The Fly at Sidewalk Cafe (Photo by Jamie Kapili

Between the South Street Seaport’s hosting of the River to River Festival and the Sidewalk Cafe’s penchant for hosting tight, energetic, up-and-comers, free music was covered Friday July 23, with a night of lo-fi silliness, stridently popping youth-rock and R&B showmanship. 20 Watts was able to check out shows from two venues and four bands on Friday: Loose Limbs, Best Coast, Free Energy and Syracuse natives The Fly. READ FULL REVIEW HERE

LOOSE LIMBS

Loose Limbs started our night off right at one of River to River Festival’s typical Friday nights: a three-act show from great bands who had just put out fine albums. In Loose Limbs’ case, they had just released a 7″ on Seaport Music Records, and decided to tell the crowd when they weren’t chugging through their spare singles of garage-y guitar pop. Loose Limbs played tightly and trade instruments a few times, but the crowd was present mainly for Free Energy and recent blog-blowup Best Coast.

BEST COAST

Indie-pop seamstress Bethany Cosentino and her outfit Best Coast to their credit sounded remarkably faithful to what you hear on their debut full-length Crazy for You. And whether it was the lo-fi or the pop in her simple, summer-spun tunes, the crowd dug the songs enough to nod their heads, shake their hips and maybe even  sing along with Cosentino’s male-driven plights of frenzy.

FREE ENERGY

However, no performance was nearly as impressive as the inscrutable Free Energy’s. Kickstarting their set with a more positive force than The Polyphonic Spree’s “Light and Day” moment on Scrubs, they jumped, soloed and yelped, powering through their first song like rabid dogs hopped up on E. Their songs translated perfectly to the stage as they projected their happy-as-fuck sun-pop formula onto a heartily receptive crowd populated by dancing babies, bums and of course hipsters.

Free Energy chose their name well. Promoter and hype-man Stephen Dima, who also helps curate the festival, fondly recalled them playing as Hockey Night, over six years ago, in addition to an appearance on his radio show. Who knows how their performance on SPIN Magazine’s roof will fly? If it’s anything like what they gave at River to River’s South Street Seaport show, it’s sure to blow  SPIN’s staff clear off the sides of the building.

THE FLY

The best part about The Fly is that they are an ever-changing, evolving entity — one that’s gone from playing shows in tiny Syracuse holes to respected New York City venues like the famous Sidewalk Cafe.

The Fly’s shtick hasn’t really changed, despite their new instrumentalists. Keith Smith and Farasha Baylock still rock out, rap at the crowd, slow it down and finally zonk out. With their latest performance though, whether it was the NYC air or just growing as artists, they haven’t so much dialed it down as fuzzed it out.

There’s more of a determined theatricality to their raw energy. Where some of their songs were amped-up chargers, now they might be R&B crooners. Where before they might have worn jeans and workout tights, now Smith and Baylock sport slacks and a dress. Even so, their cut “Middle Fingers & Hate Mail” has been altered to have them explicitly say “fuck you” instead of “eff you,” before it progresses into a metal-scream jam song.

I don’t think we’ll ever say the energy isn’t there. The Fly closed the night off with Smith wildly hurtling around the room, spitting lines from “Define Us” at the top of his lungs and urging the audience to fist-pump. There’s a certain rawness that The Fly will hopefully never lose. However, they would do much better if they knew when to dial it down and when to kick into overdrive. While the vast majority of their set (in spite and because of their evolution) was flawless, their final song “Define Us” lost momentum before it should have. That said, this won’t cripple a good band, and I’m fairly certain The Fly are good enough to know that they’re good, and to know that they shouldn’t ever stop innovating onstage and in their songwriting.

– Eric Vilas-Boas

WATCH: The Fly Perform at Sidewalk Cafe

The Grog Shop

VISIT: THE GROG SHOP ONLINE

The Grog Shop is a legendary Ohio venue that’s served Cleveland Heights for over a decade. One month ago 20 Watts decided to commission a short documentary on it.

Venues like the Grog Shop always have great history attached to them — a history of intrinsic connection with the music we hear in them. Think back to the best concerts you’ve been to and think about why they were great. Sure the band was awesome, but apart from the live performance and its smoke and mirrors, what will make the experience memorable? Venues owe a debt to the musicians who play in them just as bloggers and journalists do. Their job is to enhance the experience of the fans beyond what the band can pull off.

