One Small Step for Landmines

One Small Step For Landmines has a nifty habit of cranking out angular-yet-driving guitars lines and unforgettable melodies, building massively catchy songs around jazzy, rapid-fire drums and a propulsive bass line. This Florida three piece is dynamically compelling as they are unpredictable and explosive. The band’s debut full-length will see a September 11th release from Civil Defense League, the Doghouse imprint created by Sparta front man Jim Ward.

“I’m glad we don’t have air conditioning.” It’s an odd statement for the drummer of a band from Florida to make. At any point in the year the weather conditions are less then desirable and the inability of the band’s rehearsal space to provide consistency could factor into the music they are trying to create. With One Small Step For Landmines the inconsistency actually BECAME the music. When it’s hot you sweat, when it’s cold you shiver, all of these knee-jerk reactions translate into the honest approach the band took to writing it’s debut album. None of the three members arrived at the first rehearsal with any material or preconceived notion of what the band should be or should become. August Hansen merely sat down behind his drum set and began hashing out the opening section of what would become ‘Anybody Out There’.

Within minutes Steve Leacock had hammered down the Motown-infused bass line for the song and Kevin Allen would fill out the arrangement with effected angular guitar work and a vocal melody. At the end of this initial meeting the three had a song on their hands and that’s what weighed in more then anything on the progress of the project. The ability to write, record and share their music with others without limitations, without outside opinions, in the most honest way possible is the driving force behind One Small Step For Landmines and a characteristic that sets them apart from their peers and contemporaries.