Editor’s note: In anticipation of Richard Buckner’s long-awaited Our Blood, out today (8/2) on Merge Records, I asked Buckner fan Jerry DeCicca of The Black Swans (a band that has shared the stage with Buckner) to say a few words about the man:
I’m submitting this text as my end of a barter: I received the new Richard Buckner album, Our Blood, several months before its release in exchange for typing about it for this “website.” Summation, however, isn’t really my bag and, for Buckner, I have no critical eye. Instead, I’ll state why I made this agreement and try not to gush much.
Long ago, in a pre-Internet world, I became a Buckner-head, tracked him cross-country whenever word spread of a show. The road was his home, so opportunity abound! Then, he was something of a folksinger, or maybe he just sounded like one because he played an acoustic guitar. Like Mark Eitzel, Vic Chestnutt, and Mark Linkous, he used language and a guitar in a way that made everyone else sound square and safe and dumb. He channeled Creeley and cummings and William Carlos Williams and Townes Van Zandt and the mountains. Every record released was an event. Collaborators ranged from Butch Hancock and Lloyd Maines to Calexico to Marc Ribot and Dave Schramm to a Canadian (future ex-wife) drummer.
Back then, people talked to one another about music. They left their homes, sometimes read books. It seems hard to believe that Buckner the musician would be born in this world of blogs and Twitterbrains that repeat and delete anything their comrades/co-hackers “publish” as temporarily relevant. His music is rarely immediate, always unpredictable, gentle and feral, and reminds me of musicians I love from the 60s and 70s because you sense that all music and art informs what noises he makes. I hear Tony Conrad and John Martyn in his newer songs and recent performances (can I say there are melodic leitmotifs?). Buckner is a big man in a world of little boys. As an artist, he’s a role model, though I doubt I’ll ever have as much guts to give as much to my music as he has his. It’s easy to meet other songwriters that agree with me about all of this. Oh, and his website used to have a homepage that said only (paraphrasing), “Go stare at the sun.” Love that guy.
While the indie/DIY scene continues to over saturate itself day after day with “really cool bands”, I can’t help but feel that most of these bands are missing the point. These days you can be hard pressed to find artists putting more effort into the quality of their music than their general aesthetic.
Thankfully, gems like London-based Let’s Wrestle (vocalist/guitarist Wesley Patrick Gonzalez, bassist Sam Pillay and drummer Darkus Bishop) shine through all the flimflammery and leave you with charming, unpretentious rock.
Upping the ante since their first full-length in 2009, In the Court of the Wrestling Let’s, the trio recorded their sophomore album with Steve Albini at Electrical Audio. Nursing Home was released last month on Merge.
I caught up with Wes last week to find out more about the band and their experience with Albini.
Wikipedia tells me (and genuine sources confirm) critics have compared you to The Fall and early Wedding Present. While I’m sure it’s partially because they must be influences of yours, how do you feel about comparisons like this when you read about bands?
I think these are reviews of early singles or something before the 1st album. People haven’t really said this much recently. I will analyze each reference way too much. For instance, with those two Mark Smith can’t sing. I think I can. the guitar sounds on early Fall records are really cool but I don’t think my guitar playing is like that and they also may be talking about the last Fall album which would be horrible. As for being compared to The Wedding Present, I don’t like them I think they are lacking songs. I don’t give a shit about how we sound. I mainly want people to acknowledge that it is pop music.
What does Let’s Wrestle sound like to Let’s Wrestle?
If you mean the records, I can never figure out what I think of them. I always think there is a lot wrong with them. I was worried that the new album wasn’t at all catchy for a long time. I would also keep on playing people certain songs going “look doesn’t it sound like Cheap Trick”, which it doesn’t. As for what I think my band sounds like, not concerning records, as in my head as a general thing, I always think of the records I am listening to at the moment and the songs I’m writing and the people I’m trying to write in the style of. At the moment it is all west coast late 60′s stuff. The 3rd album will be very different if we can do it in exactly the way we’ve been talking about it for a while.
