Interview with Danny O’ Connell of By the Sea

Out of the wilderness of Wirral come By the Sea with their debut LP. Awash with colorful shards of chorused and reverbed guitars, shimmering and spritely keyboards, and Liam Power’s plaintive breathy vocals, each majestic wave of a song swells, breaks, and spills, sweeping you into the undertow of this very lovely album.

Nick: How long has the band been together?

Danny: The band has been together about 3 years now, i think, although we’ve only been taking it seriously for the past 12 months, since we started making the LP.

N: There’s a lot of seaside imagery in the songs and even an oceanic feel to the music. Does that come from living in Wirral? What’s it like there?

D: The Wirral is an ecologically diverse peninsula to the west of the Mersey river, it’s equally nice and boring. I think the biggest influence is it’s sleepiness- it encourages your mind to wander.

N: How did you end up teaming up with Bill Ryder Jones and how much influence did he have on how the songs turned out?

D: Bill is a good friend of ours who has helped from the start, his influence has been total and his experience has been very valuable.

N: Besides your own, what are your favorite records of the year?

D: Chromatics – Kill For Love

Lower Dens – Nootropics

Julia Holter – Ekstasis

Wild Nothing – Nocturne 
TOPS – Tender Opposites

N: What are some of your guys’ favorite local bands that you would recommend?

D: Other bands we like from the region are Minnetonka, Two Sunsets, Tear Talk, Forest Swords, Outfit

N: What’s in store for By the Sea in 2013? Any plans to play in the US?

D: 2013 is about making another record and hopefully playing lots of shows. no plans for the US yet but who knows in the future!

For more on By the Sea: https://www.facebook.com/bytheseaband/info

Tame Impala @ The El Rey 11/16/2012

The underwhelming tone of the evening was set early by openers, The Amazing. The only thing remarkable about this band is that they somehow managed to convince their friend, Dungen’s Vahalla-raising lead guitarist Reine Fiske, to turn his amp down from 11 to 5 to play in their pedestrian folk-pop-rock outfit. Anyone who’s seen Dungen perform would attest that this was truly a depressing sight and sound, like watching Thor go into battle with a ball-peen hammer.

Tame Impala, on the other hand, came in swinging a huge, bright, sparkly, vintage sledge. The moment the first chord was struck, hands were thrust aloft, guys dropping the bro wave, girls curling their hands, eyes closed in a hippie girl dance. This music is way too trippy man…or, I mean, this shit’s sick, bro! There was something not-pleasantly disorienting about this set and audience. Amidst the clouds of pot smoke, one could detect a whiff of poseurism. This band seems determined to convince its audience they don’t give a fuck, yet there is a popularity and faddishness about them (a natural byproduct of hype, unfortunately), which is totally at odds with their so-called ‘lonerism.’ While there were occasional moments of power and beauty, on the whole I found their songs (which I’d initially liked when I listened to the albums) to be pretty boring. Kevin Parker’s adenoidal singing gets old pretty quick, and without the finesse of the album production, the songs felt clunky. The crowd loved it though, which I feel added to the illusion of heaviness. I’ll be the lone dissenter though and recommend that you pass on the live set and stick to listening on headphones to this ‘music to walk home by.’

Nick Cullen

Class Actress, Diiv, & Nikki and The Dove @ Culture Collide, Day 4 10/7/12

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Class Actress [photo by Aida Daneshvar]

Class Actress [photo by Aida Daneshvar]

Class Actress [photo by Aida Daneshvar]

Diiv [photo by Aida Daneshvar]

Diiv [photo by Aida Daneshvar]

Diiv [photo by Aida Daneshvar]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diiv [photo by Aida Daneshvar]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diiv [photo by Aida Daneshvar]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nikki and The Dove [photo by Aida Daneshvar]

Nikki and The Dove [photo by Aida Daneshvar]

Nikki and The Dove [photo by Aida Daneshvar]

Nikki and The Dove [photo by Aida Daneshvar]

Pageants & Laetitia Sadier @ Culture Collide, Day 3 10/6/12

Text by Christopher Dreisbach
Photos by Aida Daneshvar

PAGEANTS (USA)

90’s nostalgists Pageants played solid indie pop tunes with a winsome attitude. This isn’t the kind of band that’s going to generate superficial, vacuous buzz but it is the kind of band that I want to support and jam out to on a Sunday morning.

LAETITIA SADIER (FRANCE)

Sadier is a worldwide musical treasure with or without Stereolab. Gorgeous, mellow songs with a deep emotional resonance. I felt so overwhelmed after Sadier dedicated a tune to the late Trish Keenan. Despite a broken bass string (props to Pageants’ drummer for saving the night with a replacement bass) this was an inspired, sublime performance.

