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SXSW preview: Suckers
Surreal pop band Suckers roll into Austin this week in the same boat as a lot of other bands. They have not released a full-length album yet. Given the Web-centric, single-heavy state of the music industry, an album is not a requirement, but for a band that has been consistently praised by the media, shown up on bands-to-watch lists and has even played the Austin City Limits Festival, they have a lot of momentum for just having released a four-song EP and a handful of singles.
‘In terms of getting the recordings done and having the time and the money, it’s definitely taken a while, so we feel a bit more pressure to put out something worthwhile,’ lead vocalist Quinn Walker said of the band’s full-length debut, ‘Wild Smile,’ which will be released June 8.
Walker and bandmates Austin Fisher, Brian Aiken and Pan (that’s what he goes by) moved to Brooklyn from New Haven, Conn., a few years ago. They released their self-titled EP last year, when they made their first visit to South by Southwest. Both the EP and the live performance wowed fans and critics, leading them to record their debut full-length with producer Chris Zane, who was also at the helm for Passion Pit’s successful ‘Manners.’
Similar to his work with Passion Pit, Zane pushed the band in unexpected directions. ‘Chris leans more toward drum heavy dance music, which is interesting for us to tamper with,’ Walker said.
The little material Suckers has released so far is strong, in some cases comparable to fellow Brooklyn-based psychedelic bands MGMT and Yeasayer. They are associated with both acts; Anand Wilder of Yeasayer produced the EP. And though they might share some common musical influences — Brian Eno and David Byrne’s work with the Talking Heads quickly comes to mind when listening to their songs — Suckers’ sound diverges from their peers.
The standard spacey synth elements are part of their sound, but the band uses vocals to stand apart. Walker wails in his nasally voice as the rest of the band harmonizes, adding a layer to the music that is equally creepy and enthralling. Percussion plays an important role as well, sometimes as the subtle foundation of the songs, and others times as the dominant element.
These aspects of their sound are on display in ‘It Gets Your Body Movin,’ a slow-starting track that crescendos with a tribal drum and horn line (and even some whistling) into a spirited chorus of voices. A highlight of the EP, the track will also appear on the band’s full-length release. In the meantime, the band has released a cover of the Raveonettes’ ‘Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed).’
The band’s live performance is similarly strange and entertaining. During a sludge-filled 11:45 a.m. set on the Sunday of last year’s ACL Fest, the band appeared on stage in a single line, with each member playing various instruments at any given moment. Fifty or so people were on hand for the set. It was probably the best timeslot a mostly under-the-radar band could hope for, but it still felt a bit unfair based on the level of talent on stage.
Their live performances have been well-received, even though the music wasn’t easily adapted for the stage. Walker says that because not all of the members of the band had experience singing in a live setting, it took a while to work out the harmonies. ‘It was kind of challenging but nice to find out that everyone was fully capable of singing,’ he said.
In addition to stronger live vocals, the band developed a group presence after a year on the road, an evolution that Walker said is evident on the album. ‘We’ve gotten a bit faster pace going on a lot of the tracks, and everything was written as a band, as opposed to before everything was written by individual members.’
Now that the debut is finished, Walker is ready to move on. ‘We’ve been getting impatient about putting out the album because we have so much materially that we want to get out publicly,’ he said.
11 p.m. Friday, Galaxy Room Backyard
If you like Suckers, check out:
Local Natives
Wild Yaks
Bear in Heaven
Freelance Whales
Pattern is Movement
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