Courtney Barnett @ MASS MoCA (Photos)

WRBB’s Kara Kokinos got a chance to talk to Adam from The Suffers before their show on April 24th at The Sinclair! Take a listen below.

[mixcloud https://www.mixcloud.com/wrbb/interview-with-the-suffers/ width=800% height=120 hide_cover=1]

Want more of The Suffers? Check out their 

 to their show on April 24th @ The Sinclair!

Q&A with The Suffers

Bully frontwoman and mastermind Alicia Bognanno knows how to write songs that are as cathartic as they are explosive. It’s a skill that translates masterfully live – moments of repose give way to fuzzy guitars wailing and vocals that alternate between sickly sweetness and guttural screams. Their sold-out show at the Great Scott on November 12th demonstrated the band’s full ability to those eagerly waiting in anticipation. The first set of the night belonged to Brooklyn based Aye Nako. As self-described, the band is “black, queer, trans and poor, and sing about white supremacy, trauma and child sexual abuse.” There is no divorcing the band from that statement – their music deals with a lot of the heavy experiences they have had, and it’s a gorgeous thing to get to be blasted by. This night wasn’t about finding solace – it’s about actively confronting pain, and there weren’t many moments in their set that you were excused from that reality. Sharp drumming and unrelenting guitars drove the band, with small breaks for spotlighting poignant lyricism. Even if you haven’t had the direct experience of Aye Nako and aren’t the audience the band is seeking, you are able to get a sliver of the pain and celebration that drives them with a single listen. Experiencing this band is demanding as it is fulfilling – and it’s particularly wonderful to see that as an opener for a band that dwells in a similar space but brings in less of the societal. While there is no doubt that the band has considerable performing and writing talent, it was a much looser sound than what would follow.

What differentiates Bully from almost any other band is how stark and clean they keep their mix. It’s a testament to Bognanno’s deft hand at the soundboard, but surprisingly their live show loses none of that precision. There are some small differences between the recorded and live execution, primarily in the mixing, but it was a testament to the band’s playing abilities that such a faithful translation could occur. Bognanno’s voice proved to be as exceptionally masterful as well – with such a light and deft vocal execution, it would be easy to lose the singer in the mix, or for her to take on a different tonal quality live, but the switch never happened. This could be attributed to the sparser guitar parts throughout verses, but the mastery was there nonetheless. You have to admire the calculation and energy with which Bognanno steers her ship. The crowd ate up the band’s presence and threw it back at them. Bully’s shows continue to bring the energy of collapsing star – fragility and power coming alive and dying in the same moment.

Bully @ Great Scott

’s album cover features what I assume is front-woman Alicia Bognanno in a fort of sheets, hair covering her face, legs tucked into herself. This is not a place of comfort; if anything, it’s more an exploration of the discomfort that comes with hiding within the familiar. It’s an important distinction when diving into this album. If you’re looking to avoid intense emotions, this is not the place for you. There’s a lot of anger in the new Bully release, 

, and damn, does it feel good. This album is cutting, to say the least. Bognanno’s attempts to construct life post break-up resonate deeply with anyone who has been caught between emotionally fueled impulse and self-protecting calculation. It’s a tribute to the special blend of anxiety and depression that pairs so well with break ups. Bognanno doesn’t spare any punches with her lyricism or vocals, which often fall somewhere between whisper and exorcism.

Bognanno, who writes and produces Bully’s material, opts for a pretty sparse instrumental track on 

, usually with absolutely no more than a single tracked drumline, a main bass or guitar line, and a guitar providing accents at any single point. Even when they’re not there, your brain fills in a lot of the lines that flow in and out of the mix. The really delicious parts of songs are reserved for vocal lines – the climaxes of her songs can feature three or more of Bognanno in harmony. It’s a fantastic utilization and, very often, allows for a separation of registers that is accentuated by all of the fantastic crunchiness of the vocal lines. Throw in her constantly fluctuating vocal tone, which is somehow equally soft and gritty, and you have a formula to build a solid album upon.

There’s no denying the lyrical and vocal mastery on this album, every song contains a soul crushing amount of self-realization, from singular lines like “I try and be respectful, it kills to be resistant” and “trying to cut down on booze and you,” to song structure emphasizing meaning, as demonstrated on ‘Feel the Same.’ There’s a quality to this album that feels a bit like yelling into the void – the vocal tracks have a snarl that’s in direct contrast to the steady pulse of the instrumentals. It gives the album a consistent sonic theme and driving force, propelled mostly by Bognanno’s vocals. Sometimes this means stagnation but ‘Guess There’ is the only track this songwriting technique falls exceptionally flat on.

This album is not designed for our comfort though; it’s a message pounded into us during the outro, asking, “Can we just exist without your hate and control?” While it’s not exactly clear who the accusation turned dare is meant for, I will happily choose to join Bognanno in her manic rage over the alternative.

Bully release full-length ‘Losing’

[three_fourth]The singles from St. Vincent’s 

 function much like a Hollywood trailer, in that they give away most of the good stuff and leave us to sit through the rest of the shit when we sit down with the entire thing.

I was so excited at the album’s opening track. Although there’s nothing particularly special about ‘Hang On Me’ on its own, I expected that it was setting the tone for the rest of the album. The song has St. Vincent’s trademark voice breaks that peak out through the rest of the heavily produced track, letting the song’s message of heartbreak come to the surface. But as soon as I am in, I am pulled right back out as the transition into ‘Pills’ begins, and I am left questioning what on earth I’m listening to.

‘Pills’ is… fine, I guess? The last single to be announced features backing from Jenny Lewis and Annie Clark’s ex-girlfriend Cara Delevigne. Substance abuse is a subject that Delevigne is all too familiar with, and I was shocked to hear that she lent her voice to such a sing-song ode to the destructive force of drugs. I know a fair few listeners who think this song is the album’s low point, and they aren’t necessarily wrong. Despite subject matter and lyrical content that could actually say something, the production does absolutely nothing for the song. It feels like St. Vincent & Co. took some pills and churned this out. Maybe that’s the point, but I wanted to be hit with something a bit more complex, or at least have some moment of heart wrenching realization at the end. It seems like this is supposed to happen in its bridge, but this track didn’t elicit my empathy in any regard. Even the guitar and saxophone wailing away in the background just serve to make more annoyed at the beginning of ‘Masseduction’ introducing more electropop elements so quickly.

