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Daisy Girl
~ Abstract Brain ~
Belize
5305 Posts |
 Posted - 05/15/2006 : 18:36:36
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gosh, I just love this local band I just finally bought the cd for.
Here's a quote
"This is love Pixies-style"
lindsey thomas minneapolis city pages
Rolling Stone just reviewed them and they are touring Euroupe.
Here's their website: http://www.tapesntapes.com/#
anyway check them out  |
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Broken Face
-= Forum Pistolero =-
USA
5157 Posts |
Posted - 05/15/2006 : 18:43:39
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I'll be seeing them at the Pitchfork Fest. in Chicago in July. I've heard good things.
-Brian
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Skatealex1
* Dog in the Sand *
1705 Posts |
Posted - 05/16/2006 : 03:00:31
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tapes n tapes are sick!!
The Truth Is Out There |
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Cheeseman1000
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Iceland
8201 Posts |
Posted - 05/16/2006 : 04:20:38
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Then they need
 I have joined the Cult Of Frank/And I have dearly paid |
Edited by - Cheeseman1000 on 05/16/2006 04:21:57 |
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Homers_pet_monkey
= Official forum monkey =
United Kingdom
17125 Posts |
Posted - 05/16/2006 : 05:50:45
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Yup, they are very good indeed. Looking forward to seeing them at Reading.
 I'd walk her everyday, into a shady place
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PixieSteve
> Teenager of the Year <
Poland
4698 Posts |
Posted - 05/16/2006 : 06:50:04
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http://www.myspace.com/tapesntapes
Sounds Like the illegitimate red headed step-child of Frank Black and Stephen Malkmus
FAST_MAN RAIDER_MAN - June 19th |
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Daisy Girl
~ Abstract Brain ~
Belize
5305 Posts |
Posted - 05/16/2006 : 18:21:30
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| they are really good the funny thing is i heard some of their songs on the radio here. i didn't realize they were local. then i read the liner notes when i finally got the cd and i realized it was local. haven't seen them yet live, but I can't wait until I can see them. |
Edited by - Daisy Girl on 05/16/2006 18:24:04 |
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Broken Face
-= Forum Pistolero =-
USA
5157 Posts |
Posted - 05/16/2006 : 19:58:26
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quote:
Originally posted by PixieSteve
http://www.myspace.com/tapesntapes
Sounds Like the illegitimate red headed step-child of Frank Black and Stephen Malkmus
FAST_MAN RAIDER_MAN - June 19th
How can someone be both illegitimate and a step child? :)
-Brian
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Daisy Girl
~ Abstract Brain ~
Belize
5305 Posts |
Posted - 05/17/2006 : 19:37:58
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I think it's called living in Kentucky, Brian.
Stranger things have happened there. lol.
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 05/17/2006 : 19:40:54
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Yeah, like the Derby and all that....and fried chicken! ;)
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speedy_m
= Frankofile =
Canada
3581 Posts |
Posted - 05/18/2006 : 08:17:38
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I kinda can't get past the vocals, like Band Of Horses, but if y'all are diggin' it, I'll keep at it.
he's back jack smoking crack find him if you want to get found
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mosleyk
= Cult of Ray =
USA
607 Posts |
Posted - 05/18/2006 : 08:58:59
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| Not too bad, but for some reason I find myself wanting a bit more from each song. |
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Homers_pet_monkey
= Official forum monkey =
United Kingdom
17125 Posts |
Posted - 05/20/2006 : 01:43:19
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quote:
Originally posted by speedy_m
I kinda can't get past the vocals, like Band Of Horses, but if y'all are diggin' it, I'll keep at it.
he's back jack smoking crack find him if you want to get found
Keep at it.
I'd walk her everyday, into a shady place
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misleadtheworld
* Dog in the Sand *
United Kingdom
1222 Posts |
Posted - 05/20/2006 : 04:26:21
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quote:
Originally posted by mosleyk
Not too bad, but for some reason I find myself wanting a bit more from each song.
Ditto. Maybe it's the production.
I'm quite enjoying the surfy guitar on 'Insistor'. Gnarly!
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 06/01/2006 : 14:29:30
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http://www.dailycardinal.com/article/1050028
Minneapolis band makes indie album of the summer
Joe Lynch
The Daily Cardinal
Thursday, June 1, 2006
Okay, confession time: The Loon—the debut album from Minneapolis indie quartet Tapes ’n Tapes—was released late 2005 in the Midwest. But considering its recent international release, as well as the fact that it has just attracted the attention of national reviewers and the college record-buying crowd, it seems fair to call Tapes ’n Tapes’ stellar release the indie album of summer 2006.
Complete with messy strumming, arty lyrics, late-night vocals and crunching riffs, The Loon is an album that entertains immediately but still rewards after repeated listens. This is an album to put on when you feel like letting loose while still being engaged and challenged.
The Loon’s first track, “Just Drums,” effectively sums up what Tapes ’n Tapes are about: They play music that doesn’t stray too far from their immediate influences—Pavement and Pixies come through clearly on this record—but they make sure never to forget the sheer fun they had listening to the bands that inspired them.
