I’ve said before that the more members of a band there are the better chances that band has of being great. This assessment stands true for Emanuel and the Fear. Going strong at 11 musicians, this Brooklyn “rock orchestra” was listed in L Magazine as one 8 NYC bands that you need to hear. I can’t agree more with that statement.

Emanuel Ayvas (the guy on the far right with the frizzy hair) is the mind behind the madness. Ayvas doesn’t restrict himself though to the sound that listeners would expect from an arrangement like this. Every track isn’t deeply layered orchestral pieces that make you forget whether you’re listening to a band or Bach. One track may swing in this direction while the next will be more of a jazz style and the next more electronic. Ensembles of this nature have a tendency to present themselves as a bit stuffy but by genre jumping Emanuel and the Fear escape this persona and present themselves as down-to-earth as the next indie group.

Emanuel and the Fear – “The Finale”