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Wheat
i
used to fall down and all your
kindness kept me on
i used to be cruel and all your
compassion kept me warm
Hailing
from Taunton, Massachusetts, Wheat is a band that
few have heard of but undoubtedly, many will.
Their
last LP, Medeiros, was release to little fanfare and
although garnered rave reviews, the band was shy about
self-promotion. They didn't do many interviews and
played even fewer gigs. Then, the ultra-hip UK underground
label, Easy!Tiger, released a limited edition 7"
single and all hell broke loose. A single of the week
in the NME got the ball rolling and drew more attention
to the album. The band did a few UK dates to ecstatic
audiences which was a surprise to them, as they didn't
realize they actually had an audience outside the
Boston area.
Which
on one hand is understandable in that they didn't
promote themselves, but after a few spins of their
new release, Hope and Adams, it's easy to see that
this anonymity will not last and that they are indeed
destined for greatness. The Independent newspaper
described the band's style as "lazy brilliance"
and that is a pretty fair description. Beautiful melodies,
understated musicianship, and a smooth, thoughtful
delivery which doesn't grab you by the throat but
rather draws you in like a warm lake on a misty summer's
eve. Once you get into it, you never want to leave...
"We
recorded in Scott's bedroom. We went to London. Our
rehearsal space was flooded and we didn't play for
a month or two. We recorded with Dave Auchenbach in
Providence, RI. We didn't play in Detroit. We took
an overnight casino ferry to play in Nova Scotia,
where we saw God Speed You Black Emperor. We bought
hats in Texas. We were Gerl when we played at Mama
Kin. We played at Chris Seekell's birthday party.
We recorded during the winter with Dave Fridmann,
and Michael Ivins. We drank tea and had toast with
marmite upstairs from the art gallery in Pittsburgh.
I don't think anyone liked it when we only played
for 20 minutes in New York, and Scott and Brendan
literally argued on stage. We drank with the Grifters
at Princeton, and they thought I stole their whiskey.
We mixed our first record, Medeiros with Brian Deck
at Kingsize in Chicago, and Mike was always on the
phone."
Wheat
is Brendan, Scott and Ricky.
Wheat
recorded their second album, Hope and Adams, at Tarbox
Road Studios in Cassadaga, NY. The record was co-produced,
recorded and mixed by Dave Fridmann , assisted by
Michael Ivins, and mastered by Jeff Lipton.
For
more info visit wheatmusic.com.
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