Me when I found out Cara Delevigne sings on the chorus of “Pills”: “Annie Clark is such an air sign WOW”



— Christine Varriale (@certaintragedy) 

Despite the awkward transition back into the up-tempo, ‘Masseduction’ is a strong, poppy display. This is where the album feels the most like a follow-up to 2015’s eponymous release while executing the pop feel that Clark and her team were going for. While the song has some of the album’s more complex verses, we’ve heard the chorus before on Muse’s 

I’m still not sure why I was being forced to listen to that garbage fire. Glitch pop has been done before, and it’s been done far better. There’s so many opportunities for large moments within this song, but they only go halfway there before backing away. I’m not sure where the risk is on this track. Also note that the echoing refrain of “Boys! Girls!” was just done with “mass seduction” and “mass destruction” on the previous track – thematically I’m here for it, but not in back to back songs.

Attempting to erase that last abomination from my mind, I am let back into the sonic world of St. Vincent with ‘Lose Ageless.’ The trademark St. Vincent use of minimal backing and layered vocals placed directly over fuzzy guitars that echo her vocal tone are BACK. This and the following track demonstrate Clark in her element while doing a more pop sound.

The ballads are the strongest moments on 

, despite their disparate sound from the titular track. The return of the character Johnny is marked by the end of Clark’s relationship with Delevigne – despite Clark’s privacy surrounding her relationship with the mega-celebrity, this track lets us into the mourning of its demise. Specific references to Delevigne are scattered through the album, specifically ‘Happy Birthday, Johnny,’ but there’s a lot of responsibility taken on by Clark. It’s crushing and potent, and I wish I could dwell in this song and feeling for the full album. Luckily I get that again in ‘New York.’

The singles ‘New York’ and ‘Los Ageless’ had set us up for a perfect, coastal journey with Clark touring us around her favorite haunts. ‘New York’ is a heart-wrenching, sparse, piano driven ballad that had me crying at first listen. It dwells in the same space as ‘Happy Birthday, Johnny’ in that it is reflective and more sour than the bitter aftertaste left in your mouth by ‘Los Ageless.’ They separate the album into two sounds, occasionally melding together, especially in ‘Savior’ and ‘Fear The Future.’ It is of note that the former is a kink track (!) and while it’s not the strongest song on the album – and I wouldn’t go as far to say that it functions well as a bridge between two of the more sentimental moments – ‘Savior’ gets a lot right. It’s fun and flirty with a slightly devious edge.

 is slightly criminal given the fact that Clark is one of the most esteemed guitarists alive, so the riffs that open up ‘Fear The Future’ felt like a sigh of relief. This track is still driven largely by a drum kit, but the guitar elements are executed with a light hand, and perfectly distorted in order to accentuate or blur moments in the composition.

‘Young Lover’ depressed me; not because it’s a depressing tune, which this album abounds in, but because it is soulless. Jack Antonoff’s influence can be felt all over this album, but I’d say that this song best demonstrates the discord he has introduced. What should be guitar based and gnarly becomes synthesized and poppy. I don’t believe rock lives in a sphere that should be above or untouchable by pop and electronic elements, but this is where the album drops any guise of being a rock endeavor. Clark’s low range could have brought in to add grit anywhere on this track or a guitar solo introduced to make it into what fans have adored about her work. Anything to show us some damn teeth; instead we get veneers. But this was always meant to be a pop album, and a pop album is what you get. R.I.P St. Vincent, guitar goddess of our dreams, you will be missed.

Strings send off the Holy Ghost in ‘Dancing With A Ghost,’ a transition piece that serves as an intro to a (literally) broken ballad that would be a highlight on any album that wasn’t packed with them. Perhaps this is because ‘Slow Disco’ could have been executed by any number of vocalists. I don’t hear anything characteristically St. Vincent on this albeit gorgeous arrangement and execution. Even the lyrics don’t pack the punch or contain the coded language that you associate with the artist. An overtly radio friendly track is the strangest thing to encounter on a St. Vincent album, but here it is, in all its sparkly glory.

We have another example of somewhat lackluster songwriting to close out what was supposed to be my favorite album of 2017. One more ballad takes us out; this one has interesting harmonies interspersed, distortion built in, and more heart in its delivery, but something isn’t clicking. On its own ‘Smoking Section’ could have me bawling, but placed at the end of 

, it feels like Clark has lost her will, which would be heartbreaking if the album and I hadn’t stopped caring a few tracks ago.

Fuck: ‘Masseduction,’ ‘Savior,’ ‘Fear The Future’
Marry: ‘Los Ageless,’ ‘Happy Birthday, Johnny, ’New York’
Kill: ‘Pills,’ ‘Sugarboy’

St. Vincent releases full-length ‘MASSEDUCTION’

“There’s nothing like a night of romance to really put into perspective how chronically single you are.”

After a week of processing the mildly devastating end to some budding affection, I walked into Brighton Music Hall braced for impact. This was gonna hurt, and it was gonna hurt bad. Throw some difficulty with the box office into the mix and your girl was more in the mood to mosh away the heartache than anything else. Needless to say, that would not be appropriate for the tone of the night. If all this seems a smidge melodramatic, please take into account that the slow, romantic song is when all of the couples come out of the woodwork for a decent dose of PDA and the American Idol hopefuls start to flex their vocal chords – when an entire set is packed full of them, it can be more than mildly exhausting. Thankfully, I had a fellow jaded-but-laughing-about-it partner in crime, WRBB contributor 

But then Cigarettes After Sex hit the stage. No opener, no introduction, just some ambient sounds with pretty landscapes rumbling in the background before the band launched into the aptly named ‘Sweet.’ Cigarettes After Sex has the ability to make even the most jaded of cynics (namely, me) into a swooning, doe eyed romantic in only a few bars. They have you looking over your shoulder, waiting for the meet-cute that will change your life or, if you’re lucky enough to be with a partner, bring about the butterflies you felt when you first kissed the person you’re entangled with. The romantic black and white footage set the mood for a night of romance and mystery, presumably plucked from some obscure film noir by singer and movie buff Greg Gonzalez. There is no surprise in the fact that the band’s music has been licensed for the ever popular 

even the band will tell you that everything about their music has a ring of the cinematic.

