Local band RLYL brings life, unique sound to IMU Gallery

On Feb. 1, the smell of Starbucks coffee flowed through the air while the sound of Bloomington indie band Red Leather Yellow Leather awakened the empty ghost town known as the Indiana Memorial Union. The performance was part of a concert series called NOISE, which is held every Thursday in the IMU Gallery.\n"It's a different audience here," said the band's singer and guitarist, Josh Kreuzman. At (Uncle) Fester's we get a lot of people we know." \nThe newly-formed band is not in it for the money, just the music. The band's style sounds like folk music set to a band of indie punk rockers. Having been told they sound like '80s music, Belle and Sebastian and many others, the band jokingly claims to have a slapdash way of writing music that doesn't give them enough time to think about other artists' styles. Their sound is not as derived from other styles as most and is barely explicable through simple comparisons with other bands, members say.\n"We don't talk about music we want to emulate," Kreuzman said.\nThis might be their key to having a unique style and sound. While many bands emulate musical idols, RLYL makes music without the suggestion of "Oh, let's try to make this song sound more like (fill in the blank with a favorite artist)."\nThe show began with the song "Skeleton," which attracted a few more passers-by to the approximately 20 people in attendance. The band -- consisting of guitar, vocals, bass, keyboard and drums -- has a distinct sound, especially the relationship between the keyboard and drums. \n"I don't play keyboard as my first instrument," said keyboardist Alex Kornya. "This band gives me the chance to try new things." Most of his inspiration, he says, comes from dragons. With the inspiration and skill of a dragon, Kornya's use of the keyboard is rhythmic and pulsating, interlacing with the drums as part of the rhythm section. The driving bass line also gives the music an energetic rhythm.\nThe song "Mask" has Kornya on lead vocals. The tempo changes in "Mask" from intense, both lyrically and musically, to calm. Going along with theme of changing musical styles and vocalists, an "honorary member" of the band, Lambert Marks, sang the next song. This song started off with clapping, then suddenly turned into a faster punk-type song, with Marks screaming the words to the chorus "Shut up and dance," which was also the name of the song. \nThe instrumental song "Linear A" has a fast, pulsating drum beat that displays the experimental style of drumming. \n"I'm not a very good drummer. I like things that are very simple," said drummer Hannah Walsh. Though she speaks modestly her drumming has an in-your-face style that is far from contrived. \n"Dreams" is also upbeat, with a shift in energy between the verse and chorus. The song "Light" shows off a driving bass line and quick drums. The keyboard is essential to the instrumental sound of, "King Tut Rides Away." Kornya claims he incidentally stumbled upon a way to create microtones on his old keyboard, which gave the song an Eastern influence.\nThe audience size had doubled by the end of the show. The vibe of the concert was unlike being at a bar. It was free, laid-back and inviting for all ages. RLYL will be performing again at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16, at Rhino's.\n"We're a band for the ages. We're timeless," Walsh said.