How old were you all when you started recording together?
I think we were either 15 or 16. Me and Mike (who has now left) started the band when we were 13 or something, just messing around with four tracks and dictaphones. 15-16 was when we did the first single.
If there was one song that made you want to make your own music, what would it be?
I dunno if I could ever answer that. I mainly have a couple of songs a year that make me continue making music and not killing myself. One of those would be “Such A Night” by Dr John which I listen to all the time. Its just amazing. Or “King Of The Rumbling Spires” by T-Rex. That song is bizzare!
Is it true the band is named after a David Shrigley book? Is he also an inspiration of sorts for drawing your own album art?
The Shrigley thing is true. I used to be very into him when we first started. I think there must be a subconscious album art Shrigley connection, but I don’t ever think about trying to draw like him. I would think more of how Dan Clowes or R. Crumb draw.
What’s your favorite Shrigley image?
I like that Parts Of The Fist one. I dunno what its from, but I remember it being good.
You guys just released your second LP, Nursing Home, that you recorded with Steve Albini. What was it like to work with him? Was he as humble and “hands off” the band’s creative processes as he’s reputed to be?
Yeah totally! He made a couple of suggestions, but not many, in the same way any good engineer would. He didn’t go too far with it to the point that I would’ve gotten pissed off. He was a cool guy. I’ve been finding it hard answering this question because a lot of people see him as an Angsty Punk God, and I was certainly in that camp before doing this record and spending time with him. He just seemed like a regular Nice Guy with some really cool opinions on things and some things I really disagreed with, like anyone.
While I find that English bands tend to do a good job of intertwining charm and wit into their lyrics, you particularly do so. What triggers such cleverness for you when writing?
Thank you. I don’t know if there is ever a trigger. I hate writing lyrics. I don’t get why people think I’m so good at them. Most of the time I don’t even pay attention to what I’m really saying and it won’t be until quite a long time after writing the song until I realize what its about.
I heard that you were going to name this record Trout Mask Wrestlica. Did Simon Trought have anything to do with that (as you recorded your first LP with him), or was it totally an homage to Captain Beefheart? Why the change of heart?
In The Court Of the Wrestling Let’s was an idea I had for years because of the King Crimson LP. Also cos I loved the Butthole Surfers Hairway To Steven record. Darkus Bishop came up with Trout Mask Wrestlica when we finished the 1st LP and we started talking about 2nd album names. Trout Mask Wrestlica is a far better name than In The Court… but we didn’t want to have to carry on the whole parody album names forever. I don’t want us to be looked at in the way a band like Half Man Half Biscuit are, a Joke Band.
If “Je Suis Un Rockstar” is the best thing ever made by one of the Stones, what’s the worst thing ever made by one of the Beatles?
Thats a hard question. First off I want to say that The Stones have done way better stuff than that. I actually really like the early Brian Jones era stuff. When I said that “Je Suis En Rockstar” was the best thing any of them did I think I just get angry that The Stones get used in the same sentence as The Beatles because It’s not worth comparing. It is so obvious who is better. I’d understand more if it was The Stones or The Faces, people just shouldn’t bring The Beatles into it. I can’t think of anything I hate by The Beatles or any of its members cos even the naff stuff is brilliant. Me and my friend Merida had this conversation where I would play her Beatles songs that I could live without then every time I played “Honey Pie” or something I’d go “No it is Brilliant!”. The closest ones we came to were “Three Cool Cats” (which is a Coasters song anyway) and “The Long And Winding Road”, which I just think is a bit too soppy and unremarkable. But then again if any other band did this song, I imagine I would say that it was brilliant. Any bad Beatles is song is still gonna be better than the best Stones song.
What kind of advert would you hear a Let’s Wrestle tune on?
None, knowing our luck. I’d love to be on an advert. I am sick of being poor and any money would be amazing. There was talk before where we nearly got a lot of money for a Reese’s Peanut Butter cups advert, which would of been perfect but we lost out right at the end. I was devastated.
