Therapies Son quickly won fans last fall when his humbly self-recorded demo of shimmering pop surfaced, catching the ears of some elite press and becoming something of an Internet sensation. Therapies Son, the nom de tune of 19-year-old Van Nuys, CA songwriter Alex Jacob makes its official debut this weekend with a 5-track EP, Over The Sea, via Jacob’s management’s label, Sargent House. The EP’s North American vinyl release is in conjunction with Record Store Day, April 16th.

Over The Sea was initially released digitally (with a bonus track, “Golden Girl”) by Sargent House and on limited edition 10″ vinyl via UK blog and label Transparent on March 22nd. Check out the MP3 for “Touching Down” here.

The band, Alex with a drummer and bassist, plays a free L.A. in-store at Origami Vinyl on April 21st at 7pm. See details below.

Heartbreak has long been the lynchpin for many a glittering and storied musical career, and to that proud and varied lineage joins Therapies Son. Turning to music and tapping into an innate gift for songwriting after the painful dissolution of a relationship last autumn, Jacob started writing gorgeous, otherworldly songs which somehow managed, in the space of about 3 minutes or so, to absorb a library’s worth of the most glorious chapters in the Encyclopedia of Pop, ranging from Flaming Lips to Beach Boys to Grizzly Bear, before reflecting it back through its own uniquely cracked, fractured prism.

On his debut EP, Over the Sea, we have the to-ing and fro-ing, galloping playground pop jam “Rose Red Rose”, in which the initial whispered, tender intones make way for Technicolor orchestral bursts, glittering melody and breathless, merry-go-round waltzing, rubbing shoulders with the shimmering ebb and flow of the appropriately named “Still I Call”, opens up into something more vast, more widescreen, and, with its swirling strings and beauty, absolutely not of this epoch. The poised heartache of “Touching Down” meanwhile, sounds all the more yearning with what sounds like an entire marching band behind it, while “Yellow Mama” kaleidoscopes a whole world of loss and longing into its short running time, Jacobs’ hushed vocals guiding the listener gently to a close. A truly one of a kind talent bound to break plenty of hearts of his own in the near future.

THERAPIES SON LIVE:
04/21 Los Angeles, CA @ Origami Vinyl (Free instore performance)
04/29 Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo

Sargent House has signed Good Old War and is pleased to announce that the band, featuring Keith Goodwin and Tim Arnold from Days Away, will be releasing their debut full length album (not yet titled) digitally in late Summer 2008 and physically in October of 2008.

The band will begin recording on May 14th in Los Angeles with Rick Parker who produced the last Days Away EP, Ear Candy For The Headphone Trippers.

While in California, Good Old War will play a few live shows as well. They will also be shooting their first music videos the new songs via the Sargent House sister company: Refused TV.

In August-September, Good Old War will be touring with Anthony Green, performing their own set as well as accompanying Anthony on his live sets in support of their upcoming releases. All three members of Good Old War (Keith Goodwin, Daniel Schwartz and Tim Arnold) perform on multiple tracks on Green’s upcoming album entitled Avalon, due out in August on Photofinish Records.