20 Watts staffers have had countless breathtaking experiences at Funk N Waffles, the Westcott Theater, Lost Horizon and other Syracuse venues. Animal Collective named their mainstream breakout record after Merriweather Post Pavilion. And of course, who doesn’t recall New York’s famed CBGB with some measure of fond nostalgia?

So when trusted 20 Watts associate Aaron Freeder offered to shoot a short profile on the Grog Shop, what could we do but jump at the opportunity? Check it out!

OR on VIMEO!

A short documentary about the legendary venue in Coventry Village of Cleveland, Ohio.

DIRECTED \\ Aaron Freeder
PRODUCED \\ Eric Vilas Boas

FEATURING\\ The Melvins, Keith Vance, Justin Markert, Diamonds & Pearls, The Corduroy Mason Band, Bayside, Hawthorne Heights

– 20 Watts

Kamara Thomas of Earl Greyhound

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: 20 Watts at SIREN 2009

To Coney Island’s ever-looming gentrification and eventual decline in cool, the Village Voice’s yearly Siren Fest is a welcome spit to the eye, and 2010 was no different. Upon arriving to the festivities a bit late and taking a gander at the stacked lineup, we decided to hit Surfer Blood, Earl Greyhound, Cymbals Eat Guitars,  The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Holy Fuck.

Surfer Blood displayed impressive talent for a band so young that sang mostly about being young. Powering through their debut album’s hits including “Swim” and the David Lynch and Syracuse ode “Twin Peaks.” In a classic display of Siren buzz-band showboating, their drummer Tyler Schwarz leaped offstage during their set and made his way to the crowd barrier to hand a drum off to an audience member. While the audience failed to maintain Surfer Blood’s rhythm, it’s not like the band suffered from it.

John Paul Pitts of Surfer Blood

Earl Greyhound chugged through an impressive set with an eclectic mixture of harmonic vocalizing from bassist Kamara Thomas and guitarist Matt Whyte and groove- and jam-heavy song structures. They even Radioheaded their album Suspicious Package out to crowd members after their set from their merch booth.

On the main stage, hometown heroes The Pains of Being Pure at Heart offered showgoers the same energy they always have, with twin-guitar melodies and the earnest that makes them both infectious and accessible. Praising Screaming Females earlier set (which we wish we totally regret missing), the Pains’ lead singer Kip Berman called them “everything good about music,” and said that he had teared up.

Cymbals Eat Guitars opened their set with three tight, screamed, guitar-driven songs that would likely appear on their next record, before frontman Joseph D’Agostinotold attendees “If you know the wa-hoos please do them with us.” The fans in the audience obliged him when they broke into their best song “And the Hazy Sea” from their debut Why There Are Mountains. In an awesomely odd way, their songs sound prettier live than on record — with more effects layering the guitar-work and more throaty treble in D’Agostino’s voice. It was a pleasant surprise seeing a band negatively compared to Modest Mouse shred like Modest Mouse doesn’t anymore.

Joseph D'Agostino of Cymbals Eat Guitars

The set that no one cared enough about to stay on the Stillwell Stage for — Holy Fuck — didn’t disappoint either. With live drumming, rotating keyboard- and synth- manipulation, and the thrashiest electronica this side of Hard Fest, Holy Fuck proved themselves more than capable of headlining alongside Matt & Kim, even if more might have made their way to that stage for Holy Fuck’s set.

All in all, Siren proved itself, yet again, to  be a superior musical experience. Screaming Females also played a phenomenal set which we were too unfortunate to catch and Ted Leo and his Pharmacists were smart enough to bring Marissa Paternoster back onstage to perform with them as well. Kim of Matt & Kim danced on the crowd and everyone had their fill of Nathan’s hot dogs and funnel cake. For as long as I’ve attended them (Peggy Wang from the Pains mentioned attending at the first), it’s been the big free music event to look forward to, just as it will be next year.

Berman summed it up nicely, “We’re playing Siren Fest and that’s pretty awesome.”

Story by Eric Vilas-Boas
Photos by Caitlin Dewey

Matt and Kim

90-degree beach weather, Nathan’s hot dogs and free music all factor into a day that I’ve looked forward to for years. It’s not the 4th of July. This day comes two weeks later. The stage that’s previously hosted indie rock legends like Broken Social Scene in 2008 and Built to Spill in 2009 will be sporting sunny indie-poppers Matt and Kim and neo-punks Ted Leo and the Pharmacists.