 It is through this radiant ambience that the band forms a sonic cradle of sorts – letting you dwell in moments padded with softness and warmth while a rocking sensation soothes you. It is masterful songwriting in its controlled nature and feels deceptively simplistic.

 features artist-molding track ‘Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You Baby’ and the night’s closer ‘Dreaming of You,’ the official release of their eponymous album has really let the band breathe new life into their set. Even setting covers and singles aside, there’s so much to the album that feels like the band is hitting their stride. There’s no throwaway track, no lulls – in the set or the album. Perhaps this is due to the nature of the songwriting or perhaps it’s the slightly tongue-in-cheek nature of Greg Gonzalez’s lyricism. It reaches through to the less idealistic of us – the absurdity of love and lust and their workings are fully acknowledged. While it often functions as the butt of the joke, the purity of the emotions remains paramount. And what are cynics but those who have loved too fully? Whatever it is that captures you, an atmosphere is established and maintained. You will submit to their crooning and enjoy it. Mission accomplished, Cigs, mission accomplished.

Cigarettes After Sex @ Brighton Music Hall

WRBB placed a long distance call to El Paso, TX, to chat with Cigarettes After Sex’s Phillip Tubbs in anticipation for their show at Brighton Music Hall. Read after the jump to see how much a stairwell shaped the band named after your favorite postcoital indulgence.

[three_fourth]You’ve been a part of Cigarettes After Sex from the start – you were on the first EP and Greg Gonzalez cites your relationship as highly reciprocal. What captures you in a musical project and makes you want to dedicate yourself to it?

Greg had started playing with me and my band in 2009. He had played a little something during one of our practices that I liked and I went, “Oh, what’s that?” and he went “I wrote that!” so I was like, “Oh cool, maybe we should play together.” We just started playing, me in his band and playing for each other. The thing that attracted me to it was just the songwriting because the song was different. At that time it was more…synth-pop, really.

What has made your musical collaborations with Greg click?

We’re very close, he’s my best friend. I think we both have deep understanding of how music works. There’s not much communication that has to happen verbally for us to make something that’s good. It’s just easy. We like letting the song be in the forefront rather than the musician or the parts, whatever those may be. We both have that same mindset, that’s just how it happens.

has been recorded in NYC. Do you think that is a meaningful choice for your sound or simply one of necessity and ease?

Well I was taking care of my mom here in El Paso. She was sick and she passed away in 2012 and Greg and I had agreed to move to New York and I followed and I had a few things to take care of here in El Paso and I joined him in New York and we recorded stuff there because we lived there… but I moved back to El Paso at the end of 2015.

With the new album you really let things stay minimalistic. Was that a difficult choice to make or the inevitable direction of this album?

There’s a lot of different incarnations of Cigarettes where the instrumentation was thicker, the paces were quicker and we recorded that EP were everything was stripped down and had to be stripped down because we were at the station we were recording in – which was the stairway. We tried a fast song then and it got lost because it just sounded like a mess because of the reverb. It would get lost so you had to just play stuff really minimalistic and after that EP we went on started doing other things that were more involved and more complicated and it just didn’t seem to be going anywhere. So we ended up just going back to the EP and that idea of more space and letting the songs breathe. That’s why the record is in that same vein because that’s what works best for us.

What made you release the singles in the order and manner that you did?

We recorded a section of ‘Keep On Loving You’ after I had moved back to El Paso and ‘Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You Baby’ broke and Greg wanted to record something else, to strike while the iron was hot, so we just went up and recorded those songs and the session was done in one take so that’s the one we put out. There was, I can’t think of any reason for what was released when except for when it was recorded and then the other stuff was just – well the stuff is actually pretty old! Most of the songs on the EP were all recorded in 2015.

How do you gear up to perform these songs live?

For me at this point not much because we do it so often. We play more often than we don’t play so there’s not a lot of mental prep that I do beforehand. Usually in the dressing room we make sure it’s clear five minutes before and we’re quiet, we don’t really speak much to each other in those five minutes. And on stage the songs still effect you and it’s not mechanical in any way. Of course the crowd reaction feeds into that. But there’s no real process that I have personally other than just a little moment of quiet before.

How do you process afterwards? I’m sure it’s a pretty heavy experience to perform those songs.

Yeah, yeah, for sure it is. I mean it takes you a second to come back down to earth but usually there’s no time to really think too much because you have to tear down and then usually there’s a meet and greet immediately after. So really I don’t come back down to earth until I go back to the hotel, it takes a little bit.

It’s difficult not to hear the cinematic in your entire catalog. Was it surprising for you that your music was licensed for 

No, it always made sense! Of course it was nice surprise but it just makes sense that the music lends itself to that. In the same way that the record is made so that you can listen to it intensely or you can leave it on in the background and go to sleep to it. I think that kind of music does well in movies or soundtracks, music that doesn’t

your attention by being loud or being fast.

Well I’d definitely say the music is also pretty Romantic – what’s the most romantic thing you’ve ever done?

Oh, hm, well I definitely moved back from New York – this girl does not notice but I moved from New York to El Paso so I guess it was that. But I would hope she wouldn’t find out it’s her.

Don’t worry, Phillip, your secret is safe with us.

Q&A with Cigarettes After Sex

Kara Kokinos of WRBB had the privilege to sit down with Oddisee at Block Party this past week to discuss TJ’s best snacks, spooky funeral homes, and stick n’ poke tats.

Listen to Oddisee’s most recent album, 

If you had to get a stick n poke right now what would you get?

I can make it up? I’d probably do something very cliché and trashy, like put my daughter’s name on my neck.

What’s your favorite Trader Joe’s goodie?

The cinnamon granola cereal, the clusters one, no cornflakes.

I’m trying to remember who makes that song, it’s called ‘I Be Strokin,’ I can’t remember the name of the artist.

(Author’s Note: For the record, it’s Clarence Carter, what a gem.)

What type of movie would your music be the soundtrack of?

I think it would be the soundtrack to a Sci-Fi film.

Would there be a lot of battle scenes or would it be more exploration?

It would be more of an exploration Sci-Fi film, exoplanets.

What actor would play your Lifetime original movie character?

I mean according to Hollywood there are only two. The guy who plays everyone from Martin Luther King to the baseball guy, and he’s now Black Panther… or Will Smith. Based on my color grade, I’d probably go with Will Smith.

What’s the spookiest thing you’ve ever seen?

I’m trying to separate spooky and scary… Spooky? It was definitely that time me and my friend Trek Life were on tour in the Netherlands. We were in a town in the north of Holland, and we had always dreamed of riding bikes in Holland and the promoter was like, “Please, five minutes and a crackhead or a heroin addict will try to sell you a bike.” Literally five minutes later we turned the corner and a heroin addict sold us two bikes for five Euro each and we went riding along on this pier. It became very, very foggy and then we saw this man in the fog walking and it was the creepiest thing and my friend, Trek Life, says, “Yo, who are you?!” and the guy’s response was, “I’m a man.” I’ll never forget that.