The jangling, Modest Mouse-esque guitar noise that starts the album off is beautiful but never precious sounding—it is like what Modest Mouse might sound like if they were more interested in head banging instead of introspection.
Tapes ’n Tapes creates an odd but satisfying entity: riff-centered indie music. They are what Pavement might have sounded like if they tailored their music to fit arenas, while still refusing to sacrifice an ounce of their individualistic songcraft.
The album’s centerpiece is the brilliant, galloping and insanely enjoyable “Insistor.” Combing the sounds of surf guitar with Old West guitar twang á la Pixies, Tapes ’n Tapes once again clearly state their influences without ever sounding tired. With lead vocalist Josh Grier shouting stream-of-consciousness lines like a less-crazy Frank Black—“I’ll call your name like Harvard Square holds all the inane / And don’t you know I’ll be your badger? / And don’t be terse and don’t be shy / Just hug my lips and say good lies”—it is hard to believe The Loon is this band’s first album. Fully developed yet mercifully raw, “Insistor” is the sound of a band with more talent than they have figured out what to do with.
“Manitoba” is The Loon’s other masterpiece, featuring killer riffs and lonesome, wistful acoustic tunefulness. This is the perfect song for one of the most untouched, ignored regions in North America. Accentuated with sleepy vocals, dreamy guitar picking and sweet/sad tone, “Manitoba” evokes the sense of living in a cold, uneventful yet compellingly natural region. Halfway through the track, the harp-like guitar playing gives way to a riff-tastic conclusion complete with Farfisa organ and guitar licks so pop/rock savvy you wonder if Cheap Trick didn’t come into the studio and give them a few pointers.
Only on “10 Gallon Ascots” does the band get dangerously close to rip-off territory. Grier adopts Stephen Malkmus’ technique of yelping one or two words in a high pitch during an otherwise low-key song, and briefly sounds like a dead ringer for the erstwhile Pavement frontman. The crunching chorus saves the song, though, making you realize that if familiar material is imbued with enough energy and spirit, it doesn’t really matter—we’re all having a good time.
This Minneapolis band does a rare thing: It works from an existing palette without ever being stale, or distracting the listener from its full-bodied sound and impeccably crafted songs. Considering the last true musical revolution happened well-over 20 years ago and many bands consign themselves happily to knock-off revivalism, Tapes ’n Tapes’ ability to use old sounds to create an album wholly their own is something upcoming bands should take note of and something listeners should applaud—while, of course, vigorously nodding their heads to the beat, because that’s what it’s all about.
Tapes ’n Tapes: an indie band not afraid to
flaunt their love of scotch—tape, that is.
http://www.thedailypage.com/going-out/music/news/managedit.php?intmusicnewsid=649
Old and new
Clubwatch: Tapes 'n Tapes
By Eric F. Lipton
Tapes 'n Tapes
Thursday, June 1, the Annex, 9 p.m.
The other day, the infinite number of monkeys on typewriters with whom I write this column and I were arguing over the state of modern music. "It's too clean and derivative," I complained. "It's not derivative enough!" the monkeys hooted, throwing feces at me and eating each other's nits.
Suddenly, in the sort of serendipitous moment that can only happen if you're making up a story involving monkeys, a song came up on the iPod randomizer. "Just Drums" by Tapes 'n Tapes. Here was a song that was simultaneously messy and unique AND derivative enough to sound like a postmodern mixdown of old Pavement and Pixies strums. With songs sounding simultaneously new and old, the infinite monkeys and I knew we had found common ground, and all went back to eating nits.
Which is to say it's good how the Minneapolis-born Tapes 'n Tapes can sound familiar on the first listen (and maybe even more so live). Yet as their debut LP, 2006's The Loon, shows, subsequent listens reveal greater style and personality than you'd expect from titles like "10 Gallon Ascots" and "Cowbell." The latter is my favorite of the bunch, a song so memorable for its leading bass line and trilling twangy lyrics that you think it just has to be the cover of a classic. Maybe by Wire. But after 15 minutes on Google trying to prove my point, the answer is: No, it's not. Which therefore makes it classic, and gives another reason for the monkeys to hoot at me.
Unrelated note
Many years ago, I was in a hip retro thrift store where the clerk was playing some electronic dance music: part of Dvorak's "New World Symphony" but with French lyrics over the string parts. I soon left, but the song jammed in my head. A week, a month later — it was still there.
It is now the six-year anniversary of this evil brain infection. The cure is, of course, listening to the song, something I can't do since I don't know who birthed this abomination of late-'90s dance music, and the store is long-since shuttered. And no, listening to Dvorak only makes me more embarrassed.
So if anyone out there knows the song and can help exorcise it, e-mail me at eric@lettuce.org. The winner will get a nice thank you card.
Tapes 'n Tapes |
Edited by - Carl on 06/01/2006 17:04:15 |
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Sir Rockabye
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1158 Posts |
Posted - 06/01/2006 : 19:55:18
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i'm sort of ambivalent about tapes 'n tapes. its hard to get me excited by a lot of these sort of new bands.
i'm pretty sure i'm seeing them this summer though, at siren fest.
You run all kinds of red lights except the ones on the street.