As always, the Siren lineup is neatly stacked — this year featuring a nice mix of up-and-coming blog-buzzers like Screaming Females and Wye Oak alongside last-summer favorites like Matt & Kim and the Pains of Being Pure at Heart. In an inspired bit of scheduling, the Pains, lo-fi surf-rockers Surfer Blood and Matt & Kim will play before both the aforementioned acts on the same main stage. All of their music and live shows are energetic and fun, which bodes well for a day in the Coney Island sun.

Meanwhile the Stillwell Stage will be hosting bands arguably just as cool. Holy Fuck, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Harlem, Ponytail and Apache Beat are set to rock Stillwell, making the ever-present choice of what stage to hit when that much more difficult. The full hourly breakdown was released yesterday in anticipation of the show this Saturday, July 17. 20 Watts will be on-scene for the day and will be covering the day’s shenanigans when we aren’t taking part in them ourselves. Check out some previous free concert coverage this summer and the last time we covered Siren!

– Eric Vilas-Boas

Yeasayer

PREVIEW: VISIT Yeasayer’s website!

Summer spirits soar when the entertainment’s free and the entertainment strive to be indie rock legends. Such was the case this past weekend at Governor’s Island when Delicate Steve, Keepaway and headliner Yeasayer took the Converse stage as part of the Converse-sponsored, mostly free “Gone to Governors” series.

“This must be the most remixed song ever,” Yeasayer frontman Chris Keating said before the group launched into a charged rendition of their signature song “O.N.E.” The crowd responded by blowing up with pop-and-locks, cheers and continuing to toss around a beach ball that had previously hit Keating in the face.

“O.N.E.” and show-closer “Ambling Alp” highlighted Yeasayer’s set, one whose first half progressed too slowly for my tastes. Whether it was Keating’s mostly affectless performance method of traipsing around the stage and twitching like a talentless Thom Yorke or the fact that other aspects of Yeasayer’s live show looks too much like Radiohead’s for my taste. (Yeasayer used white instrument stands that lit up with multi-colored light, Radiohead’s 2008 tour made wide use of similar hanging lights.)

There are a few problems with that, the foremost being that despite how much the crowd loved them, Yeasayer are as of yet neither as talented, nor as entertaining as those ’90s deconstructionists we all know and claim to love. Yeasayer’s weirder, trippier songs dominated most of the first half of the set, resulting in a subpar performance until they got to songs that most of the crowd actually knew and could dance.

Nevertheless, once Yeasayer picked up, none of the bandmembers faltered even once. To Yeasayer’s credit, the songs sounded much like they do on-record, and when they didn’t, it was a vast improvement. All Hour Cymbals single “2080” vastly surpassed its album version, with Ira Wolf Tuton’s incessant bass-line galloping with surprising volume before the song’s recognizable harmonic shouting kicked in.

Yeasayer have previously been compared to Animal Collective for that same harmonizing, but no one was guiltier of AC-aping on Saturday night than opener Keepaway, who recently dropped their first EP. Keepaway’s set was noted by multiple concertgoers as sounding exactly like that of the Brooklyn blow-up act from Baltimore, and apart from their set-closer and the fact that they managed a shockingly convincing imitation, they weren’t that interesting to watch, much less listen to.

“Where’s Brooklyn?” Keepaway frontman Nick Nauman asked the crowd before he and his band pointed to the heavens above. It was all I could do not to facepalm at the cliché he and his two bandmates represented. This comment was only one of too many sprinkled between the field-recordings and hominid-vocals they called songs.

Delicate Steve might have been the night’s biggest surprise. He and his crew of homegrown post-rockers who just also happened to be supremely talented musicians got great cheers from people they must have known in the crowd. They pounded, noodled and rape-whistled their way expertly through a 30-minute set largely without muttering a word and always kept their music innovative.

However, in spite of Keepaway’s harmless shenanigans and the lower points of Yeasayer’s set, the night of music at Governor’s Island was overall very entertaining, and certainly better than many of the free shows I’ve been to. The ultimate low-point of the night was the direct result of poor planning on the part of show-coordinators’  failure to anticipate the flocks of people leaving a concert after it ends.

I and the other thousand people trying to get on a ferry back to Manhattan certainly did not appreciate being corralled like cattle behind a pointless barrier for the better part of an hour. Plan on people actually leaving your venue after the show’s over next time, guys. Thanks.