Did you just leave it at that and then run away?

We found out he was just walking his dog.

Oh, okay, so it has a happy ending. Favorite fair food?

Corn dog. Love a good corn dog, if I get a Hebrew National, yeah, I’m good.

Black, preferably single origin, pour over, B-60 or a Kalita. That’s fine by me, that’s what I usually make every morning.

No, no, no, I make my own coffee every morning.

I couldn’t possibly begin to select one… aw man…

It was – the guy in the fog was scarier than the funeral parlor! Moving things – there were things moving and I couldn’t see it, ya know? There was nothing moving other than a door that needed to be oiled in the funeral parlor. It was in the beginning of my career, there was this gentleman by the name of Jannis Stürtz, he owns a record label called Jakarta Records out of Berlin, a very popular record label. In his very humble beginnings, he booked me in his hometown outside of Cologne, Germany, in a recreation center. He offered to let me stay at his house and after the show he wanted to party. He didn’t want to drive me back to his house, so he said, “Amir, you can stay at my friend’s house across the street. It’s literally across the street.” And I said I didn’t care, as long as I had a place to crash. He didn’t tell me that his friend lived in a funeral parlor because his mother ran a morgue. You walked in the front door and then there were all the coffins and there was the smell of embalming fluid. Then he was like, “Okay, so your room is upstairs, I’ll take you upstairs…and, um, make yourself at home.” It was in the attic and he left me up there alone and went back to the party. The windows were open and I’ll never forget the crick of the door, I was freaking out, I couldn’t sleep all night.

Damn, no warning! Are you two still friends?

Yeah, me and Jannis are definitely still friends, he’s my homie, that’s a story we just laugh at. I was like, “Jannis, you made me sleep in a funeral parlor,” and he said, “Ah, that’s what his mother does for a living!” It’s all good, I like those stories, it gives you character.

Q&A with Oddisee

[three_fourth]Zola Jesus is back to bring subtlety to her anguish, which she has in spades. Joy has no place on 

; it’s an open process of grief for others and the self. While there are more than the album’s fair share of beautiful moments – lush reverb is applied to every instrument in excess – the dwelling upon of darkness never feels gratuitous.

The album is a breeding ground for creepy, dripping sounds summoned from the void in conjunction with primal, sometimes frantic drumbeats, Danilova’s choral tone, and strings that act as weapons. The two opening tracks showcase this right off the bat: ‘Doma’ is a primordial church ballad sung delivered by a lost spirit while ‘Exhumed’ presents a frantic, scattered montage of a huntress.

The electronic elements of the album sometimes feel disjointed, either complementing the arrangement by drawing out the lifelessness instilled or, on occasion, falling flat à la the slightly infuriating drumkit on the penultimate track, ‘Remains’. The lyrically dense tracks on the album tend to veer towards the more pop and artificial end of the album’s spectrum, but still incorporate the elements that make the album such a consuming force. ‘Wiseblood’ is a standout track on the album if only as a testament to Danilova’s lyricism, and the song’s chorus takes on new, haunting meaning through the telling of the narrator’s planned demise.

In her description of the process behind 

, Nika Roza Danilova delivers a eulogy of sorts to a period of immense pain for herself and people close to her. It’s apt that the project is entitled with the Slavic word for “shackles,” as she explains that, “We’re all shackled to something—to life, to death, to bodies, to minds, to illness, to people, to birthright, to duty. Each of us born with a unique debt, and we have until we die to pay it back. Without this cost, what gives us the right to live? And moreover, what gives us the right to die? Are we really even free to choose?”

‘Siphon’ tells this story best, demanding the presence and continued existence of someone desperate for reprieve. The song itself refuses to fade out, summoning Danilova’s voice to prevent the end of the track.

Danilova is fully able to create the “timeless days” in which she claims to live. Listeners are treated to an immersive experience as well as an opening of the emotional floodgates, which feeds into a loop without cause for alarm or even second thought.

Zola Jesus releases full-length “Okovi”

Polyvinyl Record Co. · September 8th, 2017

[three_fourth]The genre-adverse Alvvays are back with the same relaxed yet surprisingly articulate vibes their 2014 self-titled tipped its toe into. There’s much more polish to this album; what used to be a duel has been slightly reined in to let vocalist Molly Rankin’s voice float effortlessly towards the front of the rest of the mix, with her harmonies resting above. You still even get slightly more of that rock influence coming through on the track ‘Plimsoll Punks.’ It’s a deceivingly complex album that takes a subdued yet highly functional and polished approach to what is often taken in a much punchier direction. The entire mix blends so well within itself that you’re bound to get hidden details in every track even if you lose a little of the extremes with that level of self-monitoring.

That detail might be where they somewhat lost me on this one – I’m not gonna knock the prowess that the band clearly possesses, but there is a slight lack of character to 

. I have a fantastic time while the album plays – there really isn’t another band creating such a cohesive and genre-incorporating sound – but it misses the mark in any storytelling fashion. Rankin’s vocals are absolutely wonderful and situationally perfect, and there is no contesting her creativity with them. Take a long sit down with ‘Lollipop’ for some really cool vocal effects that sell the entire song. That said, I’m not quite sold on her as a narrator. The album’s a pretty easy sing-along, but if anything, you get more from the rhythmic choices made with her wordplay than the words themselves – with ‘Hey’ providing a pretty intense dose of that.

I’m sold on Alvvays’ talent and ability to craft music – that was never really called into question – but was still left wanting more post-

. Perhaps their live show will zap energy into an outfit that clearly has it in spades, but you lose a bit of on this album.

Alvvays release full-length “Antisocialites”

 Catch Mitski at 4pm on Saturday, performing on the Blue Stage

 Your Best American Girl, I Bet On Losing Dogs, Texas Reznikoff

 It’s always great to see women, especially women of color, finding success by articulating their lived experience. Be sure to also check out Kilo Kish and headliner Solange for your fix of minority femme power at Pitchfork.

