Morning State

“Oh Yeah“
from the album You Know People I Know People
2008
iTunes

Who they are: Vocalist and guitarist Russell Ledford, guitarist Dave Williams, bassist Joel Stevens, and drummer Zachary Sharenko.

What they do: There’s a touch of the post-punk ’80s in the band’s ringing guitars, and it’s punctuated by stabbing power chords that move the music forward in time. Perhaps the band’s best asset, other than a facility with hooks, is the desperate yearning in Russell Ledford’s powerful voice.

Athens or Atlanta? “We’re all from Georgia,” Williams says, but the exact location hasn’t always remained constant. “Right now, we’re all located in Atlanta. For the first two years of the band, it was split between Atlanta and Athens, driving back and forth for practices. It was crazy. We’re considered locals in both. At the Caledonia [in Athens], we’re the local act, and at the EARL [in East Atlanta], we’re the local act.”

The hard-won debut album: The band just finished recording its full-length debut album — for the second time. “We actually entered into a record contract with a label that was in town,” Williams says. “We started recording in September and we spent a good four months working on this album. We were four songs into mixing and the record label went under. The producer approached us with an agreement, but we couldn’t afford it, so we went to Athens and we re-recorded everything on our own in two weeks. I really like what we did the second time. It feels a lot better to me.” The official release date for You Know People I Know People is May 3.