recommends
The Life And Times
Rob Ortenzi on 6/16/09 @ 12:55 PM
NOW PLAYING: Tragic Boogie (ARENA ROCK; arenarockrecordingco.com)
WHY YOU SHOULD KNOW 'EM: Sprung from the same creative force behind increasingly legendary '90s math-rockers Shiner, the Life And Times create atmospheric masterpieces-sometimes on the fly.
YOU LIKE? YOU'LL LIKE: SHINER / MUTE MATH / DREDG
STORY: Tim Karan
PHOTOS: Forester Michael
Allen Epley is a world-class floor connoisseur. He may not recognize the subtle distinctions between domestic or exotic hardwoods upon sight, but the Life And Times vocalist/guitarist can instantly spot prime sleeping bag real estate when he sees it. Epley spent the better part of the '90s fronting atmospheric, hyper-technical four-piece Shiner, grinding his way across the country with the likes of Sunny Day Real Estate, Jawbox and Girls Against Boys. But after a decade, Shiner were ensnared in a nebulous middle ground between artistic reverence and industry profitability. "We hadn't made a million dollars-or even $100,000," says Epley from his home in Kansas City, Missouri. "I'm very cognizant of the fact that Shiner were really influential to a lot of musicians, but we weren't all that influential to those musicians' girlfriends. The legend of Shiner has maybe outdone what we did at the time."
Don't get him wrong. Epley has pride and appreciation for everything that came from his first band. But when Shiner went their separate ways in 2003 (guitarist Josh Newton now plays bass for Every Time I Die; bassist Paul Malinowski and drummer Jason Gerken are both in Open Hand), Epley was eager to start all over. He resurfaced almost immediately with the Life And Times-a band who inherited many of Shiner's moodier traits (lush instrumental passages and Epley's shoegazer vocals), but developed a broader breadth of scope. "Now I'm writing songs that girls might like too," he says with a laugh. "It was never necessarily a conscious effort to go in any certain directions, but the Life And Times just began following [our] own natural course of progression." The band released The Flat End Of The Earth EP in 2003, pulled largely from demos Epley had created on his own and from a fruitful period of writing and re-writing with early Life And Times member Mike Meyers. "He and I wrote maybe 35 tunes in a six-month period," says Epley. "I still draw from those sessions. There's something on every Life And Times release from that era." That means remnants can be heard on the band's 2005 full-length Suburban Hymns, their 2006 split EP with Spanish band Nueva Vulcano, The Magician EP, which came out the same year, and their forthcoming sophomore album Tragic Boogie. Although Meyers and original drummer John Meredith conceded their spots to bassist Eric Abert and drummer Chris Metcalf, Epley has managed to steadily keep the band pushing forward-both professionally and artistically. "From the very beginning, it's been a nice climb," he says, noting that the band have seen their share of appreciation abroad-both in Europe and Japan (the group recently released Life Is Pleasure, a DVD documenting their 2006 tour of Japan). "I think musically this band is prettier [than Shiner]. And the work ethic comes from a different place. We write in a 'laboratory' format every time-listening to each other, improvising and creating something that's inherently unique not only from Shiner, but from most of everything else out there."
The results are clearly evident on Tragic Boogie, equal parts angular post-rock and melodic shoegaze. "It's my favorite record I've ever made-and I'm extremely proud of everything I've done," says Epley. "We built this control room in a closet in my basement and we didn't even have half of the songs written when we started to record. That's the beauty of it-what you hear is intimately tied to how we heard these songs for the first time."
For an even more intense connection, it's almost mandatory that you witness the Life And Times live-as many did when the band embarked on tour this past fall with Interpol/Swervedriver side project Magnetic Morning. "We don't write set lists," says Epley. "The lights go down and we say, 'Okay, let's start with...' and then pair the songs into couplets so that it's free-form." This routine all translates to road veteran Epley once again getting comfortable wherever-and on whatever surface-he can. "I run into people who were in bands when I was in Shiner and they say, 'Fuck, you're still doing this? You're still trying to make it?'" he says with a laugh. "But my response is always, 'Is it possible that I actually just love doing this?'"
WHICH ALBUM'S HAD THE MOST INFLUENCE ON YOU?
"When I was 8 or 9 years old, my babysitter had a huge [Chevrolet] Monte Carlo and she'd blast BOSTON's first album [BOSTON]," says the Life And Times frontman Allen Epley. "I'd never heard music so loud and guitars so badass. It just changed my whole outlook on music. Before that, it was all my mom's music-James Taylor, Carole King, Bread-so Boston just blew all that out of the water."
Post a Comment
ehh, not really my taste... i thought they suck
WHAT? suck? no way, allen is one of the best songwriters of today. saw them live, blew the entire room away. great flow of instruments and a great development from shiner