The pop single is where The Positions find their inspiration and put their devotion. It's those reason-for-living choruses, the blissful melodies, the enthusiasm, the energy, the immediacy and the familiarity that put the fear of pop in them. It’s the singles from the '60's (think Phil Spector and the Zombies), the early '80's (think Dexy's Midnight Runners, the Attractions and The Style Council) and current indiepop (think Beulah and uptempo Belle and Sebastian) that rock their world, float their boat and twirl their ticket. The Positions are happy when their choruses won't leave your head, when you can't stand still, and you reach for the rewind button. Get the picture? “Yeah, we get the picture.”
The Story of The Positions begins and continues in and around Washington, DC. After the demise of the much-loved Barcelona in early 2002, keyboardist Ivan Ramiscal was looking for a change of musical scenery from synth pop to a more energetic guitar-centered sound. With the opportunity to put together a band to play after the debut of his animated film Space Love, Ivan rounded up some musician friends—Armin Pruessner on guitar, Bob Alcorn on bass and Reid Dossinger on drums—and debuted The Positions in July.
The Positions played one more show in August before a few months of inactivity saw Armin putting his time into playing with Sprites and Bob spending more time with his family. But Ivan saw a rebirth of The Positions with the same energetic rock but with a bigger pop sound. With Reid still behind the drums, Ivan invited Chris Guryan and his trombone in and convinced Tad Howard to add his melodic touch on bass. A party led to a chance conversation with Nicole Stoops, who was singing with the NYC-based Charming, but was looking for a band in DC and shared Ivan's vision enough to join the band. The songs took on new life with Chris’s trombone and Nicole’s vocals and the sound was getting clearer. The newer, bigger, poppier version of The Positions played their first show at the Galaxy Hut with Ballentine on January 19th, 2003.
Later that month, the Positions began recording with Archie Moore (of Velocity Girl, Heartworms, and the Saturday People) at Omega Studios in Maryland. Not only did they end up with some great recordings that were blessed with Archie's production genius, but they also picked up Ken Hammann, originally brought in to play trumpet in the studio, but whose contributions became such an integral part of the sound that he became a full-time member. Armin came back in to take over bass duties in 2004.
The Positions played and recorded throughout 2004. The debut album, Bliss!, was finished late that year and will be released in the US in late spring, 2005.
***Listen to a stream of "Bliss!" by The Positions by visiting this page on their Web site. Purchase it here

The Positions Press Notes:

Review of a Positions show at the Athens/HHBTM popfest in Flagpole magazine:
"Next The Positions, a five-piece from DC that is a fusion of the remaining members of Charming and Barcelona and sounds like a bolder, brassier version of the twee-pop Scottish band Camera Obscura: not as clean and polished, but definitely more energetic...The Positions begin to swing like a very groovy gate."
A review of a Positions show played at DC9 with Ladybug Transistor and Essex Green published in the Washington Post:
"Opening was a local band, the Positions, whose music could hardly have better complemented that of the visiting groups. The quintet, which featured a female singer and a trombonist, played loungey pop-rock whose tempos were just a little brisker than the melodies seemed to require. This twist on the genre, though modest, was surprisingly satisfying."