Well, Here We Are Then is Joey Ryan & The Inks’ debut album released in December of 2009. Ryan had the bulk of these 12 songs written and recorded in demo form & began forming the band in late 2008. Coming from a variety of previous and current projects (The Exchange, The Alarmists, Flin Flon Bombers, Consolation Champ, Shanghai Subway) these ‘Inks’ helped add the missing razor sharp instrumentation & polish that helped catapult the band onto the Twin Cities indie pop scene. The album topped many year end lists and helped land the band as a finalist in Vita.mn’s best new band competition.
Press:
• Well, Here We are Then #2 album of 2009 in St. Paul Pioneer Press
• Well, Here We are Then #10 album of 2009 in Minneapolis Star Tribune
•#17 ADD CMJ, #166 Chart CMJ
“The local five-piece transports listeners to mid-’60s California, where masses of beach bums were able to sing four-part harmonies while simultaneously surfing monster waves and daydreaming about Liverpool and Cuban heel boots.” – City Pages
“The album sounds like Surfer Girl having ventured to a place where the buffalo roam. Well, Here We Are Then is a lonely sonic landscape, it’s worthy of your lust.” – The Isthmus
“…sumptuous slice of retro-pop that delivers the goods” – A.V. Club
“…The five-piece took the stage in Roy Orbison shades and with a confident swagger…Ryan and his crew shook the shack with boundless energy and unabashed pop sweetness that brought to mind the current “twee” sound as well as the doo-wop acts of the 1950s.” – TC Daily Planet
“a slice of breezy West Coast pop dang near on par with the greats of the genre. Like Brian Wilson before him, Ryan understands the power of pairing melancholic ache with exceedingly sunny melodies, while his bandmates toss off tasty power-pop riffs with a razor-sharp accuracy rarely heard outside of early Cars records” – Metromix Twin Cities
“These folks are inventive…and they’re making classic pop music that will sound incredible for decades to come. Twelve groovy cuts here. TOP PICK. 5 Stars!”- BabySue
“The album has a crisp and light feel as if its been hanging out to dry on a clothesline all day in the grassy fields of the Midwest. Yep. In six minutes, a talented band can take us places some bands aspire (and never get) to. Do yourself a favor and find out about Minneapolis’s best-kept secret before it spreads beyond the Midwest!” – LittleRatBastard.com
