Yet More Fucking Hippies

Photo by Ed Thorn

Ever had a hangover that you could describe as “beautiful”? They’re not common. They’re not your regular earth shattering-shit-your-bowels-out- of-a-ringpiece-that-feels-like-its-been- soaked-in-stinging-nettles- for-a-week-every-five-minutes- accompanied-by-waves-of-nausea- that-make-you-feel- like-you’re-lost-at-sea- with-involuntary-sweating- saline-fear-from- unwashed-pores hangovers. Nope, not those ones. Think more the day after a long session when you wake up with nothing to do and the sun is shining and you feel all dulled and fuzzy and everything is exciting and you end up having a hyper-active day where everything falls into place despite not having planned a thing. Yeasayer sound like that. Effortless, blissful and ecstatic without a hint of contrivance. Lazy people have compared them to the Beach Boys just because all four of them sing. They are in fact far closer to 4 Way Street-era Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young with delicate vocal melodies all swaddled in intricate guitar figures and fretless sliding bass riffs. They’ve recreated a lost Laurel Canyon inside New York. Jason Foster from Monitor thought they were so good he started a whole new label just to release their record, and “2080” is by at least one million light ages the single of last year. They’re a pretty special band. They may look like a bunch of hippies but sometimes that’s okay ’cos you know what? If you don’t like If I Could Only Remember My Name, I don’t like you. Vice: Guys, we love the record but what is going on? You all look like you’ve walked backwards through a charity shop during some out-take from a C-movie version of a Cheech and Chong film. Ira Wolf Tuton (bass, vocals): We get that a lot. We just wear whatever and mix stuff I guess people don’t expect. Like hip-hop overcoats and these Eskimo-style shoes. Luke Fasano (keys, vocals): We really aren’t hippies though. I am not going to name names here but I find the whole new-folk thing pretty disgusting. I just don’t get it. Why bother trying to do something that has already been done so brilliantly before? It’s like trying to rip off Joy Division, what’s the point? Chris Keating (drums, vocals): That worked out okay for Interpol. Luke: True. Where did all the vocal melodies come from? Were you all in the shower together one day and just happened to pipe up in unison? Ira: It was always pretty integral to the sound. We listen to a lot of choral music and Anand listens to a bunch of world stuff. There were no showers involved. Anand Wilder (guitar, vocals): I have never understood the concept of instrumental rock music. If I want to hear just instruments I’ll listen to a film score. If you’re playing a guitar you’ve got to sing, you know? Why are so many of your songs about chasing the sun and winter and summer and stuff? Do you all suffer from Seasonally Affected Disorder or something? Luke: Totally, man. You are bound to be influenced by something that affects you every day. Even if only by abstraction. Anand: Who wouldn’t be? You wake up in the morning and the sun is shining and you know it’s going to be a good day. BILL COSBY, PILLS, GASH & LUNGFISH
Yeasayer’s All Hour Cymbals is out now on We Are Free.
myspace.com/yeasayer