When you run out of exits you can always count sheep. |
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 06/06/2006 : 11:45:57
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http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/06/arts/music/06tape.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Music Review | 'Tapes 'n Tapes'
Tapes 'n Tapes, Bloggers' Darling, Keeps Its Shagginess Intact
Rahav Segev for The New York Times
From left, Matt Kretzmann, Josh Grier and Erik Appelwick of Tapes 'n Tapes at the Bowery Ballroom.
By SIA MICHEL
Published: June 6, 2006
Tapes 'n Tapes is indie rock's latest Internet-driven mini-success story, which is no surprise. This charmingly nerdy quartet is just the kind of band a blogger loves. It makes hazily majestic, slightly experimental indie pop that honors at least two forefathers (Pavement and the Pixies). Its members do not come from a hipster enclave. (They're from Minneapolis.) They have a babe-in-the-woods origin story (literally: they recorded their 2004 EP in a freezing cabin in a Wisconsin forest).
Most important, their work seems humble, as if they aren't quite sure they deserve to be liked. When the record labels came calling, bloggers got to feel good about themselves, as if they had saved nice guys from a sad life of dive bars and bowling alleys.
Just six months ago, Tapes 'n Tapes played a string of small, half-full clubs in New York, supporting its self-released debut, "The Loon." By April it had signed to XL Recordings, which is reissuing that album in late July. And on Sunday the group headlined the 550-capacity Bowery Ballroom.
If the band was nervous about its accelerated trajectory, it didn't show. With blank expressions the members strode onstage and quickly tore into "Just Drums," the first song on "The Loon." Despite matchstick arms, Jeremy Hanson, a bespectacled teenager, pummeled his kit as if he were knocking down drywall with a sledgehammer.
A few songs later, after a similarly ferocious interpretation of the iridescent ballad "Manitoba," the band's plan was clear. It was going to play fast and hard to fill the large room, even if that meant losing the mystical beauty of its slower songs. It often seemed as if it were channeling the goofy theatrics of Arcade Fire.
During "Icedbergs" the keyboardist, Matt Kretzmann, grabbed a tambourine and smacked the drum cymbals with it, jumping around in a fit of wild-man ecstasy. Then a gyrating Erik Appelwick almost dropped his bass guitar. "The other day, in the middle of rocking out, he broke his strap and decided to fix it with a toothpick," the vocalist Josh Grier said as Mr. Appelwick applied duct tape. "As they say in the circus, the show must go on."
It was shaggily endearing, and though Tapes 'n Tapes hasn't been together long, the members perform with an almost telepathic rapport. At one point the singer and the bassist faced each other, playing furiously with their legs spread wide, like heavy-metal droogs. What's great about the band's music is the way it crams many different moods and dynamics into a single elliptical song.
Live, Tapes 'n Tapes struck one energetic note for the entire set. The band has all the buzz it could want, but it still lacks the confidence to develop a complex live identity of its own. And that, of course, will make some bloggers like it even more.
Tapes 'n Tapes returns tonight to the Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, East Village; (212) 533-2111. The show is sold out. |
Edited by - Carl on 06/06/2006 12:03:02 |
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 06/07/2006 : 12:46:35
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http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A83607
Tapes 'n Tapes
The Loon
BY TONY WARE
Published 06.07.06
Sporting palpable, musical touchstones that make easy discussion-board talking points, Minneapolis quartet Tapes 'n Tapes is prime "blog rock" -- indie rock made popular through grassroots music journals. The Web offers so much giddily imbued and embedded media, it'll keep your metacarpals scurrying across that keyboard to explore more cliques with your clicks, and Tapes 'n Tapes offers a similarly saturated indie OCD name-that-influence syndrome. Pavement, the Pixies, Tangiers, Wire and the Feelies have all been plucked from the referential reservoir and bandied about, at times accurately. Where Tapes 'n Tapes succeeds is in unhurriedly surging arrangement. The rhythm is at times jagged and others jangly, and the embellishments smooth and jazzy atop a roots-brushed strum. There is neither too much bombast nor ballast, and the stylistic references don't sound overthought or overwrought. It will spawn MP3s 'n MP3s. 3 stars.
Tapes 'n Tapes plays the Drunken Unicorn Fri., June 9, with Figurines and Cold War Kid.
http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/stories/DN-tapes_0614gl.ART.State.Edition1.529d4c.html
Rock revival
POP MUSIC REVIEW: Tapes and Figurines hit familiar chords
12:00 AM CDT on Wednesday, June 14, 2006
By CRAYTON HARRISON / The Dallas Morning News
An indie rock fan could get downright nostalgic at a show like this.
There were echoes of Pavement and the Pixies Monday night at the Gypsy Tea Room, where up-and-coming Minneapolis band Tapes 'n Tapes hollered and mumbled in endearingly sloppy harmonies.
Its opener, the Figurines, had a singer whose nasal, childlike voice was a ringer for that of Built to Spill's Doug Martsch. The Danish band's jangling guitars and off-kilter melodies came straight out of college rock's early-'90s heyday.
The way trends go in pop music, the timing is about right for a revival of that old sound, when bands made rock music that was dirty and a bit slapdash but still engaging and enthusiastic. Monday's acts lived up to the spirit of that age. Their best songs had melodies no ear could refuse, and they delivered them without pretension, playing with energy and dedication.