– Eric Vilas-Boas

DOWNLOAD a PDF of ISSUE 22 by clicking on the "20 WATTS"

Love,

20 Watts

20 Watts tallies up the discography of Broken Social Scene!

Part of our Issue 22 coverage!
PREVIEW: Click on the links below to learn more about these albums and access music from Broken Social Scene

When defining Broken Social Scene, only three words really do justice: indie rock pioneers. In the past decade, the 15+-member band has almost single-handedly reshaped the indie rock scene through their innovative yet extremely accessible music. After only three LP’s and a handful of EP’s and side albums, Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning and the gang are finally releasing their fourth full-length album five years after their last record, Broken Social Scene. Although the new album, Forgiveness Rock Record, is not due out until May 4, it has already garnered a huge amount of acclaim with it first epic single, “World Sick.” In preparation for the whirlwind that is to come, 20 Watts is re-examining the extraordinary efforts the baroque pop group has set forth in the past ten years.

Feel Good Lost (2001)

Broken Social Scene probably didn’t get the recognition they deserved for their first. In 2001, the group released Feel Good Lost, an ambient, post-rock record featuring only about one third of their current member roster. The album features minimal vocals by Feist and Drew and is mainly instrumental, showcasing most of the musical expressions found on their later work, in embryonic form. It isn’t a bad album, really, just a bit mediocre when held up against their later work. After recruiting about 15 more members, releasing You Forgot It in People and perfecting their unique sound, critics and fans alike mostly forgot about Feel Good Lost—which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

You Forgot it in People (2002)

Broken Social Scene’s most renowned achievement to date is, without a doubt, their second full-length album, You Forgot It in People. Released in 2002, the album made it on countless “Best of Decade” lists, including 20 Watts’. Although big-name contributors, such as Leslie Feist (“Almost Crimes”) and Emily Haines (“Anthem for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl”), brought in a new audience of more commercial listeners, they also helped to perfect the beautiful yet hodge-podge sound that has become the trademark of Broken Social Scene. While most sophomoric efforts usually disappoint, You Forgot It in People served as the catalyst for Broken Social Scene’s coronation into indie-rock royalty.

Broken Social Scene (2005)

While the album’s sound still mirrors You Forgot It in People’s, the band’s 2005 third full-length, Broken Social Scene, presents a more devil-may-care side of the band. Basically, they just want to jam out. Tracks such as “Windsurfing Nation” and “Superconnected” are much less structured and feature passionate vocals from members such as Feist, Drew, and Canning randomly tossed in against heavy percussion and guitar. Although more than half of the album reveals this disheveled sound, tighter tracks such as “Swimmers” and “7/4 Shoreline” are strategically thrown into the mix, reeling the fans of You Forgot It in People back in. After they gained prominence with You Forgot It in People, the band showed with Broken Social Scene that they are not afraid to make music their own way.

Spirit If… (2007)

In 2007, the band introduced a new project called Broken Social Scene Presents… The first album, Spirit If…, was meant to be co-founding member Kevin Drew’s solo album yet it features almost every member of Broken Social Scene. Drew does, however, sing almost all of the lead vocals and write most of the songs. The album as a whole is also very similar to Broken Social Scene’s studio albums. Every track has its own uniqueness to it, some slow and subtle (“Gang Bang Suicide”) while others could call for headbanging (“Back Out on The …”). The album received near-perfect scores from most major critics and the band even embarked on a tour entitled Broken Social Scene Performs Kevin Drew’s Spirit If… While it is a fantastic album in its own right, Spirit If… probably wouldn’t have gained as much acclaim without the full band’s involvement.

Something For All of Us… (2008)

Something for All of Us… is the second album in the Broken Social Scene Presents… series, this time representing the work of other co-founder of Broken Social Scene, Brendan Canning. With Canning taking over most of the vocals, the album is much less chaotic sounding than Drew’s Spirit If… Oddly enough, the singles released from the album, “Love Is New”, “Churches Under the Stairs” and “Hit the Wall,” barely sound like a typical song by Broken Social Scene. Released only a year after Spirit If…, Something for All of Us… could easily be considered as an album of more mainstream-sounding tracks, which may have been a bit of a turn-off to devoted fans expecting more experimentally expansive songs.

