indiessance: indie rock

Showing posts with label indie rock. Show all posts

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Bully: Trying [Alicia Bognanno]

In Nashville-based Bully's A-side Trying, frontwoman Alicia Bognanno grinds her vocal folds to characterize a grunge/punk-inspired manifestation of raw youth angst. Gwen Stefani attitude is discernible. Tension, frustration and grinding characterize late teens in their struggle to overcome one identity crisis after another—most of us lived through it.

Bognanno dealt with the female side of the issue. Girls flipping through fashion magazines. Searching for the meaning of elusive beauty, which has been waiting patiently inside all along—to unfold before the world like a rose. Then a infamous feminine delay triggered self-analysis:

I question everything
My focus, my figure, my sexuality
And how much it matters or why it would mean anything₁

During adolescence, if not before, kids, especially girls, will develop the classic imaginary audience. Believing she is constantly onstage, she becomes self-conscious, thinking everyone is watching her, that everyone believes she is obese or sees the pimple that she discovered with horror this morning. Walking down the corridors of the mall, she cannot avoid the floor-to-ceiling images of slender Gap models or Britney Spears—like mannequins displaying well-toned abs. It may be impossible for her to pass by a mirror or a shiny show window without stealing a glance.₂

Said the Gramophone ➣ Pop ➣ Bully - Trying (MP3)

Bognanno's image is grungy and cosmetically conservative. Her conversational tone, approachable. New listeners discover a realist. In the studio, the band is no different. Their sonic approach is very analog; every track is recorded directly to tape, advocating uncompressed audio. Reel-to-reel dating back to the 1930s continues to be real to this day. Bognanno explained to The Seventh Hex how she prefers recordings that sound like live performances—indulging realistic fans. She personally engineered Bully's first vinyl LP, Feels Like. Capturing the edgy angst of teen spirit.

Bognanno, Alicia. Trying. Bully. Released 23 July 2015. Startime International/Columbia, 2015. CD.
Carson, Mina; Lewis, Tisa; Shaw, Susan M.. Girls Rock!: Fifty Years of Women Making Music. 2015. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky. Print. p.122

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Low: No Comprende

Seattle-based Low has diminished the breakneck pace of the rock'n'roll dream. Even while their music is sped up to twice the tempo, vocals fail to ring like cheery chipmunks (one way to test for slowcore). Two full albums at double-speed could fit on the same vinyl LP without forcing analogue sound or stressing plastic microgrooves. Their latest A-side, No Comprende, is like that.

Bands flare up like flash fires to drift into obscurity like ashes, but Low has maintained a consistent moderate pace for two decades. So pushing harder and faster might throw off the chemical balance, or shift creativity out of place, adversely affecting the band's indie rock longevity. In other words, faster ≠ better.

Other titles through Sub Pop are The Invisible Way, Drums and Guns, and C’mon. Their latest single No Comprende is a perfect example of how a well-crafted slowcore single should sound. Notice how the matchstick refuses to quit.

Oh So Slowcore

In 1998, bandleader Alan Sparhawk told QRD Magazine the chintziest label given to Low was slowcore:

I hate that word. The most appropriate is anything that uses the word minimal in it, but I don't think anybody's made one up for that.₁

Minimal indie rock fits, but so does the indie rock subgenre slowcore as a type of anti-hardcore (or anti-genre). While minimal music actually relates general aesthetics, styles and techniques which frame the subgenre. Classification then details the movement as a particular subdivision of indie rock. Listeners use genres to find music—like a card catalog. Sparhawk may scorn the label, but his original intention was slow, sonically stripped indie music:

Of the bands grouped into sadcore and slowcore classifications by critics in the early '90s, none were slower—or perhaps sadder (though Red House Painters might win that contest)—than Low. The band's roots lay in a live prank pulled off by guitarist/founder/singer Alan Sparhawk's pre-Low band Zen Identity, in which the band performed a set of excruciatingly slow, sonically stripped, low-volume songs to a grunge/alt-rock-hungry audience. Reaction notwithstanding, Sparhawk liked the musical result and formed Low to carry out this vision. His wife, Mimi Parker, took a brush-and-stick approach to a drum kit consisting of a floor tom and a single cymbal. Bassist John Nichols rounded out the lineup...₂

Slow tempo inspired his vision, and with that characteristic slowness came the music press's appropriated subgenre label—searing like a branding iron. Low shoots slow-mo spitballs in the same classroom with Galaxie 500, Codeine, American Music Club, Red House Painters, Seam, Idaho, Karate and Nina Nastasia. For example—thanks to the subsonic association—Codeine fans are made aware of other protracted bands, including Low. So the inherently ambiguous genre label is two-edged. Helping potential fan$ taste test sonic categories first at YouTube, MySpace and SoundCloud. While the same label might also stereotype a band, failing to accurately represent the particulars of their sound. Right about when that shifty little slowcore label receives contempt from both artist and fan.