Tapes 'n Tapes was led by frontman Josh Grier, a stoic, blank-faced man with a trim, grad-student beard. His low-pitched vocals had a ferocity to them, though, interplaying with the band's disjointed rhythms so they sounded a bit like mutters under the breath.
Most of the band's songs seemed to be written around quirky guitar parts, little half-melodies of about five notes apiece. The drums and bass filled in the rest, adding their own idiosyncrasies; at times, drummer Jeremy Hanson appeared as if playing in a surf rock band, careening around his kit with heavy emphasis on the cymbals.
It all felt wonderfully thrown together and charming, but the band got the best response from the crowd when songs congealed into something more than random parts. "Insistor" had a driving beat, forceful guitar strums and Mr. Grier's chesty growl. "Just Drums" was a hip-shaking hoedown with a stomping, goofy-fun chorus.
By comparison, the Figurines sounded more polished and traditional. They included time in most songs for lengthy solos, during which guitarist Claus Salling Johansen would step to the front of the stage and play with a grim expression on his face, his back erect, as if performing a duty.
Lead singer Christian Hjelm was more emotionally available, making rock-god faces, wincing and pouting as he strummed along. His voice was the band's most interesting instrument, adding whimsy and charm to dark lyrics about goodbyes and weariness.
The Figurines played in upbeat, major chords most of the time, occasionally interrupting their speedy strumming with punky blasts of noise. Despite the volume, the band's songs felt gentle and wide-eyed, without a hint of cynicism. That's the kind of attitude it takes to revisit old musical styles and give them new life.
E-mail charrison@dallasnews.com
http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/133411
Tapes 'n Tapes plays Solar Culture Thursday
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 06.15.2006
It's easy to imagine that Minneapolis-based band Tapes 'n Tapes got its name by spending long, cold winters just listening to tapes and tapes of music by bands such as Pavement, Talking Heads and the Pixies.
The band's buzz-worthy rock is full of catchy, danceable melodies and mischievous lyrics. You can hear for yourself at www.tapesntapes.com online.
The band self-recorded its debut, "The Loon," and then created a bedroom-based distribution center. The band sold more than 10,000 copies of the album nationwide and it was No. 21 on CMJ's Top 200 in December, according to the band's new label. In April, the four-piece signed with XL Recordings, which is rereleasing "The Loon" in July.
Tapes 'n Tapes is also embarking on its first full U.S. headlining tour this month. One of the shows is at Solar Culture Gallery, 31 E. Toole Ave., at 9 Thursday, June 15. Cold War Kids and Figurines open the show. Tickets for the all-ages show are $8; 884-0874.
Sarah Mauet |
Edited by - Carl on 06/15/2006 12:38:23 |
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kfs
= Cult of Ray =
USA
889 Posts |
Posted - 06/19/2006 : 09:08:16
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I like "Insistor"
Finally got me a Kelly song!! |
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Daisy Girl
~ Abstract Brain ~
Belize
5305 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2006 : 19:55:35
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| hey does any one know where I can track down a LEGAL copy of their first alb (i think it's an ep). i have been trying to track one down here in their hometown but none to be found at the local music store or their website. thanks. |
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 06/26/2006 : 14:49:47
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http://www.mammothpress.com/index.php?area=readinterview&pid=107
Interview with Tapes 'N Tapes' Matt Kretzman
by Joe Szczepaniak on 2006-06-26
Hey Matt. How’re you doing?
Good. How are you, Joe?
Doing alright. Are you guys on the road at the moment?
We’re actually in Seattle. Were just finishing up lunch, having a little sushi here. We’ve got a driving day, a couple days to get to Salt Lake (City). So we’re enjoying the city a little bit.
You play keyboards, percussion, do some vocals and stuff like that for the band, but you didn’t always do that, right? I mean, you kind of switched around what you’ve played as the band changed its lineup, right?
Yeah. Initially, at the start of the band, Josh and his room mate Steve were both guitar players. I’ve played horn, basically my whole life–trombone, euphonium, and stuff. They were like, ‘Oh...You can play bass.’ So, to start the band we kind of scrounged up a bass, and they taught me how to play bass. I played along with...like Doolittle and stuff like that. That was kind of the initial incarnation of the band. It was us three and a CD player with drum tracks on it that Josh would make. Obviously that wasn’t the...uh [laughs>...the hottest rock line up. Eventually Steve went off to grad school, and we got a real drummer. Then I would kind of do bass and some keyboards. So it was a three piece for a while. Then I took a year and actually lived here in Seattle. Then it kind of made sense...I moved back in the late summer, a few months before the record came out. I always wanted to be there, you know. It was tough for me to move out here, but I just kind of needed a break for other reasons. So it just kind of made sense for me to rejoin the band and play keyboards, cause I was an adequate bass player, but not good, you know? [laughs> It made sense to just play the keys and do this other stuff because it enables us to really reproduce the records in the live setting a lot more faithfully than as a three-piece. In the three-piece we were always scrambling trying to figure out how to flush the songs out right. I think the band just works better as a four-piece for me too because I don’t have the responsibility of playing bass (laughs).
