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"These guys rock balls!"
This inarticulate yet deeply felt exclamation comes from a friend as I play him RANA's live EP, Subject To Change. That the outburst comes 90 seconds in just testifies to this band's visceral, immediate punch, a feeling that one is in on the ground floor of something real, deep, perfect in its glandular ferocity. It's a sensation I imagine CBGB leather jacket smarties in the '70s felt listening to early performances from Television or the Patti Smith Group (and it's worth noting that RANA has headlined New Year's Eve the past two years at that legendary venue). Amongst a sea of bands talking loud and saying nothing we occasionally, blissfully, find something solid to hold onto. RANA, by their presence, talent, and passion inspire us to grab on and see where the currents take us.
RANA by Pavel Antonov |
Hailing from what can be argued is the musical center of the universe, New York City, RANA is comprised of Matt Durant (keyboards and vocals, Yale, 23), Andrew Southern (bass and vocals, Sarah Lawrence, 24), Scott Metzger (guitar and vocals, William Patterson-Jazz Program, 26), and Ryan Thornton (drums and vocals, Lafayette, 24). I like that their bio lists not only their ages but what college they graduated from. There's something fresh about this quartet, not yet sullied by the business of making music a career. Not that they have any choice. It's obvious they were put here to sing us songs. So what do they sound like?
"There's a lot of categorizing that goes on here. A lot of people here are very concerned about being at the show of the 'next big thing' and I hate that," says Metzger. "Most of my favorite bands are not very popular--not because they're not good, but because they are not willing to change who they are in order to fit the mold of what is hip today. A sound guy at a festival we played compared us to Deep Purple. I don't think that's anywhere near accurate, but I thought that was awesome. I can't think of anyone that we sound like. Fairport Convention?"
RANA by Heidi Hartwig |
He's not far off, in spirit at least, citing Richard Thompson and Sandy Denny's old band. They share a wide palette that can rock with sincerity, even abandon, but still makes room for slow ones that the listener can hold close to their breast. And with up to four singers to choose from things can change radically from tune to tune.
"Since there are three main songwriters in the group, (Matt, Scott, Andrew) and each of us sing very differently, each song is treated differently," Andrew Southern tells us. "The voice is determined by the lyrics, yes, because if it was determined by anything else it would be commercial appeal, and we're not interested in that."
Matt Durant adds, "We have been compared to so many bands. It happens all the goddamn time, so I usually just smile and say 'Oh yeah? Cool, thank you.' It's nice to hear but I don't really care whom we're being compared to or grouped with. We have always been dedicated to trying out lots of styles in our songs because it's fun and challenges us. There's as much bullshit as good shit in New York City, and we cross paths with plenty of each every day."
Matt Durant by Ellen Diebolt |
"I think our vocals land us somewhere between The Beatles, The Clash, and The Band," says a mildly immodest Durant. "When I listen back to shows, if the vocals stink, the whole thing is ruined. But we work really hard on our vocals, so we nail them more often. A lot of our more recent songs have called for taking on a character, which is fun, to act a bit."
Character is the right word for their voices. Matt's singing has the same bitter honey of greats like Todd Rundgren and Bill Champlin with a splash of Johnny Thunders keeping everything from turning soft. Andrew reminds one of a less Brit Glenn Tilbrook (Squeeze). Scott wrenches a kind of calloused rock rightness from his throat and Ryan, in his rare sojourns behind the mic, is a gentle indie balladeer, a secret weapon if they want to worm their way into the hearts of Bonnie "Prince" Billy and Devendra Banhart fans.
"Listening to Matt and Scott every night is a joy," says Andrew. "Matt has a great yell and an amazing vibe on stage. Scott sings straight from his heart, and if it's hurting that night you'll hear it. I just try to keep on par with their talents as best as I can."
"I write songs for Ryan to sing. One of them, 'Part Of Me,' might end up on the next record. Ryan has a great voice and we've recorded a bunch of songs together in the last year. Every once in a while he sings one on stage and either Matt or I take over on drums."
Their live shows can make seamless shift into a Hendrix-like caravan from their paean to TRL guru Carson Daly or mix up Devo with ghetto fabulousness. They're the odd combination of intensely focused energy and the channel-switching restlessness that marks their generation. Within their songs are pop culture billboards, drunken reverie, and biblical dread. They are loads of fun but never really shallow or glib.
