Just months after it’s well-received release, Band of Horses are bringing Infinite Arms to Australia. Before they took to the stage in Sydney, WB sat down with Tyler Ramsey, lead guitarist,  to discuss the album, tour and band.

WB: How has the trip out to Australia been so far?

TR: It’s been great. We were here before and I remember having a blast. Melbourne was a lot of fun but we’ve been pretty busy this tour and haven’t really been exploring that much.

Infinite Arms; what does it mean to you?

What does it mean? Music I guess. I don’t know if there’s a whole meaning to the album, but it means that we get to tour a lot and play shows and see the world.

Ben’s (Bridwell, the band’s lead vocalist and chief songwriter) called Infinite Arms the first Band of Horses album because of all the lineup changes in the past. Do you see the current state of the band staying like this?

Yeah, definitely. I mean, we’ve already been this band for three years now. It feels great, we travel a lot together, we get along really well and still want to hang out with each other all the time. It feels like the right thing, like we’re all friends and can continue to do this for a long time.

How does the songwriting process work in the band? Having Ben as the only original member do you and others sometimes find it difficult?

No, he didn’t make it hard at all. I mean, this last go round it was a lot of sending songs back and forth through emails and just kind of going back and forth and we were all doing that. It just felt really kind of natural, and worked out really smoothly.

‘Older’ had Ryan (Monroe, the band’s keyboardist) on vocals. Do you see a more collaborative approach on future albums?

I think that’s the way things are kind of going, but I think it’s always going to be predominantly Ben because that’s really what Band of Horses is based on; his voice and that style. But I think right from the very start they had a couple of songs that were written by other band members. It doesn’t seem like it’s really necessarily a big change to have that going on.

So going back a bit, Everything All the Time saw some success in Sweden and Norway, and Cease to Begin also expanded the band into France and Denmark. Was there a particular focus there, or was it just odd luck?

We did a lot of touring over there so I think that really did help to be present and have people to be able to come see us and help spread the word that way. Our only intention was to play shows and I think it just happened kind of naturally.

You were invited by Bill (Reynold’s, bass player) to tour with the band, how do the two of you know each other?

I had met the guys at the studio that they were recording Cease to Begin at, and then Bill needed to get over to where they were living in South Carolina so I drove them down there, I think for a rehearsal or a show. We all ended up having a great time hanging out. Bill and I have been friends for something like 17 years. And once we got together Ben asked me to open a tour solo, and then maybe an hour later asked me if I would play guitar in the band.

In 2007 you toured solo, as well as joining the band during their set. Will we see any similar situations where your own project is partnered with Band of Horses on stage?

Yeah, I’ve done that recently. We did some European shows where I opened up, I think about six of them. Anytime it works out that I can do that and they want me to do it, it’s always a blast.

So before you were asked to join the band, had you seen or heard much of them before, and what were your initial impressions?

Bill had joined the band about four months before I did and I got to see them. I had seen them in my hometown of Asheville, they came through and played a show at this really great club called The Grey Eagle which was down the road from where I lived. I saw that show and loved it. My roommate at the time was a big fan, and I’d heard their album Everything All the Time. I definitely was a fan, and then I got to see Bill play with them which got me really excited, like a proud friend.

This was your first experience in the studio with the band. How did it differ from previous recordings?

A lot of the recordings I’ve done in the past have been mostly just me kind of steering things, trying to play a lot of different instruments, which I got to do as well in this setting. It’s more relaxed to have all my friends, and everyone’s got ideas. Seems like it flows a lot easier than if you’re just trying to steer everything yourself. You get kind of stuck sometimes, or lead yourself down the wrong path and not know it. But with everyone’s good tastes and opinions everything seemed to flow along pretty well.

What do you and the rest of the band tend to listen to when writing and recording?

There’s a lot of stuff that we have in common, I think we listened to a lot of weird stuff that didn’t really apply to what we were doing. Not that it’s weird but it was just coming from a different place. I remember we were listening to this Kid Cudi song a lot when we were in the studio and listening to a lot of The Band and a lot of Kinks was going on. Just random things, whatever someone was into at the time.

