NEPA Today February 2004

Negative Space is on a roll. In just a few years time the central Pennsylvania based band has independently sold over 5,000 CD's, played over 700 shows and has established itself as a premier live act in its native Pennsylvania, along the east coast, and beyond.

The band is made up of lead vocalist Josh Nice, guitarists Rick Lienhard and Chris Stum, bassist Mark Reinmiller and drummer Justin Neighbour. The five-piece unites to produce a sound that is equal parts guitar driven pop, punk inspired energy, and fiery melodic hooks. They've managed to capture this sound and energy on a CD, and have called it Nothing Ordinary.

Nothing Ordinary was released in October of 2003 and continues to propel the band, winning over new fans regularly. The EP consists of 5 tracks produced by Kirk Kelsey who has worked with rock luminaries Creed, producing their Weathered and Human Clay albums. The added firepower of an experienced major producer has injected Nothing Ordinary with intense energy and superb professional sounding results. As an added bonus, the CD contains a multimedia section with a video for an older song called "Anthem" and a live performance clip for the song Holiday. This EP could very well be the one that breaks the band nationally- it's a first class effort.

The CD opens with Holiday, which is a powerful rocker- relentless and driving with a catchy chorus. The energy level this track exudes is typical of what the band is all about. From here, the CD segues directly into Best Kept Secret without giving the listener a chance to catch their breath; it's pure melodic intensity. Best Kept Secret is reminiscent of early Goo Goo Dolls, before acoustic guitars ruled their world. This track will make it impossible to keep still; the power of the music compels you to air-guitar madness.

Next up is The Beautiful, a slower tempo tune that does not lack in the power department. This track features memorable melodic vocals and is probably the song that would fare best at radio; it's a sing along for sure. When We Collide is another strong hook-laden rocker that can bring to mind pop-punk radio favorites like Jimmy Eat World - a band that Negative Space is often compared to.

Closing the CD is the title track. Nothing Ordinary, like the other four songs, features a band that is tight, tuneful, and not afraid to experiment with their sense of melody. Each one of these tracks will leave you remembering something from them when you're through listening, guaranteed.

As if the songs on Nothing Ordinary weren't enough to take Negative Space to the next level, the band's work ethic surely can. The guys know what it will take to succeed- promotion, good business sense, and a constant devotion to their craft. The band says they are committed to the common goal of exposing their music nationally; something which is starting to happen.

Besides having the pleasure of playing a showcase at legendary New York club CBGB's for record company types, the band will be playing a high profile gig in Florida at this year's spring break.The band has previously performed at spring break, and their music has even been featured on an E! network spring break program.

Negative Space is also hooked up with the Lehigh Valley based management company Media Five Entertainment, who has helped launch the careers of fellow Pennsylvania bands Live and Fuel. With all the high-profile activity Negative Space of course has not forgotten their NEPA fans; the guys have several upcoming area appearances. To get your hands on a copy of Nothing Ordinary and to check the band's latest live dates, visit their official site at www.negativespacerocks.com.

Pulse Weekly 11.26.03

What’s it all about? You have probably heard of these guys before. Negative Space is a Lancaster-based band that has played all over the East Coast, and now they’re ready to expand their mix of pop/rock and punk sound beyond these boundaries. Nothing Ordinary was recorded over a 10-day period in a Bethlehem studio by producer, engineer and mixer Kirk Kelsey. Although this new release only contains five songs, Negative Space feels that they are ready to develop a larger fan base nationally with this third album. Their music was even featured on E! Entertainment’s Wild On Spring Break earlier this year and has been played nationally on over 70 radio stations. Their last album’s single, Dirty was on the Top 25 Post Modern Specialty National Airplay Chart. We say: It sounds a hell of a lot better than that time they played at the bar. Maybe we were just too intoxicated (which is quite possible since we can’t even remember the name of the damn place). It’s a cool mix of sounds but we wish there were more than five songs on it. Give us more, you bastards!

PA Musician December 2003
Greenberg's Top Ten of 2003

#5. Negative Space - Nothing Ordinary - November 2003
Where would my list be without Negative Space? This is a band that seems to have the type of momentum that makes your cheeks flap. Nothing Ordinary takes the bands potent formula and throws in a few twists as well as a few new hit singles into the catalog. Well-played, heavy pop propelling a band towards the break.

