Psychedelic rock & roll will seamlessly blend with surreal pop sounds to create harmonious noise songs when Parts & Labor headline with Push-Pull and Prizzy Prizzy Please at Jake's this Wednesday, Nov. 19.
I was lucky enough to interview the Parts & Labor about their new album, Receivers.Parts & Labor- the Brooklyn noisepunk outfit- will be playing songs from their new album, Receivers. After listening to the album religiously for the last couple of days, I can easily see why Rolling Stone called it a "spectacularly overblown epic in the tradition of Pink Floyd's The Wall." Their songs have immense presence, as their melodious and puissant pop-psychedelic sounds washes over the listener, leaving him or her enveloped in a deep self-reflective meditation. Parts & Labor constructed a perfect blend of the drugged flanging sounds of the '70s, noise blips and traditional poppy rock & roll songs. The song "Nowheres Nigh" could easily find a home in the Beatles' psychedelic-pop magnum opus, Revolver. The album's epic lyrics tackle self-improvement, urban-development, overwhelming technology and ennui.
Here is an interview I had with BJ Warshaw from Parts & Labor. BJ plays bass, helps with effects and is the lead singer on tracks: "Nowheres Nigh", "Little Ones", "The Ceasing Now", "Prefix Free" and "Solemn Show World."
Q: Considering that 'Receivers' is a well=balanced blend of surreal pop sounds and psychedelic rock, what were the major influences for this album?
A: The short list is Pink Floyd, Wire (especially Chairs Missing), and Eno. But there's other sounds in there I can pick out, a little Spacemen 3, a little Oneida, a little TV on the Radio, a little Mission Of Burma...
Q: Including every user-submitted sound beep in 'Receivers' is admirable and unprecedented. What inspired you to ask for and use these sounds? Also, did it ever become a hassle to include every submitted sound?
A: Originally we planned only to ask a handful of friends to submit sounds. While driving out to Joe's studio in Milwaukee, I suggested we open it up to the masses via our MySpace page and the internet. One of the themes of the record is the feeling of "information overload" that categorizes the Internet Age, so this experiment was a logical extension. We wanted to include as many of the sounds, prominently, as possible. But we didn't want the album to sound to scattershot; it was very important to blend peoples' submissions in a cohesive manner. So a lot of the sounds are buried in the mix, used as samples, nestled alongside our own blips and beeps. In order to include every single sound, we bounced them all together in Pro Tools and used the resulting cacophony for the satellite noise you hear roaring in the opening track, and we play that sound once again during the final seconds of "Solemn Show World".
Q: Since recently recruiting Joe Wong and Sarah Lipstate, how do you think they've altered the overall sound of the band?
A: We've expanded dynamically and spaciously. We're exploring pretty and quieter moments, and doing so much more often than we dared on our previous records. People have written that Joe has a "less is more" approach and I'd agree with that. And Sarah's addition has both allowed Dan to focus on his electronics full-time (previously he juggled electronics and guitar duties) while also adding a rich vocabulary of guitar, noise, and tape manipulation to our sound.
Much of the change in sound has to do with Dan and my development as songwriters, too.
Q: Lyrically, each emotion seems to be balanced- one optimistic thought for each pessimistic one. Is this album meant to be about self-improvement?
A: "The Ceasing Now" is directly about that in a way; more specifically it's about being stuck in emotional/vocational ruts. And being able to notice when you're stuck in a rut. Sometimes I think humans tend towards the path of least resistance. I think it should be the goal of the artist, or anyone, to head in the exact opposite direction. I'm not sure every pessimistic thought is balanced by an optimistic one... I feel overall that the lyrics are pretty dour on "Receivers". But there's definitely hope and love nestled in there.
Q: The album art is definitely eye-catching, what exactly is it an image of?
A: When we were in Milwaukee I got obsessed with the highway construction downtown -- all half finished on/off ramps winding around each other like a post-industrial Mobius strip. I had a local friend take some photos for me and used those to concoct the insects used on the album cover and in the album art. I have my own thoughts as to what, exactly, that *is* on the cover, but to be honest I can't say for sure what it is. It's an embodiment. It's producing/polluting (and its not really excited about it). It's both beautiful and sinister. It's a little bored.
Q: How is the tour so far?
A: Highs and lows. We had some pretty disappointing turnouts early on, and other bands we know on the road have had similar experiences. I think anxiety because of horrible economic times, and uncertainty leading up to the election, definitely diminished the show attending numbers. But it's been better since Obama won, actually. And we played the Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, which was simply a fantastic day all around.
Q: And lastly, what are your plans for the future?
A: We're lining up more touring, in Europe and the US, for early 2009. And in what little downtime we have we're already working on new songs and ideas for the next album. Restless as always.
Check out Parts & Labor at Jake's with Push-Pull and Prizzy Prizzy Please this Wednesday, Nov. 19.
-Yahya Chaudhry