The album was in the top 20 for two weeks here in Australia, and hit number 7 on the US Billboard 200. Do you tend to try and ignore the charts or see it as reward for the band’s efforts?

Cool. I think the only time I heard about it was when it was 7, and that was right after it came out and I was really excited about it. But I don’t really even know where to look to find out that information. Also, it’s great to hear about but for me I enjoy recording and it’s fun to play shows and that kind of stuff is probably going to be really good for us, and maybe I’ll pay more attention to it now.

When did you first pick up the guitar?

I think I was 14. I started playing piano first when I was a little kid, like nine years old. I played piano for a long time then picked up the guitar a little bit later and got really into acoustic fingerstyle guitar kind of early on which was a little bit weird from what my friends were listening to. But I think maybe when I was in high school I got really deep into playing the guitar.

What were some of your favourite acts as a child?

I have an older brother and an older sister and they were both playing music around the house. My brother had a lot of classic rock like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, and he still listens to a lot of classic rock stuff. And that definitely influenced me but I think when I got into high school and started coming up with my own path musically, I remember the first bands I was into were The Replacements, R.E.M and Dinosaur Jr., and Hüsker Dü and stuff like that. That was when I started playing in garage bands and kind of messing around trying to imitate those people. I remember the band I was in was trying to sound like The Replacements and my friend’s band was trying to sound like Dinosaur Jr. So we were competing to see who could do the best job of imitating somebody else.

How does it feel playing on the same stage as some of the largest acts and in front of some legends like Bruce Springsteen?

Oh man, it’s scary. We had him show up when we played a festival in the States called Bonnaroo and he actually came and was standing by the monitor mixing boards for the last couple of songs of the set and luckily I didn’t realise that he was there. I think we got off stage a little bit earlier and heard that he was there to see us play so we got back on really fast and played a few more songs, and one of them was the ‘Evening Kitchen’ song that I have to sing on, so it was really, really scary to know that he was there. But he talked to us right afterwards and was the nicest guy, so cool. It’s kind of mind blowing to be meeting those kind of people.

Score: 68%

The Whigs are best known for their raw southern indie and garage rock trademarks; catchy guitar lines, boisterous chorus chants, and simple yet effective instrumentation. They are a band who echo the successes of the nineties, but add their own original twist. When comparing In the Dark to this preconceived notion of the band, it is blatantly obvious that something has changed in both their style and delivery. The departure of co-founder and writer, Hank Sullivant has no doubt altered their direction. Whereas previous records tended to sound monotonous, In the Dark has embraced different styles, allowing The Whigs to branch out and better showcase the skill and sensibility of the three-piece.

Right from the start of the record, the animated drumming of Julian Dorio shows vast progress since Mission Control was released two years ago. Where previously there was interesting, yet quite simple ostinato-based rhythms underlying the tracks, there’s now much more complicated and varying structures present. Dorio’s drumming forms the foundation for the band stretching out. Parker Gispert’s voice has similarly developed, incorporating a greater range of styles; the famed raw Georgian accent is still there but cleaner vocals and pitching are a welcome improvement.

Sullivant’s absence, and the wider stylistic changes of the Whigs, could disappoint the band’s original fans. But for the wider population the changes are largely an improvement. While transition between the tracks is at times harsh, the Whigs remain identifiable and engaging whilst tweaking the formula just enough. The simplistic, yet catchy, choruses still engage easily and naturally, but there’s a hint that there’s more to the band than this. While it’s not groundbreaking, In the Dark is a solid album from an improving band.

It’s unlikely the Enmore Theatre has ever catered for such an eclectic mix of fans during a single event in all its colourful history. Young and old, flannel shirts and duffel coats, you could only imagine what the bands themselves must have thought upon arrival. But it wasn’t just the diverse crowd that represented the contrast of this night.