That’s good. I’ve played bass for nine years, and I’m not any better than when I started so I understand. At this point, though, am I right to say that there is only one song in the set that you guys actually need to use a CD player or pre-recorded track for, and that’s “Omaha”?
Yeah. We do it on an iPod now because we would run into problems occasionally with the CD player skipping. It was a really shitty little CD player. So we thought, ‘Well, that’s kind of stupid. Why don’t we just put it on the iPod?’ So we put the Omaha sample on the iPod. It kind of works out.
I know you don’t write the lyrics, Josh does, and I know that you guys don’t even know half the time why he writes what does. But I’m talking to you from Omaha so I have to ask, do you have any idea what the song “Omaha” is about?
Yeah. It’s a funny story actually. It was a couple of years ago Josh and the early drummer Carl were at a Yeah Yeah Yeahs show at First Ave. (a venue) in Minneapolis. I think it was an “all ages” show or something like that. There were these couple of kids there talking to each other and they were like, ‘Yeah...’ It was a couple of years ago when Bright Eyes and Saddle Creek were like the hot thing. You know Omaha was like on the map of indie rock, and these kids were like, ‘Oh Yeah Yeah Yeahs are from Omaha, and Bright Eyes...’ and then they basically listed off the entire Saddle Creek roster whether or not the bands were from Omaha or not. Josh and Carl thought it was really funny. So there is kind of an ironic story behind it.
I totally understand. There’s a lot of kids here that are into that. Speaking of which, what kind of audiences do you guys get at your shows? I mean, you’ve been a really big buzz band for a while now, and lot of people who tend to focus on buzz bands are the “cooler than thou” type. Have you encountered quite a lot of fans who are genuinely into your music on the tour?
Definitely. I’m sure there are people who just really read the blogs or something, or maybe there are critics and people who just want to see what its about. But we do genuinely have fans now. Especially like playing here in Seattle on KEXP has been really supportive. They play the record a lot, you know. And we sold out The Crocodile last night. People are into the band. I don’t think it’s a fad. It’s been a great tour. We’ve probably sold out like...half our shows.
Yeah, I’ve noticed!
There’s been no “stinker” in the bunch. It’s definitely something we’re cognizant of. The reason we tour is because we want to put the live show out there, and cultivate fans. You know? I think our live show is like the record and more because we’ve been playing the songs for a year now. A lot of them are way better, I think, now. Some of them were pretty fresh when the recording process was going on. There’s a little bit more to it now. It’s fun.
You guys have been writing some material along the road, maybe in between shows, right? That is...since you’ve cut the record, has there been any writing going on?
Yeah, there’s been a little bit. We’ve been so swamped with touring. We were in the UK for two weeks and then we went home for three days. That’s not really any time to go, “Hey let’s go write before we go tour for another three and a half weeks!” I think we’re realistic about it, but there’s definitely stuff we work on. Sometimes with sound checks we have time we can play around and stuff. But mostly I think we’re kind of setting our sights on...You know we’re going to tour, we’re going to have a couple weeks in July to work on some stuff, and hopefully when we go out with the Futureheads, and play some of these festivals later in the summer we’ll have a couple of new ones [songs> to try out. It is fun to test your new material a little bit and play with it a bit before you sit down to record it. It’s hard to write on the road, though. I mean, we tour in a small van, you know, and if anyone wanted to pull out an acoustic guitar (to write) I think they would get shot down pretty fast.
With the sheer amount of touring you guys are doing, like with playing so many shows all together at South by Southwest, do you attribute a lot of your success not so much to hype, but to hard work? Cause you guys are clearly one of the more hard-working bands out there touring right now.
That’s definitely been our philosophy. It’s a job, you know? I mean obviously it’s more than a job, but I mean we take it very seriously. We’re serious about music. With the “hype” thing it’s been kind of funny because up until a few weeks a go when we signed with XL we didn’t have a publicist or anything like that. Every single article or major indie “props” was all them asking us to do stuff, all the way from Rolling Stone all the way down to “x-blog”. We’ve gotten a couple reviews lately that have been like, “They’re over-hyped,” or whatever, and it’s kind of a weird thing for us (laughs) to get ragged on for, you know?
You don’t contribute to it at all.
All we wanna do is go out and play shows and do our thing.
You seem to take all that rather light-heartedly. Are there days when it’s frustrating to read in like, the New York Sun, that you’re not all your hyped up to be or is it pretty easy to brush off?
Well, it’s just not in our control. I mean, people are going to say whatever they want, and to some extent we expect some sort of backlash because we have gotten so much good press. It happens to any band, unless you’re like Radiohead or Wilco or something like that. (Laughs) Deservingly so they don’t get any bad press, period. Especially for a new band with a lot of good press it’s just going to happen. I’ve kind of stopped trying to read...I mean, we don’t have time to read them anyways. We’re on the road. We don’t scour the internet. It stings a little bit sometimes.
Your humility as a band seems pretty consistent in everything from how you guys write your songs to how you perform to how you guys do interviews and press stuff. Is that something that you guys focus on because you’re aware that you’re coming out as a new band and you’re not going to be all arrogant, or is that just who you guys are naturally?