Finish this sentence. Making music in London…
Is sometimes interesting, sometimes terrible like anywhere else. You can get disenchanted or inspired by anywhere, even Hull.
TNV’s new video provides a quick tour of small-town Ohio, and it’s also a preview of sorts for the Columbus band’s upcoming album, Dancer Equired. You’ll hear pieces of “It’s a Culture” and “Somebody’s Slave,” wrapping up in Musicol’s Studio A with Beth Murphy doing an acoustic rendition of “Try Harder.” Adam Elliott described the video to NPR’s All Songs Considered this way:
“hello, we are times new viking from columbus ohio” was shot by jo mccaughey in and around the small hometowns of the band. adam is from troy, ohio. jared is from new lebanon, ohio, and beth is from gahanna, ohio. intended to be a snapshot/vignette of where we came from before we moved to the big college town of columbus, ohio. the “roots” of our upbringing. our music somehow fits perfectly, no need for voiceovers. highlights include the landmark k’s hamburgers in troy and snicker’s bar in new lebanon, home to the karaoke in dixie county. please visit small town ohio. shot on a beautiful and very cold winter day.
Dancer Equired is out on Merge Records April 26 in the US, Wichita in the UK. (ht: Wumme)
Pitchfork Media formally announced Columbus’s own Times New Viking has signed to Merge Records. The new album is called Dancer Equired. It will be released April 25, 2011 in America.
Wichita Recordings will release the album in Europe. Pop Frenzy in Australia. and Big Nothing will put Dancer Equired out in Japan.
Above is the video for the first single off of Dancer Equired, “No Room to Live”. It has TNV walking around Washington Beach to Cafe Bourbon Street, while the frames are altered by 40 artists from Columbus, Ohio and beyond.
Brandon Reichard and Pelham Johnston directed the video.
This video really has something for everything. Flying whales, sexy 80s babes, nerds, and the desert.
The band’s new album comes out on my birthday later this month. Keep reading for tour dates.
“An 8-piece Destroyer orchestra will tour the US and Canada in support of the album beginning in March 2011.”
03-17 Vancouver, British Columbia – The Commodore Ballroom #
03-18 Seattle, WA – The Crocodile #
03-19 Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge #
03-21 San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall #
03-22 Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour #
03-23 Tucson, AZ – Club Congress #
03-25 Austin, TX – The Mohawk #
03-26 Dallas, TX – The Loft #
03-27 Little Rock, AR – Sticky Fingers Chicken Shack #
03-28 St Louis, MO – The Luminary Center for the Arts #
03-29 Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall #
03-30 Pontiac, MI – The Pike Room at the Crofoot #
03-31 Toronto, Ontario – Lee’s Palace #
04-01 Montreal, Quebec – La Cabaret du Mile End #
04-02 Cambridge, MA – Middle East Downstairs #
04-03 New York, NY – Webster Hall #
04-04 Philadelphia, PA – First Unitarian Church #
04-05 Washington, DC – Black Cat #
04-06 Asheville, NC – Grey Eagle #
04-07 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle #
04-08 Atlanta, GA – The Earl #
04-09 Nashville, TN – Mercy Lounge #
04-11 Madison, WI – High Noon Saloon #
04-12 Minneapolis, MN – Cedar Cultural Centre #
04-13 Winnipeg, Manitoba – West End Cultural Center #
04-15 Edmonton, Alberta – Starlite Room #
04-16 Calgary, Alberta – #1 Royal Canadian Legion #
Donewaiting presents Blitzen Trapper and Wye Oak at Skully’s on Tuesday, October 13. More info can be found here.
Before the interview begins, some obligatory praise for Wye Oak’s sophomore release, The Knot (listen to it, in full, at the end of the interview). Admittedly I was relatively unfamiliar with the duo (Jenn Wasner – guitars/vocals, Andy Stack – drums, keyboards) other than checking out a couple of MP3s from If Children that we posted last year on the site. That being said, within the first 5 minutes of The Knot, I emailed the duo’s publicist at Merge Records and said something to the effect of “Is it possible to fall in love with an entire CD before the second song has even ended? If so, I’ll drop to one knee and propose to Wye Oak on the spot.”