While many music festivals are slowly improving at mixing up their gender imbalance, it’s nice to see Pitchfork bringing out larger name female artists who dominate their respective genres. One of these artists is Japanese born, American raised Mitski Miyawaki. Her most recent release, 

, is an album perfect for summertime, and has been the indie scene’s favorite angsty soundtrack to midnight discussions of identity and belonging for the past year. Mitski manages to make her music a beautiful ode to control and release. Both the album overall and individual songs see her exerting exactitudes before exposing the raw emotions driving her work, making her guitar wail in the same manner she produces guttural vocal bends.


Every club show Mitski has played since the release of 

 seems to create a strong sense of community for the attendees. Along with the refreshingly clear perspective Mitski brings to her music, there is also an across-the-board relatability in the emotions it elicits–even if you can’t bring the same personal experience. But when you do connect on that deeper level, an unbreakable connection is formed between artist and audience. I truly look forward to seeing Mitski cast her spell on the Pitchfork crowd.

Pre4k: Mitski

 Catch Vince Staples at 4pm on Friday, performing on the Green Stage

 Vince Staples has been rap’s latest manic pixie dream boy, and his latest release, 

 is a giant middle finger to that idea. Staples is not rap’s hallow means to survival and growth – he is cold blooded, calculated, and coming for rap itself.

It’s difficult to find fault with anything that Staples delivers to his feverish audience. His new album sounds like it has been given to us to act as a bridge between the current state of more mainstream rap and a new wave of sonic approach–something slicker, but with driving aggression that does not let up at any moment during the 12 tracks. This excellence sometimes means that people consume his material without regard for or understanding of what Staples is creating.

A divide is visible within his audience – with those supporting an artist committed to presenting an evolution of “the same old thing”, and those there for the experience of being swept up by the current tide of conscious rap. It’s no secret that pop culture is consuming so much of the musical and cultural space it once dismissed, emulating without the full understanding that comes with lived experience. But don’t worry– Staples has no time for culture vultures and won’t pretend to.

While he keeps his life and motivations under a veil of misdirection – with only illusions to the changing values that come with growth and progress of the self – it’s clear that Staples’ narrative will also be his legacy. This is a man who fights impulse. He references suicidal ideation and samples an Amy Winehouse ode to self-destruction, but is able to construct something that will undoubtedly shape his genre as well as his own path. Staples is self interest embodied – not a reluctant hero or self sacrificing aide – and that’s why we love him.

Pre4k 2017: Vince Staples

 deliver an EP that brings up as many questions as answers, and paints a turbulent narrative of searching for place and purpose.

, the newest Half Waif release off Cascine, is a water sign. Half Waif’s entire discography is saturated with wet, lush currents and form/a is no exception. This entire EP feels as if it was crafted beneath the surface of a storm. Safety warning: I am not advocating that you go swimming during a monsoon…but if you’ve ever been underwater during a storm, you know the muffled sound of rain hitting water from above. You know how the water chills, the sound of waves as they begin to crash, and you know the odd sense of being protected from all that tumult–until the pressure builds in your lungs and you need to brave the surface. In that moment, you feel like an extension of the ocean as it is both utterly at peace and at war with itself. 

 is the calm and the storm. There are no answers here, just moments of reprieve and clarity in the chaos.

Released on February 24th, this record is a Pisces. I know that we Pisces have a reputation for being at least mildly erratic, frequent visitors of our past, and more than a little bit…dramatic. That read isn’t exactly wrong– it’s not that we aren’t well intending, we’re empaths at heart and center ourselves around others, but sometimes this means we don’t know what we want. We don’t know what’s going to make us happy from one moment to the next. As opening track ‘Severed Logic’ puts it, “my mood is a pendulum: I don’t think you can handle it.” But this doesn’t mean that we aren’t in things for the long haul – I’d cite “Night Heat” as a perfect example but I’d rather you just listen to the track. Hearing the song performed in January was the first twist of the knife – every listen since has made me want to rip my heart out and throw it across the room, only to sob over it and return it to its rightful place. Again, I warned you of our sign’s penchant for melodrama.

[bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=3898705881 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 track=473538710]

 takes place in the present while looking at the past for guidance. Lyrically, there are even questions raised of the value of that, “Frost Burn” references an internal map, questioning, “would it lead me out or would it lead me back?” Nevertheless, Nandi Rose Plunkett & co. revisit what has made them great in the past but are looking to the future, especially in terms of production. This was Nandi’s first time at the helm and it shows – this isn’t necessarily a drawback, just a departure from the extensive polish that accompanied 2016’s 

 is built within a sonic landscape that straddles the bridge of organic and inorganic, a balancing act of nuanced musical shapes taking on rhizomatic form, and functions as a synthetic heartbeat to a record exploring the human desire for meaning without knowing.

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3/11 – Savannah Stopover – Savannah, GA
3/12 – The Wilbury – Tallahassee, FL
3/13-17 – SXSW
3/19 – Not So Fun WKND @ Club Dada – Dallas, TX
3/22 – Mahall’s – Lakewood, OH
3/23 – Mac’s – Lansing, MI
3/24 – Beat Kitchen – Chicago, IL
3/25 – Double Happiness – Columbus, OH
3/26 – The Smiling Moose – Pittsburgh, PA
3/27 – The Smiling Buddha – Toronto, ON
3/28 – Vitrola – Montreal, QC
3/29 – Arts Riot – Burlington, VT
3/31 – Joe Squared – Baltimore, MDl
4/1 – Strange Matter – Richmond, VA
4/2 – King’s – Raleigh, NC
4/3 – DC9 – Washington DC


4/5 – Middle East Upstairs – Boston, MA (


4/6 – The Silent Barn – New York, NY
4/7 – Everybody Hits – Philadelphia, PA

Half Waif releases “form/a” EP

In a candid interview, Nandi Rose Plunkett talks to 

, out February 24th via Cascine. Catch Half Waif playing tomorrow, 1/12, at Great Scott in Allston!

There’s a notable excitement that prefaces the conversation to follow; Half Waif has just premiered the newest single, “Severed Logic,” on Stereogum from forthcoming EP 

, alongside an insightful interview that touches upon relationships, soundscapes, and art form. Nandi Rose Plunkett begins our interview buzzing with anxious eagerness at the traction her song and the interview have already gained. 

“(During) the (Stereogum) interview I was definitely nervous and drinking a beer. Reading back I really just went in on everything,” she laughs, “I was very honest but I’ve already had a couple of friends message me (saying), ‘Thank you so much for your honesty, it’s really cool to read an interview where you’re baring everything,’ which is cool, I didn’t totally mean to do that but I’m glad (they) got something out of it.”