Of Montreal @ Culture Collide, Day 3 10/6/12

Text by Christopher Dreisbach
Photos by Aida Daneshvar

OF MONTREAL (USA)

Ok, so I’ve avoided this band forever. I’ve never heard a single track of theirs (except from that Outback Steakhouse commercial) and I’ve never felt the need to. Well, shame on me. Kevin Barnes is a true showman; lyrics just explode out of him. The band was tight and playful. The theatricality was cute but not annoying. It’s not that I didn’t want to like it but I was surprised how great this show was.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra & School of Seven Bells @ Culture Collide, Day 2 10/5/12

Text by Christopher Dreisbach
Photos by Aida Daneshvar

SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS (USA)

It’s been about five years since I’ve seen School of Seven Bells live. In that time they seem to have refined their sound into an even more dance-friendly blend of shoegaze and dream-pop. It worked well in the cavernous expanse of the echoplex and I found myself grinning and dancing along.

UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA (USA/ NEW ZEALAND)

One of the best power-trios I’ve seen live. U.M.O. frontman Ruban Nielson has the acidic edge of psych-rock down pat. Throbbing bass, treble-y sinister guitar, and galloping drum patterns undulate in an infectious and nervy fashion. Keep an eye out for these guys.

Patrick Wolf & Zola Jesus @ Culture Collide, Day 2 10/5/12

Patrick Wolf [photo by Aida Daneshvar]

Patrick Wolf [photo by Aida Daneshvar]

Zola Jesus [photo by Aida Daneshvar]

Zola Jesus [photo by Aida Daneshvar]

Zola Jesus [photo by Aida Daneshvar]

Dean Wareham (Galaxie 500) @ Culture Collide, Day 1 10/4/12

 Text by Christopher Dreisbach
Photos by Aida Daneshvar

DEAN WAREHAM (GALAXIE 500) (USA)

This show alone was worth the price of admission to the festival…and then some. Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips are the reigning king and queen of alt-guitar music as far as I’m concerned (sorry, Thurston and Kim). Kicking off with the classic “Flowers”, Galaxie 500’s set blew my mind and heart wide open. Watching these songs live, I realized how simple some of the guitar parts are and yet the mixture of musical ingredients are unique and emotionally overpowering. It was a perfect set and the enthusiastic standing ovation from the crowd was the least that we could give back to these generous legends.

Coldair, Kyst, & Drug Cabin @ Culture Collide, Day 1 10/4/12

Text by Christopher Dreisbach
Photos by Aida Daneshvar

COLDAIR (POLAND)

Such a pleasant set from Tobiasz Biliński’s Coldair. Delicately plucked guitars brushed up against anthemic trumpet and trombone harmonies. Biliński’s not-overly-precious-but-still-pretty coo fit snugly with the overall melodic, light post-rock vibe despite the fact that he was battling a cold. The lyrics were solid but I wondered if any of the bands from abroad would sing in their native tongues.

KYST (POLAND)

The art-ier, more expressionistic cousin of Coldair (in fact, the group featured Tobiasz Biliński and Adam Byczkowski from Coldair), Ludwig Plath’s Kyst was a highlight of the festival for me. The group built epic compositions from interlaced drum patterns (each member plays drums), ghostly guitar, electronic samples, and three part harmonies. The band expertly mined the territory between cinematic post-rock and otherworldly folk. This was fitting music for a church.

DRUG CABIN (USA)

This band instantly won me over in part because of their lackadaisical yet efficient sound-check. I’ve honestly never seen a band take so little time to sound-check and still sound so good. The best way I can describe Drug Cabin’s sound is “indie rock Grateful Dead”…in the best way possible. With a name like “Drug Cabin”, I was expecting something a bit more damaged or chaotic, but these gentlemen offered breezy, melodic gems with a wily slacker’s charm.

Polaris @ The Orpheum Theatre 8/28/12

The curtain was drawn on a brilliantly lit astroturf lawn, topped with a white picket fence and push-mower and bike. Mark Mulcahy, shaggy hair and giant boots, looking like some blissful hippie hobo clown, ripped into that most glorious power pop theme tune that is imprinted in the mind of every misfit and latch-key kid of my generation. The sound was pristine and the band played flawlessly. The audience sat pinned to their seats not because the songs weren’t danceworthy, but more out of respect and awe for the music. That holy music! So gorgeous and achingly beautiful! The band grinned and rocked and bobbed as they stirred up the leaves of our tree-lined suburban childhood spirits. It was like some quiet sentimental orgy, Mulcahy’s rich and wavering voice striking the perfect frequency, activating our mid-90s nostalgia g-spots, and for an hour we radiated waves of sheer delight.

Nick Cullen