Yeah, that’s just who we are. I guess we’re just typically Midwestern. Well, Josh is from Oregon, but it’s kind of an ethic. I think we would just be uncomfortable if we started to get fresh haircuts and buy really expensive fancy things...leather jackets, things like that, you know?
Speaking of all that you just described....Has the deal you guys just made with XL enabled you, at least in idea, to move away from having to work normal jobs at home? Or have you already started moving away from that? And I mean, you guys tour so much, has it been hard to keep the jobs you have back home?
Yeah it was hard for many months-many, many months! Actually, I had to resign. It was like a voluntary resignation thing, mutual I guess. I was doing housing development project management stuff for an affordable-housing developer in Minneapolis. Before we went to the UK I was like, “Here’s what the next...indefinitely looks like.” They were like, “You should just do that.” Cause it just doesn’t work to be gone for long periods of time and come back to just have no idea what’s going on. Josh is keeping his job. He has been at his company for a few years and has a really good relationship, and they’re okay with it. It’s funny when the band stuff is going really well, and they see how well the band is doing, you almost get a “carte blanche”-“This is cool to have someone working here.” But when he’s home in between tours I think he’s going to try and get some work done. Eric’s pretty much been doing music almost full time with some part time jobs. Jeremy’s pretty much the same, you know. He’s off of school doing some part time work. That’s what most of us are doing.
What made you guys pick XL? You kind of had a cornucopia of labels you could pick from. What did they offer you guys that sweetened the deal over other labels?
I think it’s total artistic freedom. If you look at their roster, it’s such a diverse roster. Every artist is pretty unique or different from each other. So that was kind of the feeling for us. We knew we weren’t ready for a major label. We just thought, for development, it would be great to go with an indie label. And it’s worked out really well.
Eventually you’ll be done with all this touring, and you’ll get to go home and have a rest for a while before you go in to record. Do you guys have any anxieties about going through the recording process now that you’re signed to XL?
At least right now I don’t think there’s any anxiety about that. We’re just going to hunker down in my basement during the winter and just try to work on new stuff. I don’t know. You know Josh comes up with ideas and structures. Usually it’s pretty loose, and generally writing is a pretty organic process. I have full confidence that we will be able to come up with good stuff. We’re definitely looking forward to it, for sure.
What do you guys listen to in the van when you drive around?
We try to mix it up. It’s usually whatever is n the iPod. Sometimes we do “shuffle” or whatever. We’ll listen to full records on the iPod and try not to repeat things the whole time. I really like that new “Destroyer” record. I think that’s great. I like Animal Collective. They’re not really new, but I like them. We listen to those Wire re-issues that just came out. “Chair Missing”, Josh has been a fan of that for a long time, and I’m a fan of “Pink Flag”. But I hadn’t heard “Chair Missing” and I was pretty blown away by that. Jeremy will get the iPod and do the whole 80s mix thing. Space Jams, or some (Uncle) Tupelo, or Wilco (obviously we like a lot) and Radiohead. So it’s all over the place.
You’ve just said you tastes are pretty “all over the place”, but do you have a lot of artists that you can all agree on?
I think there’s definitely a mutual appreciation of each others taste.
Does everybody in the band like Pavement?
We have a running joke with the iPod, because every article is like, “Pixies or Pavement-esque”. So whenever we get into the car we’re like, “Ok, so are we going to listen to Pixies or Pavement right now? Which one? Which one?” (Laughs) We all love those bands. There’s no major dissent I guess.
Well, I could just see if somebody loved rap and country and everybody else hated it.
Jeremy likes “Rush” and Josh hates “Rush”. So that’s one. Phil Collins? (Laughs)
Hey! Hey! I’m a big Phil Collins fan.
(Laughs)
It seemed like you guys were saying for a while that Minneapolis wasn’t responding the same way a place like, say, New York would to your music. Has that started to lift at all, or have I misinterpreted that? Obviously there were people that liked you, but haven’t you said it’s not the same as when you went and sold out the Bowery Ballroom (a venue in New York)?
I think it’s just a case of being one of many local bands in a city. I think it’s definitely turning. We’ve got a great right-up from a critic after our last local show at Seventh Street Entry. I guess the true test will be when we’re playing the main room at First Avenue in July with Plastic Consolations. We were actually just talking about this over lunch. It’s like 1600 people. So we’re going to find out what we’re made of in town, (Laughs) you know? But we just haven’t been in town either in the last six months or so. I mean, our CD release party in November was pretty packed. It’s not like people hate us. It’s just kind of like we’re one of many. The other thing is the band has just gotten a lot better. We’ve developed a lot, and we do kind of stand out now.
What are some of your band’s favorite Minneapolis bands?
Currently?
Well, currently or of all time. Whichever comes to mind. I’m just thinking, there are several different areas of the country at the moment that have a lot of really decent artists coming out of them, and Minneapolis is one of them.
There’s this band called Duplomacy. Their record should be coming out some time soon. It’s take forever to get it out, but I think they’re going to do really well. I mean, people are going to like it. It’s definitely more mellow, but it’s just great, great pop songs. It’ll go over really well. Of course, Plastic Consolations are a phenomenal live show. I don’t know if you’ve ever had a chance to see them, but they’re amazing.