Launching into a discussion of the honesty that fueled that interview, Plunkett mentions that she was sitting next to partner and Pinegrove/Half Waif bandmate Zack Levine when initially reading the interview. While the interview touched on a lot of aspects of their relationship, she articulates that, “it’s not anything to hide, it’s not saying anything bad; it’s just the nature of relationships and when you’re in one and you’re an artist you’re going to be writing from a place of being part of a relationship not a place of solitude…I feel good about it but I was definitely a little embarrassed at first.”

As we chatted more about the importance of candor to musicians, she stated, “I’m going to go with this policy, I going to try to be really honest in interviews, it’s going to be my thing,” and she definitely holds true to her words. Check out the rest of our discussion below and be sure to check out Half Waif’s show tomorrow night, 9 PM at the Great Scott, with Brittle Brian and Forth Wanderers.

For those of us are who have only heard the one track from 

, is there anything you would want listeners to take into consideration before sitting down with your new work?

Definitely! I’m really curious what kind of feeling people get from the new music, this is the first thing that I’ve recorded on my own. That was kind of a scary process to embark upon but I demo out everything that I’ve written. In the past records I’ve had demos and worked with producers to realize them a little bit further but this was the first time I was like, “You know what? This is really me, the way that it sounds. It’s not super polished, it’s not going to be a really slick production but the sounds feel really like me. This is the way that I conceive of arrangement and production, I’m learning a lot and I hope I continue to grow and get better as a producer but this is the first time I felt like I wanted to share that aspect of my process with a larger audience.

You mentioned in that interview discussing songwriting with Evan (Stephens Hall). Obviously these two projects are incredibly different, but are Half Waif and Pinegrove two entirely separate experiences for you, musically, are they part of a larger entity?

Well, Half Waif was birthed from Pinegrove in a funny way. In the last two years of college, I stopped writing – I got kind of confused about what music I wanted to write because up to that point I just wrote very easily without a lot of editing. I realized that the music I was writing wasn’t something that I wanted to listen to; it came out of me but it didn’t excite me.

I had stopped writing when I met Evan, who has always had this very clear vision of who he is as a person and as an artist, which is something I really admire about him. Pinegrove has always had this very clear vision and we all moved to Brooklyn after graduation then I started getting this itch, like, “I love singing with Evan, I love playing with this group of musicians, but there is a part of me that’s not being expressed through this. How do I find that voice again and be a little bit more mindful and conscious of the music that I’m writing?”

It was while I was living in that house in Brooklyn that I started going into my room and writing these songs that fully became Half Waif. I don’t know if Half Waif would have taken its shape without my experience in Pinegrove. In that way they’re very much linked and, stylistically, they’re quite different in the way that we conceive of arrangement and song form but Evan and I are both songwriters at our core. That’s something I always hope comes across in my music – there are a lot of different sounds swirling around them but at the core these are very much songs. Evan and I have a lot of conversations about songwriting and support each other to continue to explore the songwriting process to be the most effective story-tellers that we can be.

So I’ve seen you a few different times, as Half Waif and as part of Pinegrove, and your blend with Evan is absolutely insane. What’s your background with vocal training?

Well I’m glad that you noticed that about me and Evan because that is why we started playing together. We started singing together and realized, “Wait, this is crazy.” Sometimes when we’re both singing and we hear a recording, we can’t tell who is singing. We’ll listen back and say, “Oh, that was the harmony that I wrote, that’s me singing, I really like that line,” and (then the other person) will say, “No, that’s my harmony! I sing that line, that sounds like me.” It’s really incredible and I’m so grateful that found each other in this way.

But I’ve always been a singer; I think the greatest element of my life is having a voice and being able to use it as singer, it’s so cool that it’s part of my body. I discovered at a really young age that I loved singing, I had my first band when I was nine, started taking voice lessons in eighth grade, did a lot of musical theatre in high school, and I sang all through college – I was a music major and my primary instrument was voice. I started doing classical singing and for my senior thesis I wrote this piece that studied the Baka tribe of Central Africa, who use their voice in this incredible way that’s akin to yodeling, so I wrote this piece of music that had singers flipping their voice between head voice and chest voice very quickly to create a kind of yodel effect. I think voice is so cool, I’m constantly trying to find ways to explore it and expand my range or just test out different places of the voice. Like any instrument, there are so many extended techniques that you can try. My voice is changing as I get older, when I listen to how I used to sing, even a few years ago, it’s getting more robust and deeper and that’s cool. You’re a living being so it makes sense that your voice is a living being also.

I’ve heard a bunch of different influences on the various tracks on “Probable Depths.” I remember thinking that the title track seemed like St Vincent, partially because of how playful with traditional song structure it is, but you’ve also built your own sonic rules and soundscapes within this album and even the individual tracks. Can you speak to how you broke down and reconstructed some of those musical expectations of form and instrumentation?

I really want there to be an element of songwriting at the center of these pieces but I kind of get bored with the verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus thing. I might start with something that feels like a song, with a verse and internal structure that feels logical in terms of phrasing, rhyme, and chord progression but often it’s the music speaking for itself. For example, the other day I was thinking about the song “Cerulean” on the new EP and it has this really weird structure (of) three verses separated by instrumentals that act as their own section with their own melody. I definitely did not go into it thinking that I (would use that structure) but writing it, you would get to that end point. I write a lot with a computer so often I’ll be experimenting with beats or maybe a synth line and it just sort of unfolds organically, even if it feels like an inorganic form. It might feel kind of swirly but it’s where the music takes me.

I found this last album kind of unsettling, you’ve got a bunch of warning lyrics and the swallowed scream on “Turn Me Around” just makes you want to crawl out of your skin. As a listener, it was cathartic to have the sonic build of tension and release, was it the same for you while writing and performing?

Very much so! That stifled scream was right around the time when I was really listening to Mitski’s 

and she has the song “Drunk Walk Home” where she’s screaming. I remember listening to that and there are so many elements of that album that are pretty – her voice is beautiful and there are some really beautiful melodies, that are so pure and perfect – and then there’s a track where it’s heavy and she’s screaming and it all exists in one space. It all exists in the space of one album and I remember looking at that and thinking that that feels real That’s how we experience life, as a series of really beautiful, pure moments and then the next second you could be totally swallowed up in this rage or overcome by this really strong mood. I’m a really moody person and that happens to me a lot, really, really quickly. In the course of one day my mood fluctuates very intensely, much to Zack’s dismay because he has to be on the other end of that, but it’s something that I do want to explore in the music and was working on in 

. Having some really pretty moments that feel cinematic and you get swept away in and then other, more jarring elements, like the breakdown in the title track. At the beginning it’s this pretty piano ballad and you’re like, “Okay, cool, we’re here, I get what this is,” and then it totally flips on its head. That feels so real to me.

