Tom Mullen’s new, full-length album, Into the Twilight, debuted on the College Radio charts at #336 for the week ending February 10th. We hope to see the album climb higher over the next several weeks.
Special thanks to WRIR in Richmond, VA, WTCC in Springfield, MA, and WVIA in Pittston, PA for reporting the album in their top 40 playlists, and WLFR in Galloway, NJ for making it #4!
You can find the album on Spotify here and Apple music here. It is also available on Pandora, Deezer, and most other music platforms.
Or, you can be old fashioned and purchase your own copy in our store!
“If you like deep thought, self awareness, and swell Alternative licks, go ahead and stand up: Tom Mullen’s Invisible Hand is your stop. The song cruises along to a keen melody played in a stellar, shimmery sixties guitar tone to low key sparse drumming, while Mullen’s whimsical vocals calmly drop deep economic theory from Adam Smith to a supremely catchy tune, droll, well informed, and entirely unbothered.
Invisible Hand’s instrumentals are fantastic, featuring tight drumming and a beautifully toned guitar and bass playing fabulous retro melodies, excellently executed with a slightly staccato feel that keeps the track lively, interesting, and thoroughly alternative. The song’s lyrics are candid and knowledgeable, dropping easy references to economists Summers, Friedman, Keynes and a trite shoutout to author Ayn Rand, in the midst of its treatise, while also giving personable, less high-minded warnings about trusting the system for a combo that is both intelligent and approachable. Mullen brings great, Alternative vocals that are easy to listen to, while plenty of instrumental flourishes, including brief but satisfying solos beginning at approximately 3:18 keep the piece lighthearted and fun through and through.” – Mary Wildsmith
About the Reviewer:
Mary Wildsmith is an FM Radio DJ, and has been involved in both on-air work and radio production for five and a half years, in addition to working the past decade in and out of the live entertainment industry. She has experience with the fickle nature of the music industry, selecting singles to promote or discard for radio play, and engineering stage to audience sound systems. Having worked balancing, troubleshooting, and running audio rigs has enabled her to be both sensitive, and sympathetic, to the finesse and nuance of quality recording. Mary is passionate about promoting new and independent artists, and has spent extensive time in round-table environments discussing music and audio critically, and collaborating with artists to enable them to put the best possible foot forward with their art.
Middleport, Sept. 22, 2020. Skepticsongs is excited to announce the release of, “Invisible Hand” by Tom Mullen, the first single off Mullen’s forthcoming album, Into the Twilight, which will be available on October 6.
“I’ve had the chorus of this song cycling in my head for over ten years,” said Mullen. One day last year, I was humming the chorus and the first line of the first verse just popped out. So, I sat down to write the rest of the song before I forgot what I’d just done.”
Invisible Hand has already been downloaded by over 200 radio stations worldwide and is beginning to get significant airplay in Europe. A music video will be released within the next two weeks.
The single can be heard now on most popular music platforms, including:
We’ve just uncovered this bit of Skeptics history while rummaging through the VHS vault. We hope you enjoy it. Please check out the re-release of the band’s 1995 CD, Be Satisfied in the Skepticsongs Store!
Skepticsongs recording artists The Skeptics have re-released their 1995 CD, Be Satisfied, 25 years after it made CMJ charts in several U.S. markets. The group’s debut CD features Tom Mullen on lead vocals and guitar, Mark Buckley on bass, Michael “Hairy” Harrier on lead guitar and vocals, and Tim Kelly on drums.
Be Satisfied is available for download on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, and most other digital music outlets. Sound samples and download links can be found here.
Mullen will perform all ten songs from the album acoustically tonight on Facebook Live on what has become the #1 rated show in Royalton, NY for that time slot. A link to his Facebook Live feed is here.
World Tour dates are not yet confirmed.
Bio
The Skeptics
Tom Mullen: lead vocals, guitar
Mark Buckley: bass, vocals
Dave Levin: lead guitar, vocals
Dan Komanski: drums
Past members:
Mike Harrier: lead guitar, vocals
Tim Kelly: drums
Christ Swist: drums
Todd Krueger: drums
The Skeptics’ unique blend of melody and edge, harmony and power is gradually bringing them to the forefront of the alternative music scene in Western New York. Their first CD, Be Satisfied, received airplay at over 100 college and commercial radio stations, several of which reported The Skeptics on their weekly College Music Journal (CMJ) airplay charts. The band released their latest EP, Reloaded, in 2019, which included Global Music Awards Bronze Medal winner, “South Beach.”
The Skeptics are known for their high-energy live performances, including headline shows in New York City, Pittsburgh, Rochester and Buffalo. Notable appearances include opening for national recording artists, 10,000 Maniacs, an appearance on Channel 4’s Nickel City Scene and two appearances on Channel 7’s A.M. Buffalo. The Skeptics have received heavy rotation on WEDG 103.3 FM, CKEY FM 101.1 The River, WBNY 91.3 FM, and numerous other radio stations.
The Skeptics have been described as “hard-driving, guitar-based rock ‘n’ roll,” with a “listener-friendly style” by Anthony Violanti of The Buffalo News, while Dale Anderson of Artvoice described their sound as “infectious.” Popular Australian music blog The Music Injection calls South Beach “a super catchy song.”
Skepticsongs recording artists The Skeptics will re-release their 1995 CD, Be Satisfied, 25 years after it made CMJ charts in several U.S. markets. The group’s debut CD featured Tom Mullen on lead vocals and guitar, Mark Buckley on bass, Michael “Hairy” Harrier on lead guitar and vocals, and Tim Kelly on drums.
The new release will be available for download on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, and most other digital music outlets within the next few weeks.
