• CURRENT RELEASE

    • Release
      RETREAT
      March 3, 2017
      BUY

  • Click here to download two new band photos of The Knitts (photo credit: RSDIVA Jessica) and Retreat album art

    L.A.-BASED BAND THE KNITTS TO RELEASE THEIR DEBUT STUDIO ALBUM “RETREAT” MARCH 3RD VIA KNITTING FACTORY RECORDS

    In a gritty industrial area of Van Nuys, California, behind a powder-coating plant, lie a dozen neatly stacked repurposed shipping containers. One of these is ‘home’ to The Knitts, a band with a surprisingly long history and a short fuse, ready to explode onto the music scene with the release of their upcoming debut full-length album Retreat.

    The origins of The Knitts go back to the final years of the Knitting Factory on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles. “That’s strangely how the band name came about, from Charlie’s time working the box office,” recalls Justin Volkens of his brother, Charlie Volkens’ time at the club while various future Knitts hung out at KF shows. Now The Knitts are made up of the brothers Volkens – Justin (Vocals) & Charlie (guitar), along with Victor Portillo (lead guitar), Jaime “Jimmy” Luque (bass) and Clare Taylor Wilkes (drums).

    The Knitts, they’re not on the grid, don’t play to click tracks, don’t know how to work a sampler or program a drum machine. They don’t growl or scream, they sing. They’re not choreographed, they move. They don’t pose, they just smile and laugh. “A big part of being recognized is not doing the same thing,” Justin explains, “and isn’t that what rock and roll is about? It’s about adapting, bending and breaking the rules.”

    The band had spent five years playing the show circuit, releasing multiple EPs and singles before linking up with producer and Grammy Award winner Michael Leonhart (Michael Leonhart Orchestra, Yoko Ono, Steely Dan) and engineer Pierre De Reeder (Rilo Kiley) to record Retreat. Recording took place in North Hollywood and Brooklyn, NY within a weeks time, in part because the tracks are ‘live in studio’ recordings capturing that raw energy The Knitts  exude during their stage performances.

    The Knitts Retreat will be available on digital and streaming formats March 3rd, 2017 via Knitting Factory Records.

    MORE INFO ON THE KNITTS:
    http://www.knittsmusic.com
    https://www.facebook.com/theknitts

    MORE INFO ON KNITTING FACTORY RECORDS:
    http://www.knittingfactoryrecords.com

    MEDIA & INTERVIEW REQUESTS:
    Tony Bonyata
    Pavement PR
    e: tony[AT]pavementpr.com
    https://pavementpr.com

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  • Here’s what people are saying about The Knitts:

    • “​Los Angeles five-piece the Knitts delivers a set of rowdy, irony-free rock and roll on its debut LP, Retreat. Opening track ‘She Likes the Idea of Gold’ manages to careen through three distinct sections in three and a half minutes, all of it confidently exuberant. That energy carries throughout the album, as even the slower tracks like ‘Sorry Sonny’ and ‘Lovers Take in Their Own’ carry a charmingly unpolished swagger.” - ALL MUSIC
    • "Retreat is a tightly crafted collection of tunes, bringing to mind the second-wave of Brit pop with the danceable energy of Wolf Parade and the gritty garage folk of Deer Tick. Many of their songs don’t stretch beyond three minutes but manage to make a strong impression with their pop-laden hooks and catchy choruses.” - GLIDE MAGAZINE
    • “On The Knitts’ new album Retreat there’s elements of folk-rock, Brit-pop, math-rock, dance music, and stuff that probably doesn’t even have a name. They’re not following anyone’s rules or being held down by anyone’s expectations—another inherited trait from their San Fernando Valley home, which presents itself not only in the genre blending, but in their inventive song structures that place instrumental breaks, time changes, and choruses—or no choruses!—wherever the hell they feel like it.” – L.A. RECORD
    • “Editor’s Pick: 5 stars - Timeless - We’re talking Sgt. Pepper, Beggars Banquet, Nevermind… The Knitts have managed to translate the welcoming party feel from their live shows to this album. That same energy is carried throughout each song – with the tinge of unjaded youthful exuberance.” - SPILL MAGAZINE
    • “The Knitts are a quirky, fuzzy punk-ish band based in Los Angeles. Their new track, ‘Vamanos Mexico,’ has an endearing, old-fashioned feel to it, reminding of British indie rock.” - ALTERNATIVE PRESS MAGAZINE
    • “The Knitts’ ‘Sorry Sonny’ is a pleasant and boppy track that will inspire you to hit repeat. This catchy 100 second song features silky silhouette vocals, a plastic bag as a snare-drum and acoustic guitars that would make The Proclaimers proud. What more could you ask for? Turn this one up and enjoy.” - PLAY TOO MUCH
    • [4/5 stars] “The Knitts sound takes in a broad range of influences, from sixties psych and garage pioneers such as The Seeds, through the seventies punk rock explosion with the Ramones and onto the later power pop and indie influences such as The Strokes, all of these elements are skillfully blended on The Knitts’ debut album. Retreat is an original and impressive debut release that deserves to be heard, and it is something that I’d recommend taking some time out to experience.” - THE PUNK SITE
    • “Sitting comfortably somewhere between Wolf Parade, The Libertines and Deer Tick is The Knitts’ own brand of indie rock – intense, passionate and catchy with a mix of energetic guitars, anthemic choruses and pop hooks.” - THE MAD MACKEREL
    • “… a throwback to when alternative bands used to have a bit more balls and personality about them.” - THE SOUL OF A CLOWN
    • “Retreat finds The Knitts still charmingly bratty but substantially less ratty. Armed with guitar licks wielded like kitchen knives, the album has one foot in the sticky mire of American pop-punk and the other in the lineage of U.K. punk bands ranging from the Clash to the Libertines to the Rakes, with precious little of the album falling into the currently fashionable retro-garage movement. Retreat has found a way to provoke without being predictable. - BUZZBANDS LA
    • “... a brash, West Coast take on the guitar-driven yet danceable rock of second-wave Brit-pop bands like The Libertines and Franz Ferdinand.” - L.A. WEEKLY
    • "In the Los Angeles five-piece’s brash, hooky gems, you’ll find the energy, passion, and fun of your misspent youth." - THE OWL MAGAZINE
    • "Los Angeles band The Knitts are a young band, but the sound is the proverbial wise beyond their years. This is garage rock the way you always WANTED garage rock to be – so cancel all your notions of 'garage rock'.” - BLURT MAGAZINE