So you brought up Mitski, and, as a mixed girl myself, it’s been amazing to see artists like her, you, and Japanese Breakfast putting out such quality music across such different genres. What unique perspectives do you think your background brings to your music? Whether that’s form or lyrics, or just who you inherently are.

That’s something that I’ve been trying to figure out too, doing more interviews asking “what’s your story?” and I wanna have a story! Something that I think about a lot and informs who I am and the kind of music that I write, is this feeling of home and searching for that. I come from a multi-cultural background, my mother was a refugee, and I grew up in a really beautiful safe space but since college I’ve been bopping around, trying to find a musical home for Half Waif, trying to find a home for it in the industry, (fueling) a constant search of belonging. As I result I think the music sounds fractured, it sounds like it’s searching for a place that feels wholly its own. I don’t think it’s settled anywhere because I don’t feel settled. I’m touring a lot these days and I don’t know where I’m going to end up. I really want to create music that maybe feels a little unsettling but also, when you listen to it, it feels like it’s its own world. It maybe doesn’t belong in one specific sphere; it’s not tied to any one place but as a result it creates this fragmented universe all of its own.

Thank you so much to Nandi for taking the time to interview with 

 of WRBB, and thank you to Andi at Cascine for coordinating.

Listen to “Severed Logic”, the first single off 

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Jan 13th | Baby’s All Right | Brooklyn, NY

Jan 14th | Comet Ping Pong | Washington, DC

Jan 15th | Creep Records | Philadelphia, PA

Q&A with Half Waif

 kicked off the night with an ambient set; as the band’s name would suggest, the set was a hazy, lo-fi warmup for Twin Peaks’ signature unpolished sound. The band put a psychedelic spin on songs like “Never Comin’ Back”, while more pop-sounding tracks like “Salt” were reminiscent of the headliner’s retro groove. Golden Daze played a short set, a definite win for a show with two openers and a late start time. All in all, they were crowd-pleasers, and while not memorable enough to outshine the following acts, they played a solid and captivating set in front of an eager crowd.

 played next, giving a decidedly unrefined contrast to the previous opener. The band hails from L.A. as well, but did not share Golden Daze’s impersonality and finesse; they played an extensive set that seemed to drag at times. This is often symptomatic of the genre without a previous familiarity of an artist’s repertoire, however, the set pandered to fans of Twin Peaks’ noisy garage rock. Together PANGEA played a loud, fast, and frenzied sampling of songs from their three-album discography with tracks like “Sick Shit” and “Badillac” having the pit moshing and crowdsurfing, as fans of more hardcore rock pushed to the front. Highlights of the set included transitions that slowed the show down a little and allowed the band to show off their endurance and musical talent — something that tends to be hard for more hardcore musicians.

There’s something incredibly tongue in cheek about everything that Twin Peaks does. Whether it’s the quirky little faces drawn onto their drum kit or Clay Frankel’s facial contortions, The Sinclair meets its soulmate every time they come to town. The venue has played host to the band at least three times, most recently during their Down in Heaven Tour with NE-HI and Jimmy Whispers. While I had attended that show, I was not quite prepared for their triumphant return. If you’ve never seen Twin Peaks live, it should be noted that four of the five band members will hit you with blaring vocals and electric guitars/bass while Connor Brodner locks everyone in. When they go into the more improvised, jam portions of the set, there will be a crowdsurfer who kicks you in the head. Oh, and, front row, beware Frankel’s beer spit.

The band excels at writing more tender moments into sloppy rock songs, “Wanted You” is an ode to the band’s ability to take introspection and surround themselves in it. The brilliance of Twin Peaks lies within the incredible moments of energy and grit found in their vocals, whether placed further back in the mix or, often times, stressed briefly on the first line of their chorus, blasting through the sonic sphere already created. You might not have gotten this from their performance – which is not to say that the band is incapable of reigning in their live sound to highlight their writing or reflect their recorded work, it speaks more to their audience’s inability to contain themselves and the band’s desire to match that energy.

to Twin Peak’s repertoire has rounded out their set incredibly well. 

was one of my top albums of 2014, but the band has come a long way from the smaller stages and house venues that the album and its predecessor 

sees the band honing their songwriting, exploring the previously more understated blues elements of their sound and bringing that out with twanging guitars and swinging, sing-song choruses. These elements complement their older material and translate so well to the stage that it is difficult to imagine a Twin Peaks before this sonic transition, but long time fans will be happy to know that they’re still closing their set with “Strawberry Smoothie.”

Twin Peaks @ The Sinclair


November 1st, 2016 at House of Blues Boston

Two openers at the House of Blues can be brutal on an audience, and sadly Foals fell right into that pithole. Both openers could have easily headlined their own small room shows, and their sets felt fully fleshed out, but this also lead them to feel completely independent from each other.

Kiev kicked off the night on a high note, with a smooth indie rock sound that is reminiscent of the Black Keys or even Foals themselves. While I found their album 

rather lackluster, I enjoyed almost all of their material in a live setting. Their choices catered well to each band member’s prowess – the multi-instrumentalist trumpet player and keyboardist gave a lot of definition to the band’s sound, grounded by a constantly locked in bassist and drummer. Their song “Be Gone Dull Cage,” which was featured on 

, was anchored by keys and definitely was the strongest of the set. Often times the guitarist’s pedals placed him further back, floating above the mix and letting the vocalist take the spotlight. The one criticism I had of their set was the singer’s jarring, pre-recorded background vocals – the mixing was so different from his live voice that it was distracting and took away from the atmosphere that the band created well otherwise. Despite this, Kiev functioned as a perfect opener for Foals; they were cohesive enough to set the mood, but clearly not drawing primary influence from the band.