Fronted by the drummer of The Drones, Mike Noga and The Gentlemen of Fortune were indeed stately, dressed in suits, ties and hankies. They opened the show spectacularly, a bizarre pedigree of the Skyhooks and Southern country that set a high standard for what was to come. Filled with humming organ under simple and hard-hitting riffs, the first few opening tracks were in your face. Following cheers from the crowd as numerous members from Band of Horses entered the stage early to help switch instruments; the band switched tact with Noga manning an acoustic guitar. Unfortunately, the next half of the set was filled with hackneyed country, as organ flourishes turned into poorly improvised piano, and the songwriting moved towards cliche. However, The Gentlemen of Fortune redeemed themselves with a stronger end, suggesting that it was a lack of material that weakened what was an otherwise solid backing set.

Suitably attired in flannel and denim, Band of Horses opened with ‘The Great Salt Lake’ and fittingly the fans went wild. On display in the background magnificent landscape shots from the area which helped influence Infinite Arms during their travels around America, as well as time-lapse shots and photos from other locations helped out an element of narrative and atmosphere to the band’s performance. But nothing was more memorable than the act of defiance when, during ‘Detlef Schrempf’, security signalled to a fan by the front to put their lighter away, and the entire theatre preceded to set theirs alight in calm protest.

Clean work on sound and atmospheric lighting helped to turn the Art Deco locale of the Enmore into a location grander than its foundations. The culmination of Bridwell’s clean vocals and the band’s brilliantly executed instrumentation make Band of Horses a compelling live band. Performances such as this beg for a live album.

Score: 56%

You would think that in 20 years of their absence a lot in the music world would have changed, but ironically Devo have hit the spotlight again in front of an audience who have progressed very little. The band who arrived in the 1970s to save us from cultural and social devolution have chosen a brilliant time to come back, easily slotting right in and picking up where they left off.

Something for Everybody echoes the eighties sound the five piece is famous for. Strong, danceable rhythms lay the foundations on which bold synthesised melodies and unexpected samples resonate to create that familiar, and welcome, Devo sound. On the other hand, it’s no reincarnation of Freedom of Choice or Shout; the album does hint at an evolution. Tracks flow more smoothly, indicating a greater appreciation of pop-sensibility. The memorable riffs and hooks stay with you hours after hearing them, simple yet hypnotising lyrics and phrasing playing to Devo’s advantage more than ever.

Critics of the record have challenged the higher production qualities of the recording, the band’s shift towards a more electronic sound and, at worst, have questioned whether it’s just another cashing in on the recent revival movement. Regardless of intentions, the core element of the band is still very evident. Mark Mothersbaugh plays down such speculation, saying that Devo’s not really about a certain guitar sound or a certain voice, but what’s really important is the message; devolution is very real. It is extremely hard in this day and age to find any slice of originality in modern media. Ironic as it may be, this is true of Something for Everybody as well, what links the album with today’s audience also reduces the integrity of the music.

While it is a refreshing glimpse back into the past, it seems to be less like an album in its true sense, and almost more like a compilation. There is a consistent, upbeat sound that dominates the album, working well in small doses but ultimately weighing Devo down.

So I’m yet to hear a lot from the album, since I’ve been plagued with work and many other commitments (hence the period of nothingness for two weeks), but from what I have listened to, it is brilliant. There are so many potential singles to be released and chart highly here in Australia and even perhaps overseas.

It pretty much just continues from their previous album, with brilliant, first-class, Aussie rock.

Song of the Day: Iron Butterfly ‘In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida’ In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida 

Oh won’t you come with me,

and take my hand?

Oh won’t you come with me,

and walk this land?

Please take my hand…

Song of the Day: Slipknot ‘People = Shit’ Iowa

Come on down, and see the idiot right here
Too fucked to beg and not afraid to care
What’s the matter with calamity anyway?
Right? Get the fuck outta my face

Song of the Day: Placebo ‘Haemoglobin’ Black Market Music

I was hanging from a tree
Unaccustomed to such violence
Jesus looking down on me
I’m prepared for one big silence

Now my feet don’t touch the ground…

The actual version, as posted on Wireless Bollinger.

Song of the Day: IAMX ‘Spit it Out’ The Alternative

‘cause it breaks my heart
That we live this way
I know people need love
‘cause them people never play the game
And we talk the talk
We communicate
The people need love
Those people never play the game