Standard Speaker November 2003

Negative Space played Cousin’s on Wyoming Street Friday night. To many, they were "who?" But steady listeners to Mike Naydock’s "Cellarful o’ Noise" on WKAB-FM know them well. So do listeners to 70-some-odd stations nationwide and XM Satellite Radio.

Negative Space is a Lancaster-based band formed a few years ago. As will happen, they’ve gone through personnel changes since. The line-up now is, lead singer Justin Nice of Lancaster on lead vocals; Mark Reinmiller of Hazleton on bass; Rick Lienhard of Jim Thorpe on guitar; Justin Neighbour of Spring Lake, NJ, on drums; and Chris Stum of Elizabethtown on guitar. While fairly unknown here, Negative Space had a single called "Dirty" from an EP called "From All Thoughts Everywhere" that got a fair amount of national attention. It even made the "specialty chart" in "Hits Magazine."

Negative Space has also had a ton of gigs in a variety of places. In the last two years, they’ve played somewhere near 600 shows all over the Eastern US. And they’ve gotten a few primo gigs– such as opening for 3 Doors Down, Fuel and Lit. They’ve also performed at New York’s CBGB – the legendary club which spawned the careers of the Ramones, Television, Talking Heads, Richard Hell and the Voidoids and a lengthy list of others. They even managed to get noticed on cable channel E’s "Wild On Spring Break." Negative Space has been creating a buzz.

They’ve also just released a five-track EP called "Nothing Ordinary." It was cut quickly in just ten days this summer at Angel Mountain Studios in Bethlehem. The enhanced CD includes a video for one cut and a collage of live footage for another. Opener "Holiday" is a power chord laden slammer with an interesting structure. While the drums bang at a rapid 4/4 pace in the verses, Nice sings the lines fairly slowly, in an almost ballad-like fashion. But in the bridges and chorus the lines are as rapid fire as the backdrop. "Best Kept Secret" opens slamming like the Ramones, though it pauses for the first two lines of verses. While the slamming remains throughout, there are several structural changes in bridges and the chorus.

The pace is slower and the sound crisper in "Beautiful." Calling it a "power ballad" wouldn’t be wrong. Verses are backed only by bass and drums, while the power chords jump in during the chorus. Lyrics are "to break up or not to break up." While that’s as old as the lyre, here they’re clever, perhaps a odd and definitely not your run of the mill "should I stay or should I go." The fuzz pedal is off in the intro to "When We Collide." The second guitar turns it on in the second stanza. Pace is fast and a smidgen bouncy (as opposed to angry or menacing). Again, a Ramones analogy wouldn’t be too far off the mark. The overall structure shows tremendous pop sensibilities, but doesn’t rehash old pop creed. "Nothing Ordinary" is slower – though too fast to call a ballad. Again, the structure borrows from the old pop songbook (moving up and down the scale during the chorus to create a ‘sweet’ feel), but the result is unusual.

Negative Space plays well. Neighbour’s drums are tight, at times complicated (there are lots of rolls and doubles), and always Phil Collins-ish loud – which fits the aggressive sound. Stum and Lienhard trade guitar licks well and bounce off each other as the best, down since Keith and Brian, have done. Reinmiller’s bass is always in the background (as it’s supposed to be), but you can’t miss it.
Production is crisp and raw – if there are overdubs, they’re well hidden.

But it’s really the songs themselves that make Negative Space standout from the pack. There are no long epics, no epochs on left wing politics and no hypersensitivity. There is also no attempt at "shock value" (which may or may not be a contradiction in terms). Themes are all personal relationships. But, Nice and Lienhard (who, as the press kit says, "create the framework of a Native Space song") avoid clichés, state things in an unusual manner and manage to put a new shine on an old finish. While they’ve obviously read and learned the pop music "how-to book" (there’s a load of hooks throughout the disc and the energy level never dips), they do not merely rehash dressed up imitations of what’s been done before.

The resulting paradox is that while there are marked similarities among the cuts (all are quick, all feature loud guitars and drums, all make sparse use of background vocals), there is no sameness. All the paradoxes, quirks, pop sensibilites and intelligence put Negative Space well in front of many bands with major label deals. It seems to be a pretty good bet they won’t be without one too much longer.

Negative Space is indeed nothing ordinary. Eight and a half out of ten.