The Knot opens with the spacey “Milk and Honey” – the subtle effects-pedal-drenched guitar hanging in the background (the guitar playing – and the song itself – remind me a lot of Ashland’s Bel Auburn). It’s the first – and last – song that Stack will provide lead vocals on on the CD. The rest of the CD works on the ebb and flow of slow to loud, loud to soft that bands that Wye Oak have compared to are so proficient in (Yo La Tengo, My Morning Jacket, The Spinanes). It’s a beautiful sounding, at times loud and chaotic, CD and, as mentioned before, one that knocked me out from the get-go.
A few weeks into a tour with Blitzen Trapper, I sent Wye Oak some questions via email hoping they’d have internet access somewhere along the way. They did and the following are Jenn’s answers to the questions I sent.
Have you found that touring with a band like Blitzen Trapper – a band with critical buzz – has led to a “fan” buzz? Have you been pleasently surprised with the attendance at shows so far on the tour or have you played to smaller crowds than expected?
The shows with BT have been so excellent! It’s always interesting to play to audiences that aren’t necessarily there to see you. It puts you in a position where you have to try to win people over, and that really provides a good bit of energy and excitement, especially when you’ve been playing shows for weeks and weeks. It’s always really satisfying when you can get a good response out of an audience that’s never heard your music before.
I was doing some “Googling” to see if Wye Oak has ever performed in Columbus and couldn’t find any past show dates. Have you played in our fair city and, if so, did it leave any lasting impressions?
We haven’t, actually! Looking forward to this being our first time.
I only just “discovered” If Children but I spent some time listening to it on Lala.com today. Am I correct in saying that you’ve shifted directions with respect to lead vocals? If I remember correctly, vocals on If Children were split about 50/50. What led to Andy taking a back seat? Was it too much to pull off playing multiple instruments at the same time AND sing?
That’s pretty accurate. When we made If Children, we didn’t have a live show at all- it was really more of a recording project. In pretty much every way, this new set of songs was largely shaped by our live show, and most of the songs were written–consciously or unconsciously– with that setup in mind. Andy’s got a lot on his plate when we perform live, playing drums and keyboard bass simultaneously, so it’s really realistic to expect him to handle lead singer duties, as well.
It also seems like you’ve dialed back a bit of the ‘shoegazing’ noise although when you do use it on The Knot, it’s extremely effective. I love the way a song like “Mary is Mary” starts off quietly but then adds layers of noise texture. Is this a result of trying something different? Of maturing as songwriters? Of incorporating different influences?
The arrangements of the songs are never a result of trying to pigeonhole a certain genre or sound. We write the songs we write, and then we’re really just trying to do justice to the songs themselves. There’s a lot of trial and error in the studio, and the decisions of what stays and what goes are really based on our own personal tastes and instincts. I think we’re probably the worst people to ask about how our music sounds our what particular genre we’re emulating at the time.
Is there a reason that you haven’t added additional players to flesh out the sound? Is it something you’d consider in the future or do you think adding new “teammates” would disrupt the dynamic the two of you have?
A lot of it is logistical. We’re not a big enough band to be able to support a third person, and we tour constantly, so realistically, we’ve got to be able to stay afloat. Honestly, the duo thing started out as limitation, but it’s grown to be an aspect of our musical dynamic that we’re both really excited about and challenged by. If we ever get to a point where we no longer feel excited by the setup, it’ll be time to move on.
I’ve seen references to bands like Come, The Spinanes, Scrawl in Wye Oak reviews. Are these bands that you listened to and are aware of or is it the case where you read these comparisons and then go out and check out these bands for the first time?
I don’t know any of those bands, actually, except the Spinanes, and somebody just gave us a copy of one of their records a few days ago. So I can’t really claim any influence, but I’m always curious to check out people’s comparisons. It’s very interesting to try and understand how your music is interpreted from an outsider’s perspective.