Mullen will perform all ten songs from the album in an upcoming Facebook Live show, date to be announced. Mullen currently appears regularly 7:00 PM – 7:30 PM EST each Wednesday night on what has become the #1 rated show in Royalton, NY for that time slot.
World Tour dates are not yet confirmed.
Bio
The Skeptics
Tom Mullen: lead vocals, guitar
Mark Buckley: bass, vocals
Dave Levin: lead guitar, vocals
Dan Komanski: drums
Past members:
Mike Harrier: lead guitar, vocals
Tim Kelly: drums
Christ Swist: drums
Todd Krueger: drums
The Skeptics’ unique blend of melody and edge, harmony and power is gradually bringing them to the forefront of the alternative music scene in Western New York. Their first CD, Be Satisfied, received airplay at over 100 college and commercial radio stations, several of which reported The Skeptics on their weekly College Music Journal (CMJ) airplay charts. The band released their latest EP, Reloaded, in 2019, which included Global Music Awards Bronze Medal winner, “South Beach.”
The Skeptics are known for their high-energy live performances, including headline shows in New York City, Pittsburgh, Rochester and Buffalo. Notable appearances include opening for national recording artists, 10,000 Maniacs, an appearance on Channel 4’s Nickel City Scene and two appearances on Channel 7’s A.M. Buffalo. The Skeptics have received heavy rotation on WEDG 103.3 FM, CKEY FM 101.1 The River, WBNY 91.3 FM, and numerous other radio stations.
The Skeptics have been described as “hard-driving, guitar-based rock ‘n’ roll,” with a “listener-friendly style” by Anthony Violanti of The Buffalo News, while Dale Anderson of Artvoice described their sound as “infectious.” Popular Australian music blog The Music Injection calls South Beach “a super catchy song.”
Buffalo, N.Y. September 7, 2019. The Holly Days paid the ultimate tribute to their inspiration, Buddy Holly, by releasing their second single on the rock and roll founding father’s birthday, September 7. “Words of Love” was originally released on the Coral Records label in 1957 and has been covered extensively since, including a notable version by the Beatles on their 1964 album, Beatles for Sale. The Holly Days’ version combines elements of both.
“We love both Buddy’s original version and the Beatles’ cover, so we incorporated parts of each of them,” said lead singer and guitarist Tom Mullen. “I played the guitar intro more like George Harrison but the rest of the song more like Buddy. Of course, George and I both played Buddy’s original guitar solo note for note – you don’t mess with perfection!”
Bassist Gregg Deinhart found inspiration in Paul McCartney’s 1964 bass line. “Words of Love’ is a perfect song for my 1967 Hofner Beatle bass, said Deinhart. “The Beatles did a great cover of this beautiful song and the McCartney bass line creates a nice pulse under the rich harmony and bright guitars of the song.”
However, drummer Dan Komanski found the Latin rhythm of the original more to his liking. “I wanted to capture the spirit of the original, which was inspired by all the Latin rhythms popular at the time, said Komanski. “To get a warmer, unique sound, I played with a pair of Hot Rods and made sure the snares were off.”
While Mullen and Deinhart have been singing this beautiful duet together for decades, Mullen overdubbed the harmony part with his own lead vocal, as Holly did on the original, which was an innovation in rock music at the time.
“We’re very pleased with the way the track came out,” added Mullen. “Getting Buddy’s rhythm guitar part up front, which is buried in the original mix, together with Dan’s work on percussion and Gregg’s bass line produced something that really swings more than any recording of the song I’m familiar with. We hope the fans find it faithful yet fresh and original.”
Sound samples and downloads are available at the most popular distribution sites (iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, etc.) here.
More information can be found at the Skepticsongs website.
Western New York Buddy Holly tribute band The Holly Days, will release their second single, Words of Love, on Buddy Holly’s birthday, Saturday September 7, 2019. The song will be released on the Skepticsongs label, which has provided a sneak preview of the new track below.
For more details and updates, subscribe to the Skepticsongs website at www.skepticsongs.com.
Buffalo-based rock/power pop band The Skeptics won a Silver Medal in the Global Music Awards for the song, “Woodmancy Road,” off their four-song EP, Reloaded, released March 30, 2019. A sound sample and links to downloads on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify and other platforms can be found here.
The folk-rock, acoustic-electric track features songwriter Tom Mullen’s lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Dave Levin’s jangly lead lines and vocal harmonies, Mark Buckley’s melodic bass and Dan Komanski’s rock steady drumming and tasty fills.
“I think everyone has a place that has a special magic for them, especially if it’s somewhere they’ve gone since childhood,” said Mullen. “My great-uncle’s cabin in the foothills of New York’s southern tier is that place for me. There never has been a phone there – although now you can be reached on cell phone. It was kind of an escape into the wilderness for hiking, fishing and snake-catching – one of our favorite pastimes when we were kids.”
The Silver Medal is the band’s second Global Music Award. They previously won a Bronze Medal for “South Beach,” off the same EP.
Woodmancy Road was recorded at Loft Studio in Cheektowaga, N.Y. and produced by Jim Sommer. More information can be found on the Skepticsongs website at www.skepticsongs.com.
Tom Mullen’s new, full-length album, Into the Twilight, debuted on the College Radio charts at #336 for the week ending February 10th. We hope to see the album climb higher over the next several weeks.
ahead and stand up: Tom Mullen’s Invisible Hand is your stop. The song cruises along to a keen melody played in a stellar, shimmery sixties guitar tone to low key sparse drumming, while Mullen’s whimsical vocals calmly drop deep economic theory from Adam Smith to a supremely catchy tune, droll, well informed, and entirely unbothered.
Middleport, Sept. 22, 2020. Skepticsongs is excited to announce the release of, “Invisible Hand” by Tom Mullen, the first single off Mullen’s forthcoming album, Into the Twilight, which will be available on October 6.