RANA by Steve Chernin |
"I think there is a perception nowadays that the new rock greats are virtuoso instrumentalists and lyrics and/or singing don't matter as much as long as a guy can rip on his instrument when the big solo section comes along. I disagree. I think that the poetry in a rock song is just as important as the music," states Metzger.
Their first album, Here In The USA, ranks amongst the finest debuts ever, 11 tightly packed killers, bursting at the seams with live possibilities but wholly splendid in their own right, a first salvo that ranks with the Cars and the Faces first albums with the lip-smacking tang of new flavors being coaxed from old ingredients, a pleasant reminder of how rock reinvents itself if handled properly.
"I think Here In The USA is a major accomplishment. I feel this way even more so now that a year and half has past," says Southern. "We really captured the essence of RANA, and I can only hope to do the same again for this record. We have gone to great lengths to find a studio that is comfortable for us and will serve as a home for the time we are there."
Andrew Southern by Emma Pildes |
That space it turns out is a barn studio in Virginia run by Camper Van Beethoven/Cracker man David Lowery. Drummer Ryan Thornton tells us, "We decided to record the album outside of New York City, our home that we love, but a city fraught with tension. We did Here In The USA up in Harlem, which means the expenses, the parking concerns, and friends coming by all the time to party and check out the scene. For Here In The USA and a lot of other albums that vibe works (i.e. Exile on Main Street) but this time we wanted a bit of an escape. Us four, David Lowery (producer), and John Morand (engineer) were the only ones invited to the party this time. We figured by leaving the city we could kick back a little and focus on making a great stress-free album. Richmond is a great city that was new and isolated enough for us that we didn't feel any outside pressures. Also David is f'ing hilarious and could entertain us for hours. He had me crying with laughter multiple times."
As a cultural temperature check the debut gets a lot right. That said, what's the view of America that will emerge on their sophomore record?
"Art always marks the times," offers Durant. "If we took the media's spin as our documentation of the present time we would suffocate with all the mystery agenda in the air. There is so much crazy shit happening all the time in this country and the world, some of it so backwards and dark. It's impossible to ignore. Some of our songs ("Philippe Petit," "Blood Shed,") deal directly with current events, while others are more subtlety affected below the surface."
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The voice is determined by the lyrics, yes, because if it was determined by anything else it would be commercial appeal, and we're not interested in that. --Andrew Southern |
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Southern picks up the baton, "Our music hasn't changed, but perceptions of rock music have. A shaggy haircut is modern now instead of a throwback to the '70s. Lo-fi is modern but it's played out of iPods. New York City has every kind of band, and while The Strokes are currently the biggest, I'd say that Adam Green, Octigrab, and Moonraker are better to see live."
Scott Metzger by Andrew Southern |
"I think we learned as a group (on the first album) that the more relaxed in the studio we are the better the results," says Scott Metzger. "On the new record I would like to see more of our live energy be captured on tape and mixed in a way that it feels like you're sitting in the front row of a RANA show at Winterland."
The Winterland reference is a telling one. RANA aspires to be a band for the ages, a classic built the old fashioned way through great material and miles of energetic gigging. Watching RANA play is a pretty bloody charming experience. Like Jason Lee's Jeff Bebe in Almost Famous, they look for the one guy in the house who's not getting off and they MAKE him get off. Only a few acts in my sweet short life have channeled this type of primal rock energy and here I'm thinking of AC/DC, The Ramones, the Black Crowes circa 1996-97, all the messengers of blistering, lighter-raising good times.
While it's safe to say superlative songwriting is their foundation, they've recently returned to jamming, exploring the hidden corridors in their melodies, something they did more of in the earliest days of the band. In the past couple of years they've delivered sharp stabbing performances, whittling their music down to a fat-free point that gets into a body.
RANA at Wetlands by Mike Mac |
"It's definitely true that we are jamming more these days but we want to keep it tasteful. If it's one thing RANA hates it's long, meandering jams with no focus," says Metzger. "After you play a song 100 times, you get a good idea of the soul of that song, and that is what we try to get into. Each of our songs has a very unique attitude and our goal is to develop and explore all of its possibilities and not just launch into an entirely different thing in order just to 'jam out' and get ourselves off by wanking. Music deserves more respect than that."
