The American Heritage dictionary defines ambiguity as

(am’big’yoo’i’te)n., pl. –ties 1. Doubtfulness or uncertainty as regards interpretation: moral ambiguity. 2. Something of doubtful meaning: a poem full of ambiguities.

It’s fitting then that The Ambiguities’ sound is hard to pin down, making attempts to categorize it ambiguous at best. This doesn’t stop people from trying.  Daniel Oppenheimer, in The Valley Advocate described their music as “eccentric, cerebral, and eerily beautiful.”  Of their debut album he wrote: “If Beck had more of an Apocalyptic bent, he might produce a record that sounds something like this.” April Boyle wrote in Northeast Performer that their songs are “intricately orchestrated  pieces that require several spins to fully appreciate their complexity...there’re always new things to hear.”

This eclecticism has been years in the making, starting with their previous incarnation as SHArQ. Lead singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter Daniel Hales formed SHArQ in 1998 in his Northampton basement apartment. The band released their first album Future Artifact in 2001.  Soon thereafter, (then lead guitarist, now bassist) Leo Hwang-Carlos joined, and keyboard player and vocalist Carrie Ferguson made guest appearances on SHArQ’s 2002 release, Cactus In A Fishbowl Blues.

As the sound and lineup continued to evolve, the name did too.  In 2004, the first incarnation of The Ambiguities released eau de ambiguity, of which Daniel Oppenheimer wrote “a defiantly anxious, eclectic  and insistent work. Punk riffs, lovely melodies, distortion, hip-hop beats bizarre “psalmbytes,” high flown speculations and earthier songs like “Griddle Good n’ Greasy...not  a record made for casual listening. It’s too demanding for that, but justifiably so.”

With the addition of drummer Steven Freiman and harmony vocalist Hilary Weiner, the current Ambiguous ensemble came together in 2004. Based in a Greenfield, MA basement, The Ambiguities continue to “rock and unrock...audiences  throughout the Pioneer Valley”(Bill Waltz, Conduit magazine) and  are hard at work on their forthcoming disk, Invitation To The Voyage.