Forgiveness Rock Record (2010)

After five grueling years, Broken Social Scene released their fourth studio album, Forgiveness Rock Record on May 4. The album definitely won’t disappoint but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. Forgiveness Rock Record lacks the consistency that both You Forgot It in People and Broken Social Scene retained throughout. Fans will gravitate toward the first three songs the leaked to the public: “World Sick,” “Forced to Love” and “All to All”. The latter is actually a pretty historic track considering it is the first song that Leslie Feist, Emily Haines and Amy Millan recorded together – and boy can they harmonize! Every track on the album could potentially stand out as a favorite just because of their completely different sounds.

BY Elizabeth Vogt

Brazilian folk artists are just one act in the latest edition of 20 Watts' FIVE, the FIVE acts you need to hear now! Read more here!

Part of our Issue 22 coverage!
PREVIEW: Click on the links below to access music and learn even more about these bands!

Rosie and Me (pictured above)

If you thought the best genres Brazil produced were metal (Sepultura), Bossa nova (Stan Getz, Joao Gilberto) and tropicalia (Os Mutantes), we’ve got two words for you: indie folk.

Mostly bypassing the obvious Brazilian influences, Rosie and Me sound more like an American folk band, and a very good one at that.
Rosie and Me dropped their first independent release, the Bird and Whale EP, this March. They specialize in short and steady folk-pop, condensed into contented 3-minute saunters. Rosanne Machado’s vocals call Syracuse’s very own Sarah Aument to mind while the band’s use of the ukulele channels Beirut’s finest work.

Rosie and Me are safely addictive. Their formula isn’t anything to fill arenas, and indeed they may never do so. But Rosie and Me’s sound has less to do with stadium-heavy statements and more to do with making impressions—impressions of love, of loss and of life. The horn flourishes on “Old Folks (New Year)” are gestures, not statements, and it’s this quiet “show, don’t tell” aesthetic that elevates Rosie and Me past their international contemporaries.

BY Eric Vilas-Boas

Ellie Goulding

It seems the British have a knack for massproducing doe-eyed songstresses that dominate every blogger’s iTunes library within seconds of hitting the Internet. Unlike most wannabe 20-somethings looking to wow the world with their mad synth skills, Ellie Goulding is a riser with substance and raw talent.
Her soulfully delicate voice in tow, Goulding stepped onto the scene in late 2009 with her EP An Introduction to Ellie Goulding, shortly followed in 2010 by Lights, a phenomenal studio album, which earned her mass recognition.

Goulding’s lyrics stand out as well. Largely devoid of clichés, Goulding’s lyrics rely on simple lines to convey emotional intricacies that subtly interlace with light and airy melodies. While her sound is full of pop appeal, it is also versatile, capturing elaborate acoustic and folk tones.

Already an award-winning act across the pond, Ellie Goulding is sure to become an international phenomenon.

BY Irina Dvalidze

Cults

If you try to Google “Cults,” you probably won’t find much more than those Klu Klux Krazies. Change that term to “Cults music” and you’ll probably come across a fair share of ’80s rock. You’d be getting warmer, but you still wouldn’t have what you need.

You need Cults to heat up your summer. Originally from San Diego, enigmatic indie-poppers Brian Oblivion and Madeline Follin migrated to New York City to study filmmaking, eventually ending up making music. Luckily for them, their unassuming Bandcamp.com uploads are gems just teasing at an acclaimed full-length debut.

With their hazy sounds sprinkled with xylophone melodies, Cults’ songs are a perfect start to a summer’s day. Follin’s voice is at times reminiscent of Karin Dreijer Andersson of The Knife, minus the synthesizers, plus the perfect amount of echo. “Go Outside” – Cults’ most popular single as of now – makes you want to do just that, and couldn’t come at a better time. Let’s just hope you can find them on Google.

BY Paris Peckerman

Hunx and His Punx

With a no-shame, no-inhibition style, Hunx and His Punx bring a fresh take on the indie underground and have acquired a wide following throughout the last few years doing so.

Beloved for his original records and videos, Seth Bogart, or Hunx, sings with his Punx about the love and death of his male acquaintances, friends and relatives. With the help of Matador Records, Hunx and His Punx offer a sound that resembles The Ramones in a homoerotic bubblegum-pop fashion, with bouncily gay garage rock abounds.