Is there a magic formula to keeping your sanity while on tour?
On this tour, Andy and I will have covered almost 19,000 miles in two months. That’s two consecutive trips out to the west coast and back in our Honda Odyssey minivan. You get into a very unique mindset when you’re consistently living this way. You get used to it. Sometimes I think it’s the greatest job in the world; sometimes it’s a nightmare. It’s all part of the deal, though, and I can honestly say there’s nothing else I can imagine doing with my life.
What are your eating habits on the road? Have you ever booked shows in certain cities because there is some sort of attraction in that city (such as a restaurant, a book store, a museum, friends/relatives, etc)?
As of right now, we’re mostly traveling as a support band, which means we’re playing shows that are booked by the headliners, and we run on their schedule. We definitely make an effort to enjoy the best of what each city has to offer, but it’s tough when you get 12 hours or less to spend wherever you go. Eating well is very important to us, though; we couldn’t do this without maintaining a reasonably healthy diet. It’s worth it to spend a little extra to not have to eat fast food, which we avoid at all costs. The ideal experience consists of a good show and a couple extra hours to spend at a really good local restaurant, plus a good coop to get some healthy snacks and kombucha in the morning. If all of these requirements could be met daily, I’d be a happy lady.
I’m going to assume that you don’t make a living playing music – I don’t think there are too many bands out there right now that can exist solely on money the make from CD (or download) sales and/or touring. If it’s not too personal of a question – what type of work do you do to pay the bills?
We do tour for a living, actually- we tour constantly! We’re never really home to work other jobs. You’re correct to assume that CD sales are a small drop in the bucket for most bands, but plenty of folks do this kind of stuff for a living. Being on tour is the only real way to do it, though. I mean, for a band of our size, at least. It helps that we’re a duo, and that we’re able to live cheaply with minimal expenses.
I was reading the cover store on U2 in the latest issue of Rolling Stone and there is one paragraph that stood out to me. I realize that they are one of the biggest rock bands of our generation and they put on shows unlike any other bands, but I just want to get your reaction to this paragraph – “U2 are trying to make art in football stadiums – to achieve what Bono calls “intimacy on a grand scale” – even if getting there takes $750,000 a day of overhead: a 170-ton stage, 200 trucks and the corresponding carbon offsets, nearly 400 tour employees, more than 250 speakers, and 13 video cameras.” Thoughts?
A tour on that scale is so far beyond the scope of my experience that it’s hard to comment. I have no idea the kind of decisions I would make were I placed in U2′s shoes, so I’ll try to refrain from judgment upon their personal decisions about where to direct their money/creative image. I certainly hate being caught at the other side of that equation (on a much smaller scale, of course.)
With 2009 coming towards an end, any favorite CDs of the year that you want to mention?
We love the new Dirty Projectors record, Bitte Orca. We love the new Cass McCombs, Catacombs, and our friend Height (with Friends) put out an amazing record called Baltimore Highlands earlier this year.
After seemingly finding success in the U.S. on Capitol, Sweden’s Shout Out Louds have found a home on mega-indie Merge for their second album, Our Ill Wills. It’s a good fit; their smart pop-rock fits alongside that of labelmates Arcade Fire and Spoon. Downplaying the garage guitars featured on debut Gaff Gaff Howl Howl, the new record is drenched in majestic melodic sweeps and bouncy ornate pop. From the building lead of “Tonight I Have to Leave It” to the whirring denouement of “Hard Rain,” the album is a near-perfect mix of melancholic emotion and musical euphoria. Singer Adam Olenius wears his heart in his Robert Smith–like warble, similarly evoking a certain amount of sentimentality in simple lines like “On my way home in the car you held my hand” (“Your Parents’ Living Room”), or loss more directly with “Your love is something I cannot remember” (“Impossible”). He’s backed by a confluence of twinkling piano lines, reverbed guitar riffs, cracking beats and strings that make each song at once epic and epochal. Our Ill Wills is nothing short of brilliant, and thus the only thing one could wish for is that the band was playing somewhere other than the Basement.
