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‘I DON'T SEE WHY ANYONE WOULD WANT TO SOUND LIKE JOY DIVISION'
Yeasayer
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Rather than the Beatles/Smiths hegemony of inspiration, US acts like Yeasayer are drawing ideas from a disparate array of influences. Rob Dabrowksi hears how
fter riding a way'e of hype stateside and playing to sold-out audience on their first ftill l'S tour.
Yeasayer are bringing their unique brand of
world music-tinged rock to (ilasgow. The four-piece combine sprawling. experimental soundscapes with African chanting and Far Eastern acoustic numbers in a glorious wash of melody. They are. quite frankly. bizarre. But the disparate array of influences they draw on makes for a captivating experience.
The Brooklyn band are the latest in a critically acclaimed stream of American acts to inyade these shores. Like their contemporaries. Animal (‘ollectiy‘e. TV on the Radio and Vampire Weekend. they create exciting and original sounds by w'eaying together genres which would. by British standards. be considered strange bedfellows.
Chris Keating. who plays keyboards and sings in the band. thinks the surge in creatiyity across the .-\tlantic. is due to the decline of the major label in the states over recent years.
'I think there'y'e been some really interesting bands in from the [K mm the last Bl) years. btit right now in New York it seems like there's this climate which is
just producing experimental music.’ he says. ‘\\'ith the
emergence of more independent labels l think we'ye seen some underground artists really break through from the States. People are just all trying different things and it‘s a yery exciting time.‘
Yeasayer are an act who dabble in tradition and work in the lingering shadow of Talking Heads. but haye no qualms about name-dropping Chimurenga music pioneer. Thomas Mapfumo. as an influence. Luckily.
66 THE US 28 Feb-13 Mar 2335
they don’t shy away from a good pop hook either. as demonstrated on their new single. '\\‘ait for the Summer". The track is all gently plucked acoustic guitars and a shuffling rhythm section. coming together to create a 7()s folk sound that's pitched somewhere between alt.rockers (‘alexico and Its) chedelic trailbla/ers .-\rthur Lee‘s l.o\e. It's all topped off with a dreamy iiiiddle-eiglit section that‘s dripping with harmonised meals that could melt Brian Wilson‘s heart. It's the kind of musical rarity that is as
far remoy ed as you could get from the current crop of
tip-and-coming British bands who are still obsessing tiy‘c‘t' The Beatles. The Smiths and Joy l)i\ lsltiti.
‘I don't see why anyone would want to sound like .loy' l)i\'ision.' says Keating. 'They were a great band btit it's already been done. I think there was definitely a conscious decision when w c formed to do something different and break away from the ordinary
These aren‘t surprising words from a band that formed two years ago to record the soundtrack to a stage musical about a West Pennsy lyaiiia mining tow n. and who also haye a penchant for sampling basslines and monkeying around with them so they sound like l5rench horns as they blast through shimmering layers of melody.
'I suppose the mission statement for the band would be to take things that haye come before and combine them with influences that just aren't usually seen in Western music 7- to come up with something completely newf
King Tut’s, Glasgow, Sat 8 Mar.
Bricolage arid isosceles hdtiiiiiit-r fix/(i iii tlir? hlttyai lirtaiinl series iatiiiirheri iii. the iiiiqhty (Ziethiiiuy litait kitita ttuiiynt; down the {it'lllllilt‘i to all corners thidhstXuiolkxau.hwsh,uuhe iiiiisicologists. Glasgow School ot/‘irt, Sat 7 il/lar. il'i’oi‘k it; Wow
Correcto and Sellotape Deiiig for l__(lllil)Ulng what New Bit-2eri' is doing for Glasgow. regular llVC‘ club night l iiiilio Opens its doors to the astute Franz—ish folly of (Jorrecto and infectious. musical strops of the ever-adhesive Sellotape. Voodoo Hooriis. Edinburgh. Mn 28 Feb. (Rock 8. Pop;
Frightened Rabbit More otherworldly indie iiiagir: from some of Selkirk's most ingenious musical practitioners as they play as part 0t the JD Set. Cat/muse. Glasgow, [fl 2!) Feb. (Rock a Pepi
Out of the Kitchen . . . and onto the Stage A concert and ceilidh in aid of the Martyn Bennett Trust showcasnig some of Scotland's best young traditional musicians. including Margaret Bennett. Ailie Robertson, James Ross and Amy Geddes. George Vi/atson's College. Edinburgh, Sat 7 Mar. tFol/o
The Village Fete This may not be the most rock'ii'roll so'cinding of events but this is a showcase of great new art. good food plus musical turns courtesy of Tracer Trails. A wee underground gem. Old St Paul's Church. Edinburgh, Sat 8 Mar. (Rock 8 Pop;
Yeasayer See preview. left. King Tut's. Glasgow. Sat 8 Mar. (Rock 8 Pop;
The Mars Volta Widdle- dee-deel Widdlle-dee-dee! Tha- dunk tha-dunk tha-dunk! Boom! It's all in a day's work for the DOmbastic Omar and Cedric. the crown princes of modern day prog. See prewew. page 67. Carling Academy. Glasgow, Tue 7 7 Mar. tRoc/r a Pop)