Hunx has consistently pushed the envelope with his engaging image and stage performances, especially after the release of his new album, Gay Singles. Preparing for a tour across Europe later this month, Hunx was originally a member of the now-defunct Gravy Train!!!!, but began the current stint with his Punx in 2008.

While wrapping your head around Hunx’s almost indescribable new direction may take some a little time, the rest of us will be sure to start bopping our heads in rhythm to surefire hits like “Good Kisser” and “Teardrops on My Telephone.”

BY Claudia Scholz

Freddie Gibbs

Rejection is usually the sort of thing that can get a person down. Not so in the case of Freddie Gibbs, however. The Gary, Ind. rapper has been released from both the Ball State football team and relieved of his contract with Interscope Records before ever producing an album, and yet, he can’t help but exude confidence anyway.

In 2009, Gibbs became a mainstay of the underground hip-hop scene, putting out two separate, critically acclaimed mixtapes—the second of which, midwestgangstaboxframecadillacmuzik best displayed both his street pedigree and knack for choosing some of the hottest beats in recent rap.

For his 2010 encore, Gibbs has hit the ground running early. Already releasing four different tracks from upcoming mixtape Str8 Killa No Filla, including the scintillating “Crushin’ Feelins,” his hype is starting to rise. With a sound that echoes equal parts Dr. Dre, Outkast and 2Pac, it’s easy to see why.

BY John Cassillo

Owl City

Part of our Issue 22 coverage!

PREVIEW: CLICK here to check out Owl City‘s website.

Adam Young likes being cute. Really cute. Consider this lyric from his chart-topping smash-hit “Fireflies”: “I get a thousand hugs / from ten thousand lightning bugs.” However, if you do the math on that saccharine gem of Owl City lyricism, it comes out to 1/10th of a hug per lightning bug. Given the size of said insect, I think most of us would prefer something a little more substantial. All math aside, the Minnesota native Young has stormed the globe with a blend of major label buzz and controversial compositions. Check out these bands and get back to us: you might get an idea of why everyone’s so fired up about Owl City.

The Postal Service

Young recently had the audacity to claim Owl City could be the next chapter of Ben Gibbard’s phenomenal side-project with Dntel’s Jimmy Tamborello, but he’s also said that there was really no musical connection between the two bands. A clear sign he’s lost his mind; in fact, even a cursory listen belies enough similarities between the two to sound like Young’s been mining around The Postal Service’s Give Up for the past seven years. While Owl City has the tendency to suck all the emotional weight and minor keys out of the former’s classic record – instead using it as a platform for sad puppy faces and “good for you” witticisms. Stick with the real deal.

Evan Paschke

It may not have the same bounce, fluttering beats or the lovesick puppy lyrics, but the vamped-out jams Mr. Paschke pumps out of his bedroom is about as close as you’re going to get to computer-pop on this campus. He doesn’t play a whole lot of shows around Syracuse, but still occasionally posts songs online for the dedicated listener. The heavy, glissed-out beats and droning synths make them the perfect tracks for a night-time cruise or late-night in. Good stuff.

Passion Pit

The Cambridge, Mass. five-piece are blowing up all over the place. After well-received releases of laptop pop and epic arena-synth blowouts, they’re lighting up the country on a headlining tour of major clubs. Their synth-driven dance jams run parallel to Owl City’s work in their illusions of sincerity and electronica roots, but rise above when it comes to the size and scope of its delivery. After seeing them recently, I’m not sure many other bands can compare when it comes to frenetic energy and passion night after night. Imagine getting a full hug from each one of the “Fireflies” lightning bugs and you’ve got a pretty good idea.

Freelance Whales

Similar vocals, along with similar amounts of cuteness tie Owl City together with these Queens-based twee-revivalists. Just replace all the laptop beats and synthesizers with banjo, organs and excellent lyrics, and you’ve got a solid trade-off on your hands. However, they also branch into ambient atmospheres that make for a captivating listen. Their debut album Weathervanes is one of the most interesting of the first quarter of 2010, and one can only hope that they keep building a following over the next few months.

Architecture in Helsinki

Another group of twee superstars. The Australian crew has released several albums of increasingly computer-based music, but they do not
shy away from their cutesy roots as a straight indie-pop group. Architecture in Helsinki share similar motivations and influences, but excel in delivery. They also incorporate more diverse influences (afro-pop, soul, funk, etc.), which make them a compelling listen and interesting replacement for Young’s singularly uninspired vision.

