" This is intelligent music...

…the lyrics are introspective, poetic and make you anxious to hear the next song…It’s powerful stuff all around. Modern Rock that you can sink your teeth into…It sounds like Peter Gabriel fronting Van Halen!”

ELEMENT57 is the brain child of New York born singer/songwriter, Chris Galyon. After 7 years as the front man for Portland’s nationally acclaimed DIY band- 4th Plane Jaiant, Galyon felt it was time to re-visit his rock roots, turn up the Marshall stack and press record. With big guitar-riffed songs & melodies that you can’t get out of your head, Element57 seems to rock where few are able to follow. “Our sound is in the vein of Pink Floyd, Rush and The Police. It’s big & dreamy stadium rock.” says Galyon (Guitar/Vocals).

The band released their debut EP, Radiate to rave reviews and accolade. [ Purchase Radiate today! ]

“You’ll find yourself sinking deeper into each eloquent layer with every listen. It is some of the most memorable modern rock you’ll run into. The voice reminds me of Peter Gabriel or Sting and the music is some kind of fusion between Perfect Circle and a modern day Police. Element57 has forged a new sound for music fans who won’t be disappointed.” —Independent Weekly, June 2004.

Helping fill out the talented 5-piece are Jason Wilbur (Wind Synth/Sax), Andy Kallenberger (Bass), Jimi Sanders (Keys) and Joe Gardener (Drums).

The band, as 4th Plane Jaiant built a 7 year legacy of music with two albums, Tideline (1998) and Bipolar (2001) landing thousands of fans from Colorado to the Pacific Coast. Since the band’s 2nd release, Bipolar— the band has earned showcases at Jim Beam’s National Rock Band Search in Denver, CO., the Northwest Musicians Union’s “Annual Showcase ”, and Music Fest NW. Other accolades in 2001 included receiving the Independent Music Award from Musician’s Atlas for “Best Reggae Song” and winning the Makeastar.com Songwriting Contest. More recently, “Freedom” was chosen by New Future Records (2003) to be included on a sampler disc. In Jan. 2004, “Speak So Loud” was featured on Indie Music Vol. 1 distributed and sold nationally by Arizona promotion wizards, Black Dog Productions.

2005 will put Element57 on the road in support of “Radiate” with both local shows throughout the Northwest and tours lining up for the west coast and mid-west. All up to date information for the band can be found on the web at www.element57.net.

Cd Review: Portland's Element57 Hits It Out Of The Park With Debut

Once called 4th Plane Jaiant, element57 has relaunched themselves under a new name and a brand new sound that is powerful, sleek, gigantic and yet thoroughly filled with hooks.

By Andre Hagestedt, Multnomah County News

Gone are the slightly jam band vibes of 4th Plane Jaiant. With the new album, "Radiate," element57 has reinvented itself in a poppy yet intelligent, arty manner, creating a sound that is highly distinctive, even difficult to describe.

At the center of the new sound is a giant wall of fuzzy guitar, like some rumbling colossus that comes out of a guitar amp. It's slightly surreal and even a little alien, but always massive and thoroughly setting the band apart from just about everything out there.

GroupPicture the harder edges of Bush, Stone Temple Pilots or Audioslave, with the linear, single-minded, fuzzy lines of Morphine (without that band's dreary, psychotropic blues elements, however). Bits of funk or straight ahead rock are given this blurry, hazy treatment, while the songwriting is poppy yet sophisticated, in a style not too dissimilar to Peter Gabriel's "So" period or The Police's "Synchronicity" era.

Singer Chris Galyon even sometimes sounds like Gabriel or Bush's Gavin Rossdale, emotive the whole time and mysteriously blending in (almost too well) with the fuzzy wall of guitar.

The album opens with "Woke Up Late," with a driving, grinding kind of disjointed funk, as Galyon's melodies soar above the roar of their signature sound.

"All Remaining Pieces" has a pleading, plaintive quality in a more straight ahead rock vein, where Gabriel's "so" aesthetic really comes into light.

"Speak So Loud" has a slower grind, is slightly dreamy with that enormous guitar sound lumbering in a pleasant way. "Swept Away" has a poppy quality, a little like Semisonic with much bigger balls. On "Too Close, the fuzziness gets a little mellow and quiet for this somewhat somber tune, and the album closes with the memorable "Freedom," which brings on Bush just a bit.

"Radiate" is a nifty debut for a new band built from an old one, showcasing a truly unique and innovative sound. With a mere six songs, it'll be more than a little interesting to see where element57 goes next.

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