Positioner - Possession Arrow

Watch the video for the dreamy new single from Positioner, “Vines” – Treble Zine

Positioner (ex-Japandi, Weatherbox) prep debut EP – BrooklynVegan

Positioner’s debut album, Possession Arrow, is the culmination of a multi-year journey for composer-guitarist George Pritzker (formerly of Weatherbox and Japandi). After becoming an uncle and losing his father in short succession in 2016, Pritzker began shifting his attention from academic pursuits in Los Angeles to making music and art in his hometown of San Diego.

Returning to musical and familial roots has been key to the growth of Positioner. Inspired to start a new band in earnest while serving as the touring video artist for Cults, Pritzker relocated to San Diego in 2018 to begin work on the project. Postioner’s first EP — Unsteady Hands (2020), which featured drummer Griffin Kisner (Kills Birds), keyboardist Evan Backer (Wand), and bassist Jeff Striker (Japandi) — was in large part a tribute to the local artists that inspired Pritzker in his youth, with bands like Sleeping People, No Knife, Pinback, and Tristeza serving as sonic springboards.

With the help of drummer Drew Pelisek (ex-Chon, The Fall of Troy) and bassist Jake Kelsoe (Weatherbox, Band Argument) who joined the band in 2021, Positioner began work on a full-length record that would expand upon that initial palette. Possession Arrow, recorded by Ben Moore (Tera Melos, Hot Snakes) and Tommy Garcia (Mrs. Magician), captures the band’s affinity for the unusual without alienating listeners. Their experimental intuitions — odd-time signatures, abrupt changes, repetitive polyrhythms — are underpinned by an inviting energy. Bright, technical riffs are layered against melodic vocal arrangements. Ambient soundscapes created while Pritzker was a graduate student at Calarts, and field recordings gathered during his father’s battle with cancer, provide emotional accents throughout the record.

Pritzker notes: “Becoming an uncle and losing a parent shaped how I moved forward in my life over the past several years, and how I’ve approached writing and arranging music. I experienced some extreme highs and lows in a concentrated period of time, and as a band we’ve tried to embrace both — the light and the dark, the playful and the difficult — in different ways through this album project.” The result is a collection of songs that bridges genres and captures a complicated, yet ultimately joyful approach to processing major life changes.