Blend all of those bands together to form a smooth, bubblegum-colored paste, and you’ve got a pretty good case for copyright infringement. Owl Shitty, indeed.

BY Dan Creahan

John Baldwin Gourley of Portugal. The Man sat down with 20 Watts for a nice long chat. Here's what he had to say!

Part of our Issue 22 coverage!
PREVIEW: Click to access music and more info on Portugal. The Man!

Experimental indie rockers Portugal. The Man started out in Alaska in 2004 and have since released five studio albums and played countless shows, including one at Syracuse’s Westcott Theater last year. Coming off the release of their latest album American Ghetto, Portugal. The Man frontman John Baldwin Gourley agreed to talk with 20 Watts for a nice, long Q&A session.

20 Watts: In a short amount of time, you guys have amassed a pretty impressive catalogue. Some might even make the comparison to The Beatles… What’s been your favorite album that you guys have recorded so far?

John Gourley: Well, I know this is going to sound silly but every time we go into the studio I say that I’m working on my new favorite record. I feel like American Ghetto, to me, where it may not have come together in a conventional way, or where it may not have been a band just jamming away in a studio, it was a really fun record, and it was put together in a really great way. I actually got a call from one of our friends the other day, and she was talking about American Ghetto and how funny it was when I went out there [to the studio], and I had called her up and had said to her, “For some reason [our manager] Rich thinks I can write a record in 10 days without any material.” And she said, “Well I’m pretty sure that you can go out there and make a record in 10 days, and then you’re gonna come back and go on tour.”

And it worked out really well. Those are my favorite albums—Censored Colors (2008) and American Ghetto. Censored Colors was two weeks in the studio, and American Ghetto was 10 days.

Portugal. The Man in concert

20W: Last year’s Satanic Satanist got you guys a lot of cred, and everyone was talking about your live shows last year.

JG: Yeah, yeah—it was actually fun playing in front of bigger audiences at these festivals. And again, it was so great getting to step in with three years of practice. Not that we wouldn’t have been excited to get that sort of attention right away. But it’s easier now that we can sit back and recognize what it was, and the plan that we’re still having with this band. Even in those early years… it’s really great that we stayed away from everything for a bit, and it’s good that we took that time and
got to know each other musically.

20W: Yeah, I could imagine if you guys had blown up into a Vampire Weekend-type band right off the bat…

JG: Definitely. I mean, what a mess. That band, too. If you see that band live—I really like what they’re doing… I think. I think I like that band, but I don’t know. I heard them playing at Lollapalooza, and it was really funny because I was talking to myself saying that they were a really good band, but were playing the sloppiest set ever. That’s what I had heard about that band after somebody told me it was Vampire Weekend. Somebody told me that “Yeah, they kind of blew up out of nowhere, and never really got to play many shows together”—which kind of makes sense [laughs].

20W: For American Ghetto, you said you put it together in 10 days, but what was your main influence behind it, since it’s a lot more sample-based and psychedelic than a lot of your other stuff?

JG: Well, during Satanic Satanist (2009), we had done pre-production [for American Ghetto], which we had never done before. So there was like a month and a half before recording the American Ghetto demos. So I guess it was just sort of a build-up of ideas…And during that time I tried speaking with Anthony Saffery (formerly) from the band Cornershop, who was the co-producer of Satanic Satanist and the producer of American Ghetto. And we tried talking about doing this almost like a hip-hop project. I picked out the album title before we even started the record. But it came down to the fact that we’d done beat-based music in the past, but we hadn’t done it in two albums—you know, fully through two albums, we hadn’t really touched it. So Anthony and I were talking about doing this ’90s hip-hop/rock vibe, and not like Limp Bizkit obviously, more in the sense of a band like what Cornershop was doing, or The Butthole Surferes, or bands like that. So we just decided to do this sort of ’90s project, which was really great because we got Tjinder [Singh] from Cornershop to sing on a couple tracks and to chop up a couple beats. We got Rob Swift [formerly] of the X-Ecutioners to do some scratching on a few songs. And then Steve Smith from Dirty Vegas to play percussion again on this record. But it was kind of a cool collaboration of the ’90s.

Portugal. The Man's latest album, American Ghetto

20W: How are you able to shift gears so quickly? You guys have had a different sort of sound on every record. So how do you shift gears to make it go from sometimes this folk vibe, to more blues-based, and then indie music, etc.?

