In September of 2012, in Carbondale, Illinois, the thoughts and ideas that would soon become Driftwood Head began to take form. Two years later, the musicians who would form Native Tongue came together for the first time. With each member of the band carrying with them years of experience playing and performing regularly in local and regional bands, the winter of 2014 was spent writing and re-shaping these ideas. In March of 2015, the band traveled to Forty-One Fifteen Studios in Nashville, TN to record with producer Tate Mercer. On September 25, 2015, these ideas finally came to fruition, and their debut EP Driftwood Head was released to the masses. With an energetic live performance as unique as the music implies, Native Tongue is sure to catch your attention in one way or another.
“Vocally and instrumentally, Native Tongue brings it all to the table. Vocalist Jon Emling commands a vulnerable, at times conversely delicate or powerful, croon that lies somewhere between Kyle Durfey (Pianos Become The Teeth) and Jesse Lacey (Brand New). The rhythmic backbone is as solid as needed, and pushes the atmospheric guitar work to the forefront. Whether it’s the booming riffs in “Rorschach”, fragile arpeggios in “Prism”, or the euphoric post rock climax in exemplary closer “Strange Light”, the music shifts as needed to get just the right mood. There’s an unpredictability to the EP that keeps each moment tense in anticipation for what might come next, an unpredictability that rarely fails to pay off across Driftwood Head’s run time.” -Brett Tharp, sputnikmusic