Andrew gives us his take, saying, "We have loosened our style up again. It is always good to change things up and it just seemed normal to start jamming out a bit now. Maybe it's the weather, maybe the powerful, positive memories of (now defunct NYC club) Wetlands have been internalized and the grieving is over. A little bit of both I'd guess."
Durant puts it more bluntly, "We just do what we want, and play what we want to play, as long as it gets us off. Sometimes people want a party. I have no problem playing party music, I love it."
A big part of their live oomph comes from Ryan Thornton's drumming, which draws from the same well as Talking Head Chris Frantz's deadly solidity and the never-showy limberness of Patti Smith Group regular Jay Dee Daugherty. Thornton comments on his own influences, "I've always loved Pavement and Steve West's drumming. I listen to that band everyday, and although it is very different from the RANA sound, I find ways to work his influence into RANA."
RANA with Tina Weymouth at CBGB
By Jack Chester |
He continues, "Claude Coleman of Ween is just untouchable. He makes it look so damn easy. I learn a lot just by watching him play and his influence has been loosening me up a bit. He's just so fluid. Also, Patrick Wilson from Weezer. He's nice and tasty and always plays to the song. He's brilliant on all the Weezer albums. He likes to do this thing where he rides on the crash cymbal for the last half of the last chorus on the song. You'll hear that all over the new RANA album. I totally stole it and I'm not ashamed to admit it. Time Out Of Mind by Bob Dylan is a huge album for all four of us. It's one of the only albums that all four of us 100-percent agree on. Brian Blade's drumming on that album is monumental, and I finally got to pay my respects on 'One Good Eye.' That's my little attempt at the Time Out Of Mind feel."
Another key feature of their live appeal is a knack for covering the right songs by other artists. Some regulars include the Waterboys' "We Will Not Be Lovers," Devo's "Girl U Want" and more recently Neil Young's "Vampire." They've also had their way with Prince, Talking Heads, and Michael Jackson. What they tackle almost always dovetails with their sound. But a few attempts haven't always gone as expected.
RANA by Steve Chernin |
"We played 'Rio' by Duran Duran ONE time. It took a whole fucking day to learn, and the second we started playing it live we realized it was a terrible idea," offers Matt Durant. "I think we wanted to play it mostly because it had been used in an episode of South Park, and it's a great song, but not for us to play, ever."
Southern jumps in, "Covers are great for any band that wants to learn new things quickly. That's why we play them. You can learn a lot by covering songs."
Their new material carries less and less of their influences, revealing a band coming into their own. "Philippe Petit" and "Charm Bracelet" shine like the AM Gold of a few decades back, well-built pop hung on Durant's sugar sweet voice and artfully subdued playing from the whole band. The varied texture and thick tones of their current output can be heard on "Bloodshed" which merges Sabbath's "War Pigs" with Gang of Four industrial funk. Their sound on tape is jelling with the same chemistry they already display in concert. All this adds up to the feeling of another original, highly energized collection waiting in the wings. Matt says, "I love Here In The USA and the new album [What It Is] will be even stronger, I think. We've learned how to work efficiently in the studio, having worked several short sessions in the last year. David Lowery's influence will no doubt come through, as we haven't worked with a producer like him before."
RANA by Steve Chernin |
"I am eternally influenced by too many bands to list. I've always hoped that if I emulated enough of my favorites and listened to lots of music all the time, I'd end up with my own voice, somewhere in the mix, and it'd be valid and good and nice and great," says Durant.
Thornton offers his own thoughts on the new album, "It's got more energy, more raw energy. More balls really. It's more like our live show. Here In The USA was more of a mood piece, mellower. I absolutely love it, but this new one has muscle. If you notice, Here In The USA doesn't have any guitar solos. I feel like it was a whole different entity than what we do live. We kind of spaz out up there on the stage and this new album captures those spastic tendencies."
For all those who bemoan the state of rock 'n' roll these days, claiming the life has gone out of the beast, RANA puts the lie to those pronouncements. This is a working rock band that wants to do their tradition proud. They have thus far, and there's no doubt they'll do the same in the years ahead.
Fresh off an extended break RANA have three shows left in 2004. On December 28 they will open for the Benevento/Russo Duo featuring Mike Gordon on bass at Theater of Living Arts. On December 29 they stay in Pennsylvania headlining The Moose, and on December 30 they come home to NYC to play Tribeca Rock Club (second set will be a post Gov't Mule party).
RANA's new album, What It Is now availiable.
Dennis Cook
JamBase | California
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