Six-piece rock band N.E.D. don't get to rehearse as often as other fledgling indie acts... because its members are sort of busy saving women's lives. The group, whose name stands for the encouraging diagnosis No Evidence of Disease, is made up of gynecological cancer specialists from locations as far-flung as Anchorage and New Orleans. They met up to play for the first time at a conference in 2008, released an EP the following year, and are currently promoting their debut full-length Six Degrees, which is due June 21st. Did we mention Yeah Yeah Yeahs' frontwoman Karen O is a big fan?
"As if being a doctor wasn't admirable enough, the members of N.E.D. are saving lives by day and spreading the message of healing through their music by night," Karen O tells The Amp. "These are doctors playing music to heal, heal themselves and their audience, that's a type of healing to which I can deeply relate. I hope to help their music raise awareness for women's health as much as it does the roof!"
Last night N.E.D. played their first of two CD release parties in New York's East Village (the second is tonight at the Intrepid Air, Sea and Space Museum). Proceeds from the shows, like most of the band's earnings from CD sales and appearances, go directly into a fund to help raise women's cancer awareness. A documentary about the group titled Dancing With N.E.D. is due in 2012, and in the above clip you can get a taste of their sound, which has an Alice in Chains-y vibe (a press release promises other tracks on Six Degrees have bluegrass and funk vibes -- eclectic docs!).
Here's a final endorsement from the woman who brought the hammer of the gods yesterday: "It's impossible not to be inspired by N.E.D.'s story -- they are doctors that rock, top that."