Dragons Power Up!

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1 History
2 Members
3 Discography
4 Related Web sites
5 Related groups

History

Dragons Power Up! is a rock group from St. Paul, Minnesota consisting of Dan Ries, Mike Ries, Chris Tures and Spencer Wirth-Davis (aka Big Cats!).

Each member drawing from his own corner of musical influences, DPU! blend the sonic freakouts of shoegaze and noise rock, unorthodox song structures and signatures of post rock, the rhythmic, atonal punch of post-punk, the love of hooks and melodies of the 60s, psychedelia and whatever else they may bring into the mix.

They have shared the stage with countless Twin Cities bands as well as Titus Andronicus, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Royal Bangs, Broken Records, Sleepy Sun, Locksley, Lydia, Free Energy, Atomic Tom and Semi-Precious Weapons.

They self-released their debut album "This Way to Gunshire" in 2006, later catching the attention of local indie label Guilt Ridden Pop (Gospel Gossip, Volante, Malachi Constant, Claps, Kill to Kill, etc) in 2008. Their sophomore full-length, "Brace for the Bloom" was released on GRP in March of 2010.

DPU! has a deep-abiding love for their hometown and the underground community within it, regularly playing shows at Twin Town venues. Tures is the co-founder of the Twin Cities based Electric Orange Music Collective, along with Brian O'Neil of Wizards Are Real. In 2010, the 10-band collective has released their first sampler and zine.

M. Ries and Tures are also part of the live backing band for Twin Town MC/producer duo Guante and Big Cats! The band also appeared on the P.O.S./Big Cats! track "Crack a Window."

Other DPU! member projects (past and present) include:

Mike Ries - Cloud Hidden, Michael and the Moonlight

Spencer Wirth-Davis - Big Cats!, Guante and Big Cats!, The Tribe and Big Cats!, Michael and the Moonlight

Dan Ries - Panther Ray, Rusty Zippers, Michael and the Moonlight

Chris Tures - Aldine, Totally Awesome Summer, Michael and the Moonlight, The Powerderhorn Cranes, The Electric Tapes, Condo$ (past)

Kind Words

"So many modern bands are carbon copies of one another. That isn't the case here. We love this shit. Top pick." - LMNO, Babysue.com

"Regular guys making irregular rock, and it's worth hearing." - WavedRumor.com

"An increasingly tight post-rock band worth taking seriously." - Andrea Swenson, City Pages

"(DPU!) tie feedback shards and ringing power chords onto a herky-jerky, rheumatic-rhythmic dissonance...nicely wracking, blustering and uncouth.” - Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover ("Sea Legs" 2011)

"Brace for the shards." - The Big Takeover ("Brace for the Bloom" 2010)

"The real deal and I must say, even better live. The band straddles the line between utter mayhem and crazed energy...it will draw you in. And it will be one hell of a great ride." - 365 Music Project

"It comes as a bit of a surprise just how giant a sound they manage to work up. Chris’ [sic] got a great vocal here, subtle melodies, up front in the mix, working on this sea story, changing phrasing along with the stumbling rhythm and when he hits that epic finish, you get it. ” - 7inches