Low interview from QRD #14. QRD Magazine. October 1998. Web. Accessed: Sept. 16, 2015. http://www.silbermedia.com/qrd/archives/low14.html.
Earles, Andrew. Gimme Indie Rock. 2014. Minneapolis, MN: Voyageur. Print. pp.177,178

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Interview: Andrew Heath

art by April Monic

In an exclusive interview, Andrew Heath of the Mesa-based band, We Are They, talks about performing in Tempe, fan appreciation, and collective pastimes.

[indiessance]
There must be venues in California that appreciate how We Are They delivers metal to the masses.

[andrew heath]
Well, I wouldn't say we deliver much metal, but a lot of places that are sceptical of us at first are won over by the end of the show.

[indiessance]
Do you think the touring buzz will ever wear off any time soon?

[andrew heath]
Touring was definitely an experience with the highest of highs and lowest of lows. We're a dysfunctional family, so we can take it. We can't wait to get out there again.

[indiessance]
Which venue gives you the biggest headrush?

[andrew heath]
As for the biggest headrush, that usually depends on crowd response. I'd say our favorite shows have to include The Real Bar in Tempe, Arizona in September of 2006 because we packed a bar meant for about 150 people with 200+. The crowd was louder than we were, it was insane. The venue gave us two encore songs, much to the dismay of the promoters due to time constraints, because the crowd wouldn't stop chanting our name. Another show would be The Ridglea Theater's main stage in Fort Worth, Texas from this last tour. We played an open mic there on our first run through Texas and they invited us back to the main stage on our way back. It was incredible. The crowd loved it and we put on a great show. Ryan was so excited he forgot to put shoes on before the show.

[indiessance]
Have you performed at any total dives?

[andrew heath]
As for dives, we've played in sushi restaurants and even an abandoned building. Anything for a gig.

[indiessance]
The musical style of We Are They is eclectic. Could you help clear up any confusion, by describing the specific sonic ingredients that are combined to make up your music? What special quality or contribution does each member make? What are the main genre additives?

[andrew heath]
Wow. This one's always hard. The band was brought together from try outs, so no one knew each other before it formed. We've all evolved to love many, many different styles of music, so we just play with whatever sounds we like. Tyler will have a cool jam going on an organ and we'll build off of it, or Ryan will make a polka/jazz guitar riff and we'll go with it. Anything that sounds cool or fun to us is what we do. We don't have limitations or a specific kind of formula.

[indiessance]
In-between venues, the yellow line can get long. Travelling like sardines on road trips must get monotonous at times. What does the band do to break the monotony of a long distance? Any favorite DVDs? Do you have a favorite collective pastime?

[andrew heath]
We didn't have ANY luxuries on this last tour, so all we had was a deck of cards and Ipods. We played a lot of card games to pass time and whenever we found a place to stay, we'd watch a movie. The whole band is pretty big fans of the show Lost, so we have all of those on DVD, and we found a cheap movie theater in Florida during the tour to see The Dark Knight when it premiered. Andrew wouldn't let us miss it.

[indiessance]
Had read on the band blog that We Are They and the band's lead singer parted company; that was announced in September. But it takes more than that to make a band with a heavy concentration of talent to fall apart. Has this event actually caused the band to become more cohesive?

[andrew heath]
Yes, indeed. We're working hard to write new material and search for a singer. Andrew and Ryan are trying to see if they have what it takes to fill the slot if we can't find a replacement, but it's been a hard search so far.

[indiessance]
After checking out the We Are They MySpace profile, I get the impression that the band is not taking everything too seriously, and having fun.

[andrew heath]
Oh yeah. We love to convey our sense of humor and fun. We're not trying to be the next group of badasses to come into the music scene and destroy every other band. This is fun for us and we want everyone to know it and to come have fun with us. Even if you hate our music, we'll still hang out with you.

[indiessance]
Also noticed that you all seem to have an appreciative attitude toward your fans. Have your fans been reflecting that appreciation back?

[andrew heath]
Our fans have been great. We appreciate them so much. So many musicians will go out and sign autographs for hours and not look a single kid in the eye. I'd love to sit down and have lunch with every fan we have. I'd love to get to know them. We're here for them, and we'll respond to them as much as possible.

[indiessance]
What are some of the cools things fans have been saying?

[andrew heath]
We've gotten a lot of comments about how we're fun and unique and that's great. That's what we like to hear.

Another thing I'd like to point out is that our band is completely drug and alcohol free. We're not extremists who'll bash you for taking part in said substances, it's just not for us. We feel like it'd be a factor we don't want or need in our lives.