Austin Sound

It’s been nearly 4 years since the Sad Accordions offered up their debut album, A Bad Year for the Sharons. That album displayed a slew of talent and promise behind the band’s ability to serve up ballads that carry the understated yearning of Wilco and the epic sweep of U2, as well as high-energy shots of rock ruggedness. Seth Woods, who also performs as the Whiskey Priest, drives impressive emotion and energy behind his vocals, the band’s swirl of guitar and keys ebbing and flowing into his versatile delivery. Now the quintet is planning to return this fall with a new EP, and the new songs that they have shown off recently pack both more power and intricacy, polishing their polar extremes into delicate and haunting folk and slowly crescendoing anthems. There is a fantastic opportunity to catch the Sad Accordions this Friday, June 19, as they play inside at the Mohawk with the Soldier Thread as the nightcap to St. Vincent and Pattern as Movement earlier on the outside stage.

Profile: Sad Accordions

Year Formed:

Ben and Seth moved to Austin together in 2003, with Lee in San Marcos but driving in for practice during the week. Nathaniel joined on drums in the spring of 2004, and we started playing shows.

Members/Instruments played:

Ben Lance - guitar
Lee Kitchens - bass
Joy Gallagher - keyboards and guitar
Nathaniel Gallagher - drums
Seth Woods- vocals and guitar

Former Bands/Side Projects:

Ovenbirds
The Whiskey Priest
Zookeeper
Alex Dupree and The Trapdoor Band
Booher and the Turkeyz
Nelray

Albums:

“A Bad Year for the Sharons” - 2006 (self released)
Upcoming EP - Fall 2009

Influences:

Ok. So Joy really loves Sleater-Kinney and Fugazi. A lot. Also the Cowboy Junkies. Ben’s influences range from Lou Reed and Paul Westerberg to Johny Marr, Thurston Moore, and B.B. King. along with these, Ben and Seth both have an enormous love for all things Radiohead and U2 (we can’t help it! we love those bands!), as well as R.E.M., Guided By Voices, and Yo la Tengo. Seth also really admires David Byrne, Daniel Lanois, and Mark Hollis of Talk, Talk. and he thinks that Kate Bush’s “Hounds of Love” might be the best record he’s ever heard, unless he’s wrong and it’s only second best to Van Morrison’s “Veedon Fleece.” or maybe Midnight Oil’s “Diesel and Dust” (oh, that’s such a good record). Nathaniel’s all time favorite record is “Mercury” by the Prayer Chain, but he also really thinks the Constantines are something quite special. Lee’s deep love of Townes Van Zandt is rivaled only by his admiration for Gillian Welch. Lee also really likes Tool, but he’s kind enough not to remind us of this very often. only when we need it. now that’s love!

Strangest comment or comparison ever made about your music:

Darcie Stevens of the Austin Chronicle once wrote that we sounded like “Slint meets Wilco.” i’m not really sure what that would sound like, unless it’s Lungfish. Lungfish are awesome, but we don’t sound anything like them. also, one of Lee’s friends once told us we sound like TV On The Radio. but they might have just been listening to TV On The Radio and not Sad Accordions. Seth sometimes thinks that our record sounds like the Psychedelic Furs for some reason, though he realizes that that’s probably not true.

Favorite local bands:

Frank Smith, Balmorhea, Loxsly, Broken Gold, Meryll, Zykos, Fivehead, The Midgetmen, Ovenbirds, White Denim, Gadjo Bango, Alex Dupree and the Trapdoor Band

Favorite local venue:

The Carousel Lounge!!!

Upcoming shows scheduled:

June 19 @ the Mohawk (inside after the St. Vincent show)
July 21 @ Stubb’s with Jessica Lea Mayfield

Shows over the next month that you’re excited to see:

Bob Dylan, Sunset Rubdown, John Vanderslice, Magnolia Electric Co.

Some of your favorite albums from the past year:

Ben:
“You and Me” by the Walkmen
“For Emma Forever Ago” by Bon Iver
“Saturdays = Youth” by M83
“með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust” by Sigur Rós

Joy:
“Hometowns” by Rural Alberta Advantage
“Oohs and Aahs” by Say Hi
“Get Better” by Mates of State
“Oracular Spectacular” by MGMT

Seth:
“The Midnight Organ Fight” by Frightened Rabbit
“Tell Tale Signs” by Bob Dylan
“All Is Well” by Sam Amidon
“Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle” by Bill Callahan
“Bitte Orca” by the Dirty Projectors

Nathaniel:
“Visitors” by the Dodos
“Sagarmatha” by the Appleseed Cast

Ideal band (past or present) to open for on a national tour:

playing with Yeasayer would be a lot of fun. or the Dirty Projectors. both of those bands are amazing live, and sound like nothing else to my ears. Shearwater or Okkervil River would also be great, because they’re nice folks, and hometowners, and make beautiful music.

Austin Sound questions:
Who are the Sharons, and why did they have such a bad year?

the sharons are a band that some friends of ours started a few years ago, right around the same time we were beginning to play shows. i know everybody loves playing music and being in bands in austin, but these girls REALLY WANTED it, you know? they breathed it, they bled it, they needed it. and they really made a go of it, too. but they were met with serious set backs on all sides, professionally, critically, at home in their personal lives and relationships and families. but they just kept throwing themselves into the music. we kind of wanted to have this concept album about their lives, their struggle and need to create this music, to find and make beauty out of the pain and shit and confusion. so it’s kind of a record about that desire, that attempt at a good life and good art, despite the set backs.

What’s so sad about your accordions?

my friend Jeremy Terry said once that a Sad Accordion is someone who shows up late to one of our shows, but that’s probably just a really nice thing for a friend to say to another friend. the saddest thing about our accordions is that there aren’t any in the band. how sad is that? though there is one on the record (it’s the first instrument you hear).

Song Introduction:

“The Boy Who Wanted To Build A Bridge (But Got A Wall Instead)” is one instance of some early synergy between different members of the band. Seth had written the song on his own (as was the norm back then, but no longer), and was happy with it, but not really sure if it would fit the band. then late one night in their old shared apartment, he played a four track demo of it for Ben, who sat down with his guitar and came up with the lead line from the second half of the song right on the spot. It was the first instance of real collaberation between two members of the band, and it helped pave the way for all of us to begin sharing ideas and creating new music together. It also features the elusive and beautiful occurance of a vocal part by Joy Gallagher. We love it when that happens!

Sound Off:

I will now attempt to tell the story of Sad Accordions without using any words that contain the letters E or S!

Many long ago, four of boy rock out in room. add bald man and girl. all go to church with all. do many night club. do many land of draught. go do album with wofford. harry vocal boy go on road with un otro harry vocal boy. boy and boy-two do many vocal and camp out for four month. cold. go back again. band do rock out in room again. bald man go and marry a girl, go with that girl to old country. now four boy and a girl try to rock a lot. and you rock at club with band, too, no?

ta-da!

Mp3s from A Bad Year for the Sharons:
The Boy Who Wanted to Build a Bridge but Got a Wall Instead
Fire/Ash

Website:
Myspace