大象传媒

Bed-headed and sleepy eyed, Ira Wolf Tuton, bassist in alt-pop Brooklyn-ites Yeasayer, sprawls himself over a couch backstage of the 02 Academy in Newcastle. At the beginning, he regurgitates stuff he芒聙聶s probably said hundreds of times before in interviews in response to my questions about playing bigger venues and how their live show has changed. 芒聙聹Bigger, I guess芒聙聺 he says in a monotone Baltimore drawl.

I shift the conversation onto something less inane. Yeasayer make the majority of British bands seem lazy in terms of how many different styles of music they incorporate into their songs. Is this a conscious decision? He seems to wake up. 芒聙聹Wait芒聙娄did you just say we make other bands seems lazy? (laughs)芒聙娄well, it芒聙聶s always a funny question.芒聙聺 You get asked it a lot? 芒聙聹Yeah. The thing is it芒聙聶s always a conscious decision because it芒聙聶s being created out of nothing. It芒聙聶s not like someone is just holding a recorder to your head while you芒聙聶re asleep. That being said, you have certain proclivities as a musician芒聙娄 we make these dense compositions with a lot of layering. What we haven芒聙聶t touched on yet and which I might like to do is a sound that芒聙聶s more minimal芒聙聺.

芒聙聵Minimal芒聙聶 certainly isn芒聙聶t a word you would associate with Yeasayer. Their debut, All Hour Cymbals, was a deluge sounds from different genres and cultures. This year芒聙聶s follow up, Odd Blood, pushed the pop melodies that previously ran underneath the songs into the forefront. A gamble, as going from experimental darlings to purveyors of pop could have easily come across as a cheap shot for record sales.

It soon becomes obvious that Yeasayer aren芒聙聶t a calculating band, in that they don芒聙聶t think about their audience very much. In a good way. Critics seemed to love Odd Blood because they were surprised at how well Yeasayer wrote brilliant, twisted pop songs. But for Yeasayer it was a forgone conclusion that their songs would come with hooks so big you could hang a coat off them: 芒聙聹We grew up in high school listening to pop music. When you芒聙聶re an adolescence that芒聙聶s what芒聙聶s cool and it芒聙聶s still cool.芒聙聺

And Yeasayer aren芒聙聶t the only new band around channeling huge pop acts from a few decades ago, referencing influences you wouldn芒聙聶t normally associate with buzz-bands. Neon Indian and Sleigh Bells both cite Phil Collins, for one, as a major inspiration, incorporating the baldies knack for a pounding rhythm in their music. Anand (guitarist and singer) once said Yeasayer wanted to 芒聙聵trick people into liking really uncool music芒聙聶.

But why isn芒聙聶t the Collins effect so obvious in the up and coming U.K bands? 芒聙聹I think there芒聙聶s a lot of bands in the UK and the UK music industry itself that are still way more obsessed with image than the US music industry is. And I芒聙聶m not dissing any of my friends that are in bands from the UK. But even through the prism of my own band I can see that the industry here and the press and the populist here is insanely obsessed with image.芒聙聺 Ira might have a point, as it seems the British press has chosen to portray Yeasayer as a hip band playing what is essentially uncool music. For Ira, Yeasayer are just doing what comes naturally.

At one point earlier this year Yeasayer were the most blogged about band in the world. 芒聙聹We held that honour!芒聙聺 Ira replies, with mock-smugness that suggests a deeper feeling of humbleness. How appreciative are you of bloggers? 芒聙聹They芒聙聶ve pretty much given us our career. Without the internet and the speed which information is traded as a commodity, we couldn芒聙聶t exist at any other time as a band.芒聙聺 They芒聙聶re yet to have a standout 芒聙聵hit芒聙聶 though and, despite the well-received albums, they remain on the periphery.

Which is exactly where Ira wants to be: 芒聙聹You want to control 芒聙聵hype芒聙聶 as much as possible. I芒聙聶m happy with burning slow and having a career. I don芒聙聶t look at bands who are selling way more records than us and get jealous, I get interested. Success is alluring.芒聙聺 With an air of mystique, he adds, 芒聙聹Success can be confusing as to what it actually is芒聙娄..芒聙聺

But Yeasayer are more successful than maybe Ira realises. By refusing to stick to a particular formula, as a band they are free from the constraints of one assumed sound. More importantly, their fans seem open-minded enough to stay with them, whichever way they choose to go next.