I haven’t, but I’m writing it down.
Yeah, like ridiculous guitar air-play...I’m trying to think...I’m a little out of touch myself.
It’s okay, don’t worry about it. What are your band’s favorite songs to perform? Are there times when you’re approaching a song on a given night, and suddenly the band is like, “Oh yes! We get to play this song,” and everybody kind of loves it? Or is it just kind of all over the place whether somebody is really feeling that song or not at a given moment?
It’s still really fun even though we’ve been playing “The Loon” for quite a while now. It actually still feels like it’s really fresh. So playing it for new people keeps it interesting for us. I don’t know about the other guys. Personally, “Jakov’s” (“Jakov’s Suite”) is always fun to play. We usually play it towards the end of the set, and it’s like an ultimate release song. That one get’s pretty huge live. I would say that one especially.
The current tour you guys are on seems to be doing really well, with Cold War Kids and Figurines. What is this touring experience like? Is it what you were expecting it to be from a certain perspective or does it go beyond your expectations as far as turnout and everything else?
It’s been really awesome. I think it’s the Figurines first major U.S. tour. I think they were at South By Southwest this year, and came up the west coast a little bit. We’ve played with Cold War Kids at a couple shows in L.A. after South by Southwest. So we kind of knew those guys, but it’s been great. We’re all buddies now, and there’s a great mutual respect for each other musically. I think we’re all different enough. The crowds have been really receptive to all the bands, which is kind of all you can ask for, you know.
Who are your audiences? From what you can see up on the stage does there seem to be a certain age range, or a couple that have a strong presence?
I would say it’s probably the 20 to 30 range. Last night was all ages, so there were probably some younger folks there. There’ll be some “silver foxes” in the crowd every now and then. It’s a mix, but it goes above the 20-30 for sure. Primarily, though, it’s 20-30, for sure.
Thanks very much Matt.
You’re welcome.
After the interview, I had the pleasure of attending the final show of the Tapes ‘N Tapes/Cold War Kids/Figurines tour here in Omaha, Nebraska. All three bands surpassed my expectations, and Tapes ‘N Tapes proved to this fan that they can live up to the hype. Be sure to catch them, if you can, on their upcoming tour with the Futureheads. Head over to TapesNTapes.com for show dates and locations.
http://www.musicomh.com/interviews/tapes-n-tapes_0606.htm
Tapes'n'Tapes - Underneath The Hype
Minneapolis based quartet Tapes'n'Tapes are the latest alt.rock band to emerge from North America on a wave of Internet fuelled, word-of-mouth hype (see Arcade Fire, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah before them).
A long list of acquaintances on burgeoning Internet site MySpace, well received gigs at this year's SXSW festival in Austin, sparkling feedback from influential websites and media types and a sound that recalls the much heralded likes of Pavement and Pixies have all combined to ensure that this quartet have been one of the most talked about bands of 2006.
With this in mind, musicOMH.com grabbed the opportunity to chat to them with both hands just before just their second ever UK show at Nottingham's Social...
I'm introduced to the band members by their tour manager and invited to sit down for our conversation. On first impressions, these are four impeccably polite, unassuming, unmistakably American, and dare I say it, nerdy, young men, who one feels have stumbled across this media inferno through no action of their own but by pure chance. They don't come across like rock stars, and certainly not ones people have been salivating over of late, but just lads who enjoy playing their instruments and writing tunes.
I begin by asking how it all began, how Tapes'n'Tapes were conceived. Josh Grier, founding member, singer and guitarist, explains: "After I graduated from college, a buddy of mine and I moved up to Minneapolis and started messing around and did some recordings."
He continues: "We had just two guitar players, and we wanted to form a band off of that - my buddy Steve knew Matt, and we corralled him in and taught him how to play bass. So it was two guitar players, a bass player and a CD player playing drums."
"It was fun, it was a lot of running around and playing shows, and we got a lot of great exposure out of it"
- On the whole SXSW experience.
Grier then explains to me how his friend Steve left the band due to not wanting to be in a group without a human drummer. But soon after they managed to recruit just that, a real drummer, Jeremy Hanson, as well as a new bassist, Erik Appelwick, which saw original four-stringer Matt Kretzmann take up keyboard duties. Tapes'n'Tapes as we know them today were thus formed.
And what about musical influences? Pixies and Pavement are just two specific names that have been branded around - is their any substance in these claims?
Apparently so, claims Grier: "People say Pixies and Pavement, and I don't think I can deny those," he admits. "But there's a lot of other stuff like Flaming Lips, The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, pretty much anything...Wire, Wilco..." he continues, hoping to present his band as more than just a tribute act to said duo.
On lyrics, and things he writes about, Grier is less committal: "You take them for whatever they are, I think everybody interprets them in their own way, and that's kind of how I hope they'll be heard," he utters, deflecting my query head on.
He's equally unenthusiastic about describing what his band sound like, struggling to find a sales pitch to the uninitiated. In response to such a query, he stalls: "Indie rock, I don't know. Loud, soft...what would you guys say?" he says, putting the question to his colleagues. "Eclectic," they all utter in unison, relieved to have found a term they all agree on, but leaving us none the wiser as to what they actually mean.
