Divide has done all that they can as a band and thus should not be making new music.   I find this to be quite far from reality and as such I hope that I can continue to write about The March Divide for years to come. On "+1", which I will say is seven new songs from them because sometimes that could be considered a full length and sometimes it could be an EP but I'm not here to really care about or discuss that part of this so I digress.   The music on here is an acoustic flavored bit of rock that to me goes from sounding like I Am the Avalanche to Soul Asylum and, well, both are rather vague in comparison but they are both two of my all-time favorite artists so just know that what is coming out of here does sound that good. This is just plain rocking and my three year old really digs it as well.   He was dancing around and actually told me that he liked it (I feel like he's getting used to hearing this the same way some would the voice of Elmo or some other character designed for kids, but I do prefer this to that)    The last song kind of slows down for the power ballad and when he's really belting it out all I can think of is the band Lit, who for what it's worth get a bad rap for being known only for that one song (I followed them on tour once because Shades Apart was opening and Lit was surprisingly good live) When I listen to "+1" though, and really from the very first line of the very first song, all I can think of is the obvious that has already been stated.    We know that The March Divide can write good songs.   We know that they can get stuck into your head and implant themselves as seeds the way that any great band can do.     But what becomes the question for me is when is it enough?   Will there come a time when we can say "This is enough songs by The March Divide"?   I certainly hope not because the number of bands that I can say no to that question is growing smaller every day. One of if not the biggest factors I consider at this stage in the game is how you can relate to these songs and for me the themes that I take from them come from a place where you feel lost.   You don't know why you're on this earth, you feel alone and you're just so... It's an apt representation of how we should question every day of our lives.    And if you ever reach that sort of comfort, that complacency, in your lifetime then I could argue that you're already dead. As I writer I feel I have a natural curiosity.   I'm always wondering about things and as such questions left without answers- subjects we may never find the answers to really- are some of my favorite things.    To me, these songs represent that part of life and the idea that, at the risk of sounding crude, we're all floating around on this giant rock and none of us really knows what we're doing here.    This is the anthem for that.   If you're not down with that, then you could always leave the rock.” - Joshua Macala