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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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