JG: I think a lot of what we do going into the studio is kind of born out of what we do with our lives. We’ve just kind of worked together since the beginning.…and we like all different kinds of music. I would hate to be in a position where people are saying, “That’s that rock band, and we’re waiting for that follow-up rock record with those rock songs, with those anthem choruses and all of that.” I don’t want to be that. I want to be the band that always makes music, and really loves it.

I want to make a hip-hop record at some point. I have some doubts it will come out under Portugal. The Man though [laughs]. Every band – every rock band – has talked about that at some point: “Man, I wish I could be the backing band for Ghostface Killah,” or, “I wish we could be the backing band for Cool Keith, just for a tour, even.” I would be up for that for no money at all. I’d even drive behind Ghostface in a van.

20W: You guys took a different strategy when you eleased American Ghetto. In the past couple of years, it seems like every time Portugal. The Man’s new album comes out, you’re blogging that it’s leaked once again. So what was the basis behind the sort of embargo against press and publicity releases until the actual day this year? Was it solely for preventing the leak purposes?

JG: No, not necessarily. It wasn’t just to prevent a leak. And it wasn’t just to prove something [laughs]. Though we did give the record to some friends and it didn’t leak, so we did give it to some people and it never leaked. So that was kind of fun to see that our friends didn’t leak it.

It was more for what the record was about, which was just going into the studio and doing it – just throwing it down. We just threw this record down in a very hip-hop way. It’s called American Ghetto. It’s about just working together to make something, as opposed to building it up, and building hype around it and all that. It’s more like I just wanted to give it to people. I just wanted everyone to have it at the same time.

20W: I’d say that having everyone get it at the same time keeps up that air of mystery, as to what the album’s about. It’s not like anyone’s heard it. You’ve seen how many times in the past couple years this has happened – Veckatimest from Grizzly Bear is one example – where everyone had an opinion on it two months before it came out.

JG: They were so bummed about that, too, which was awful. It was awful because it was such a huge record for them, and they’ve worked so hard. I saw when it leaked, and I felt so bad… And to not only see it leak, but also the massive leak that it was.

20W: The crazy thing about that was that even with the leak they still charted in the top 10 on Billboard on the official release date. Could you imagine what that album would have sold had it not been for the leak?

JG: Well they’re a real band. We played with Grizzly Bear.…Maybe it was six years ago. It was so long ago, and they’ve been a band for such a long time, but even then they were tight, and even then they were great musicians…But yeah, that was a bummer to see that happen.

20W: What’s been your favorite concert experience of your career so far?

JG: Probably the first concert I ever went to, if we can talk about those [laughs]. I think seeing Pantera for the first time – that was my very first concert. It really made me want to play music for whatever reason – maybe not in that scene [laughs]. But it was just one of those really great moments, as well as when I moved down from Alaska and started going to club shows. I really hadn’t seen a lot of club shows outside of the club we have in Anchorage. But yeah, when I came down and got to see all of these club shows with these awesome bands that actually drove me to start this band. Y’know, bands don’t really make a ton of money making music. You should just do it because you love it, and just make music that you want to make.

20W: Who has been your favorite band to tour with over your career?

JG: We’ve toured under some really nice bands like Circa Survive and Minus the Bear and RX Bandits, who were probably the most fun to tour under. For sure they were all just really, really good people. With Minus the Bear we had no idea what to expect, but we met them and hit it off pretty well – we’re a pretty easy band to get along with. I wouldn’t expect that we wouldn’t get along with them. But definitely, with them was some of the most fun we’ve had on tour.

20W: What would you say is on tap for Portugal. The Man for the rest of 2010?

JG: Well, we just got out of the studio – actually it was a few weeks ago – doing preproduction on the follow-up record to American Ghetto. So we’ll probably be in the studio sometime after Coachella. But we are playing Coachella and Sasquatch, and a couple more festivals that as of right now I don’t know. I think we’ll just be touring and making music. Hopefully what we’ll do is we’ll make this album in the spring and then tour through the year and then make an album this winter.

It’s so funny to me because when you’re playing music – you know it’s not like you, as a writer, interview one band a year. You interview a lot of bands, and when you’re not interviewing, at school you’re writing essays, so you’re writing all year. I feel like we have such a lax job that we want to know it better. We want to write music, and we don’t want to do it half-assed, we want to do it right and have fun with it.

INTERVIEW BY John Cassillo