I decide to change tack and move on to broader questions, in search of some more substantial answers. The Internet. It's been a major factor in the rise of the band, their unihibited outlet to the world. Grier is quick to agree that it has indeed been something of a God-send for them.
"Nobody I think would know who we were if it weren't for the Internet"
- On the value of online media to up and coming bands.
"I think it's been essential. I think the blogs, Pitchfork and all that stuff - nobody I think would know who we were if it weren't for the Internet. It's not like we were going to get written up in papers without people knowing about us," he explains.
As a result of the online publicity they received, their self recorded album The Loon (out in the UK in late July) started shifting by the bucket load in the States (self sold from their apartment, no less), and made them a must see act at SXSW earlier this year. And the hysteria that ensued after the conference effectively made Tapes'n'Tapes the name to drop and probably the hottest band on the planet. But what did they make of all of the whole experience?
"It was fun, it was a lot of running around and playing shows, and we got a lot of great exposure out of it. When we were there I don't think we realised how much people seemed to be paying attention," Grier offers.
Paying attention is something the record labels were certainly doing, en masse - the aftermath of the festival witnessed a scrum of executives all vying for their signature on a recording contract. "We had a ridiculous number of labels coming to talk to us", Grier reveals.
They eventually whittled it down to the most appealing, and in the end decided to go with XL, the UK-based home of The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, Thom Yorke's solo output, and Nashville teens Be Your Own PET. Was there any particular reason to go with them?
"It seemed like a good fit," Grier informs. "The bands were good, they were really nice, there's a lot of creativity allowed - all the bands seem to have total creative control, that was really important for us," he continues.
"All the bands seem to have total creative control, that was really important for us"
- On signing their much publicised record deal with XL.
It's perhaps the latter point that is the most significant here. This is a band who clearly enjoy and love what they do very dearly, and aren't about to sell out to the music industry any time soon. The hype has caught them unawares, it seems, and one gets the impression that as long as they're able to write songs their way and play to audiences of whatever size, they'll be content.
Perhaps this will change six months down the line, when it all sinks in, but for now, these are four introverted characters who have been thrown into the public spotlight and still can't quite believe how it's all happened. Fame - and indeed doing interviews - is clearly not what they envisaged when they first picked up their instruments, something which their short and often tentative answers suggest.
Grier, for example, recalls a moment at SXSW when Zane Lowe, in an interview, quoted an online blog saying they were the best band in the world. Nonplussed, he replied saying he thought there were "better bands around." Other figures currently in the media spotlight, you feel, would have not been quite so modest nor taken the comment so wholeheartedly at face value. What's more, somewhat naively, he tells me of his bafflement at being asked in an interview about appearing on Late Night with David Letterman back in the States, even though it hadn't been officially confirmed.
Nevertheless, the music is certainly strong enough to do the talking, and as long as they can ride out this wave of hype, there's no reason why they can't go on to be merely a very good band who put out records and play gigs, as opposed to one to save rock 'n' roll as we know it, change lives or even precipitate the return of the Messiah - which I'm sure they'll settle for quite happily indeed.
- Jeremy Lloyd, 06/2006
Tapes'n'Tapes
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2101-2245867,00.html
The Sunday Times July 02, 2006
Pop: New Kids in Town: Tapes 'n Tapes
DAN CAIRNS
Who are they? A Minneapolis four-piece who carried off the coveted “hot new band” prize at this year’s SXSW festival. If everyone who subsequently namechecked them had actually caught the group live, T’nT would have had to have played a large stadium.
Are they as good as people claim? Yes, absolutely (a rare and refreshing situation). As their wonderful, hurtling new single, Insistor, and debut album, The Loon, demonstrate, T’nT have put all those years listening to Pixies, Pavement and David Byrne (with a sideways glance at the Arcade Fire) to thrillingly good use.
Okay, influences are not so much worn on their sleeves as emblazoned on a giant banner behind them. But who cares about that? Indie rock hasn’t sounded this dizzyingly good in ages.
When’s the record out? Insistor is released on July 10 on XL; the album follows on July 24.
Can I see them live? Their next British tour begins on Aug 24; visit www.myspace.com/tapesntapes. |
Edited by - Carl on 07/02/2006 00:34:39 |
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Cheeseman1000
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Iceland
8201 Posts |
Posted - 07/02/2006 : 01:46:30
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quote:
Originally posted by Sir Rockabye
i'm sort of ambivalent about tapes 'n tapes. its hard to get me excited by a lot of these sort of new bands.
i'm pretty sure i'm seeing them this summer though, at siren fest.
You run all kinds of red lights except the ones on the street.
When you run out of exits you can always count sheep.
I agree with Sir Rock here. There's so many indie bands all coming out now that are successful because of the internet but they all seem pretty uninspiring to me. Mid-range radio-voice vocals, slightly, inoffensively spiky guitar, all sound a little bit like Clap Your Hands..., who sounded like a million others before them. Maybe Tapes'n'Tapes will grow on me, I'll give them a chance, but I'm not convinced.
I have joined the Cult Of Frank/And I have dearly paid |
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tapes n tapes
