“Bucket of Butterflies”
from the album The Curious City
2005
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What a difference a couple years make.
Or, in the case of Pittsburgh rock ‘n’ roll band Modey Lemon, what a difference a couple albums make. With the release of its third full-length, The Curious City, the band completes a monumental shift in musical direction. In fact, from the band’s first, self-titled record released in 2001, to “The Curious City, even their biggest fans might be hard-pressed to identify Modey Lemon in a blindfold test.
“There are definitely a lot of changes,” agrees Phil Boyd, the band’s frontman and lead guitarist. “But I think if you look back, a lot of bands made completely different records. I mean, even the big names: like from the first Beatles record to Sgt. Pepper, there was a big difference.”
The biggest change comes with the addition of a new permanent member, Jason Kirker, who joined Boyd and drummer Paul Quattrone to yank Modey Lemon out of the two-man band scene. Boyd and Quattrone resolutely remained a two-piece, at least at first. “For a while,” explains Boyd, “it just seemed to be the thing that worked best for us. It was challenging, and we just worked well together, so we just thought that as long we can make this work, why not do it.” But after Kirker recorded the band’s sophomore record, Lightning + Thunder, the trio formed a bond. “We thought we’d probably work pretty well together in a band–so it just made sense to us to move into a three-piece thing.”
The addition of a third member, however, pales in comparison to the changes in the final product. When Modey Lemon started, it was rightfully associated with the then-burgeoning garage-rock scene; songs were short, raucous and infected with the smart-but-simple pop hooks that define the genre. The Curious City could not be more different. With guitar, moog and drums, Modey Lemon references elements of aggressive rock ‘n’ roll from the sixties, seventies, eighties and nineties. Inside the far-more-complex songs are pieces and parts of grunge, sixties punk rock, psychedelic and stadium rock and even the current British post-post-punk rage, but never does one element overwhelm the whole.
It’s a record that defies description, but lacks pretension and remains accessible. The British press has taken to describing the record as a prog-rock effort, and one critic was so confounded that he called it “prog-infused ska,” neither of which are, fortunately, remotely accurate. But make no mistake, there’s no letup in furious rock ‘n’ roll frenzy, and there’s something for every rock fan. Maybe it’s the straightforward “Bucket of Butterflies,“ which drips with almost flowing psychedelia before launching into a fist-pumping, rhythmically rigid chorus. Or maybe it’s the oppressive, Moog-heavy “Red Lights,” which borrows a suspenseful riff from the Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack and meanders into a sort of dreamy soundscape before unloading with massive guitar fuzz. Or even the epic, 16-minute “Trapped Rabbits,” which snaps along with a feeling of brevity despite its length.
Boyd explains that the idea of tracking influences within parts of songs acts as both a contributing factor to the band as well as the band’s younger days, when they were just fans. “The first thing that really excited me when I was growing up, after hip-hop, was Jimi Hendrix. I remember one thing that really excited me about the Beastie Boys’ Check Your Head when it came out was the song ‘Jimmy James.’ There was this one sample that I swore was from ‘Foxy Lady,’ and Hendrix used to be called Jimmy James when it was Jimmy James and the Blue Flames.
“What I’m saying is that everyone kind of pays homage to everyone else anyway. Maybe if you listen to the Smashing Pumpkins, for example, you hear a Hendrix reference, or Nirvana being from Seattle, and Hendrix is from Seattle. Whatever, as you’re growing up you can form these little connections. Over the years, that’s sort of happened to the band. We all started listening to Fela Kuti, Beefheart, Kraftwerk and Suicide, just by tracing those connections. Eventually we just kind of had all these things on our palate and we made this record.”
Naturally, when a band changes its sound, fans don’t always follow. And Boyd has seen it before. “Between Thunder + Lightning and the first record,” he says, “there were some upset people. So I’m bracing for more of that.”
But like any good rock ‘n’ roll band, Modey Lemon sticks to its guns, even if the band is forced to regenerate a fan base after every record. “We’re gonna keep making records that encapsulate who we are, even though it might sound different to people. It’s…” Boyd pauses for a moment to think, “…not the easiest route to take.”