Lebanon

by Ned RaggettIsrael doesn't necessarily come to mind as a rock & roll nation -- and neither does Lebanon, but that's the name chosen by the quartet originally from Tel Aviv. The core of the group came together in the early 2000s when guitarists/samplers Avinoam Sternheim and Juval Haring initially formed a two-person effort called the Noisy Mornings, which barely squeaked out an EP before collapsing, as the two had to serve their mandatory national service in the Israeli army for some years. Toward the middle of 2005, having left the military behind them, the duo met bassist Avishy Londner and drummer Adam Katz, who together swiftly coalesced under the Lebanon name. With an aim for the kind of instrumental epic drama that groups like Slint and Mogwai had made famous, Lebanon quickly began building up a reputation for itself via shows in its home country as well as releasing an initial EP of demo cuts, as well as following the now de rigueur approach of building an Internet fan base worldwide via sites like MySpace. Showing an agreeable speed to their efforts, the band's full debut album, Sunken City, featuring poet Roni Hirsch as a collaborator, appeared in March 2006, little under a year after it had begun. Katz subsequently departed the group, replaced by Ira Motstein, while Lebanon as a whole started looking toward touring and further releases in the United States and elsewhere.