Bear Hands was a definite change of pace for the night, but again I found the band’s live sound preferable to their recorded material. I would have loved to hear this set on another night, but as an introduction to Foals it seemed incredibly out of place. That being said, I actually enjoyed the songs best that were a total sonic departure from the rest of the show, especially those featuring the keyboard and synth pad laying down the majority of the harmonic content. The band did experiment with guitar leads as well, trading off descending lines across guitars that had completely different tonalities. These were found on their songs “Bone Digger” and “Like Me Like That” which brought the highest energy overall, but sadly, even with all four instrumentalists in harmony, the band’s sound still didn’t hit as hard as I wanted it to. Everyone in the crowd was incredibly excited to hear “Giants,” but I’d never heard a band who was more miserable to play their number one hit. The singer’s vocal phrases were cut surprisingly short considering the amount of breath control he had demonstrated throughout the night, and the energy that the band brought clearly decreased as soon as the song began. The crowd didn’t seem to mind or even notice this shift, their voices carried Bear Hands through to the end of the song, and the band picked up their energy afterwards to close out with a hard-hitting rendition of “2AM.”

Foals released their first hit “Hummer” in 2007, but the band is currently in its eleventh year and still going strong with four albums under their belt. Each album is a sonic journey, cohesive and fully formed, and the band does not go through the growing pains often found from artists transitioning between genres. Even when utilizing different musical techniques in a single song or album, there is no struggle. Though they are typically labeled “indie rock,” it does a disservice to the band – Foals do not transcribe to most of the genre’s expectations or even that of the subgenres they tend to be placed in next, art or math rock. There are elements of almost every kind of rock found on a single Foals album – sometimes even in a single song. Despite this, every album has a sonic signature that is particular to the release. The amount of success they’ve received, and even the reception of Foal’s live show, is a testament to their songwriting. The band has won the Q Award and been nominated twice by NME for Best Live Act, and as this was my first time seeing Foals, I had high standards that they just didn’t live up to.

Four months straight of touring had taken its toll on all of the band, as even notoriously energetic lead singer Yannis Philippakis seemed to be lacking the energy that has set them apart from other artists in the past. The singer is known for going into the crowd, and this performance was no exception, but even this felt like going through the motions. Phillippakis & Co. still controlled the crowd just as well as ever, but this spoke more to their musicality than any other performance aspects. The band’s movements were minimal, as they primarily let their sound and light show wash over the crowd and create an almost transcendental state. Unfortunately, I was unable to become fully immersed, as I was stuck next to the only members of the audience who did not understand that Foals is not a band to mosh wildly to for an entire set. While there were certainly moments that called for it, “Spanish Sahara” certainly does not fall under that category.

Showmanship aside, there was absolutely nothing to complain about when it came to the sonic elements of the night. Every track sounded the same, if not better than, the recorded version, and each member of the band executed their individual role spectacularly. Yannis’ mastery of vocals and guitar shined through spectacularly on “Give It All.” The setlist felt slightly disjointed to me, which may have been the result of listening to Foals’ catalog album by album versus sitting down with all of the individual hits. This feeling was especially evident as Foals closed out the last portion of their main set with an adorable, yet slightly melancholic dedication of “Late Night” to the band’s mothers, followed by encouragement for everyone to get crazy to “Inhaler.” My reaction to hearing these songs speaks to the band’s ability to craft a standalone album; it was unsettling to hear tracks from the same LP out of order. Despite a slightly lackluster performance this time around, I would not hesitate to go see Foals again – I genuinely believe that they’re one of the most talented bands today, making complex yet accessible music – and would advocate that everyone should see them in order to hear the full range of sounds this band is capable of.

Foals @ House of Blues

James King of Fitz & the Tantrums speaks with us about the band’s new album, playing live, and the pursuit of musical growth.

This past Friday, 11/4, WRBB was lucky enough to speak with James King, the saxophone player for Fitz and the Tantrums. The CA band came out with their self-titled album in June of this year and have been taking their new pop soul sounds across the country since. Catch James and the rest of the band in Boston next week, on Tuesday, November 15th, at the House of Blues with Barns Courtney.

Just listening to the new self-titled album you can really hear how comfortable you guys have become with navigating the fusion of the sonic elements of funk, soul, and pop in a way that many bands struggle to accomplish while remaining authentic. What are the defining elements of Fitz & the Tantrums to you?

Well we just like to get organic and play louder and louder. We’ve got some slick production going on the album and it’s definitely a radio oriented album, but live it’s just a whole other deal so we like to let loose and show off the collective years of experience that we have of being live musicians and connecting with people in that way.

You commented that the recording process on More Than Just a Dream was a more collaborative effort than your previous album. Did you guys take the same approach this time around?

Yeah, it was kind of a piece meal approach, we threw a lot of things at the wall until they stuck and everyone’s voice was heard. We all had a say in it.

What’s been your personal favorite recording experience so far?

Oh man, that’s tough…it’s a really dense history…in our entire carreer?

Doing “Handclap” was really fun just because we kind of knew what was going to happen. We knew that song was going to do well and went into the studio with that attitude and we got something great out of it.

There’s a lot more that you guys have experimented with on this album – you’ve been able to utilize sonic space and instrumentation in a really interesting, cohesive way in the context of a pop/soul album. Was that as a consistent choice for this time around or what naturally came out of your writing?

It just kind of naturally came out! We had all of these tools at our disposal and wanted to see what we could use. It turned out to be a pretty good experience.

I was lucky enough to catch you guys at Firefly and the audience was just as hyped on the newer tracks as the old. You guys have always been candid about how your sound evolves from album to album and it has paid off for you. How do you gauge what is going to resonate with your audience?

Actually it’s really hard to gauge! You have to be prepare for every kind of reaction. Some people are going to go with you on the journey and some aren’t, and you just kind of have to accept that. We hope that it resonates with a bigger audience from album to album and so far, that has seemed to be the case. We just kind of trust our gut and go forward with it.

How has it been translating recorded material to the stage and how has that gone over with your audience?

It’s been going great! I can speak for my experience being the sax player in the band – [live] you’re hearing saxophone on songs sometimes where you can’t hear it on the record [because] it’s tucked into the mix or whatever so I [am able] to throw it out there in a way that makes more sense live. People seem to dig it so I keep doing it.

The last track off of Fitz & the Tantrums is “A Place for Us” – have Fitz & the Tantrums found their place?

Man, yeah! Our place is all over the stage and all over every town. We’re having fun storming right now up the East Coast and really looking forward to getting up there and playing to our New England posse. Every time we get to Boston it’s been so great – some of our greatest show memories have happened there. I haves so many friends out there that I can’t wait to see. Truly though, even though we’re going to miss the sunshine that we’re experiencing now in Florida, we’re really, really excited to come up there.