When we single out bands for our Sound Off section, it’s brand new gems like Way No Way that make us most excited. Formed only this year, the quartet combines the forces of some familiar local fixtures, and has melded impressively in a short time. With a power pop heart, fuzzed out guitar tones and sublimely catchy melodies, Way No Way is intentionally rough around the edges behind their proto-punk leanings, but without ever compromising their inherent infectiousness. Classic touches of bands like the Wedding Present, the Soft Boys, Wire, and Sonic Youth rise to the surface to meld with a more contemporary blur of Kevin Dehan’s scruffed vocals. Way No Way will be releasing their debut effort in cassette tape form this Saturday, November 21 at the Parlor as part of a dual release party with Red Leaves, who will be delivering their new EP Trouble in the City of Water. Get a taste of two of Way No Way’s songs below.
Profile: Way No Way
Year Formed:
2009
Members/Instruments played:
Winston / Drums
Richard / Bass
Adam / Guitar
Kevin / Guitar, Vocals
Former Bands/Side Projects:
whooo long list here, old bands and side projects abound: richard and winston were in a band called mr. body, and flashlight fiction / winston was in belaire, gayle gold, fishboy, and is currently in bosque brown, bob and barbara, and bearclaw / richard was later in a band called arkay, election election, a for attack, modern movement, unwed sailor and is currently in books died on and markov / adam, winston and myself were in a band called fozlur, adam and myself were also in the adventures of tomachichi and silverfox, the diatribes and are currently in band called school police / adam’s also in a band called the babies and the gypsy boys; sorry about the long answer i mostly just thought that would be fun to see if i could remember everything.
Albums:
Our first album is coming out November 21st, it’s a tape with five songs per side, i think it’s only a half hour in length; we’ve got another album we’re working on.
Influences:
the rattlers, sonics rendez vous band, stiff little fingers, the wipers, wire, ramones
Strangest comment or comparison ever made about your music:
we haven’t had any yet! boo hoo…
Favorite local bands:
cowabunga babes, pure ecstacy, the hunnies, yellow fever
Favorite local venue:
the parlor, house parties
Upcoming shows scheduled:
Nov. 21st at the parlor
Shows over the next month that you’re excited to see:
don’t know of any yet, just saw r. crumb and that was awesome, i wish norm macdonald would come to austin
Some of your favorite albums from the past year:
Little Yoy’s self titled album; Between My Head and the Sky by Yoko Ono; Grace / Wastelands by Pete Doherty
Ideal band (past or present) to open for on a national tour:
ramones
Austin Sound questions:
Y’all are releasing your debut on tape - why did y’all choose that format?
It was cheaper and tape has a better sound than cd, and you can throw a tape across the room and it will still play, can’t do that with a cd– tapes are like roaches, they’ll still be around when we aren’t
We feel compelled to be Zen Koan-ish and ask you: “When is a way no way at all”?
hahaha, when you’re going the Way of No Way, it’s actually the tenth exit on mopac, you’ll see bill and ted there smoking cigarettes with wayne and garth, the conversation is pretty heavy.
Song Introduction:
1. too late / about being tardy ///// 2. better alone / about being alone
Sound Off:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, based on the practices of the Way of No Way.
Mp3s:
Too Late
Better Alone
Website:
Myspace
“It was cheaper and tape has a better sound than cd, and you can throw a tape across the room and it will still play, can’t do that with a cd– tapes are like roaches, they’ll still be around when we aren’t”
Blank tapes are not cheaper than CD-Rs. Tapes do not sound better than CDs; there’s hiss and way more compression of the original master than on a CD. A tape will break if you throw it across the room hard enough (not as hard as it would take to break a CD). The tape inside cassettes are not like roaches. They will degrade, crumble, and disintegrate over time. Instead of lying just say you’re releasing a tape because it’s super trendy and “retro” right now.
you’re awesome awesome dude, hadnt you heard the only thing more trendy than tapes is lying
My only question regarding the tapes is: Why? Why make it harder for potential new fans to hear your music?
The same question goes for bands who release stuff on vinyl exclusively; Why not include a download code for the mp3s? I don’t buy into the whole exclusivity concept that if someone really wants to be your fan, they’ll figure out a way to hear the music. That’s counterintuitive and counterproductive when you’re competing for ears in a super competitive time for music.
Actually, the tape is more accesible to potential listeners. It’s cheaper ( uner $3) and will come with an insert for a free digital download! Yea! I’ve seen these guys play live and they put on a great show.
How is it more accessible? Most cars post 2003 don’t have a tape player, computers don’t have a tape player built in, DVD players won’t also play a cassette tape, etc.
And, a CDR costs less than a buck. In fact, if you go the professional duplication/replication route, you’re looking at 1000 CDs for 50 cents a piece, depending on where you go, packaging, etc.
I just don’t see the point, other than the aesthetics of it.. which I’m totally cool with in that regard. But it’s absurd to claim a tape is more accessible, lasts longer, or is cheaper than a CD.
I don’t know, Stanley — I have lots of tapes from the 70’s that still work, and yet I have NEVER seen a CD that old.
But seriously, accessibility is not a problem in 2009. There is almost no reason for a small independent band to release a CD. When was the last time you heard a new band on CD? The songs are on MySpace, so anybody who wants to hear them can. People who want to support the band can go to shows and buy cassettes. Also, I wouldn’t doubt that it was cheaper to get a tape made — he’s just not going into the details of the situation here.
I haven’t seen a CD from the 70s either. Touche!
As for new bands on CD: You’re right in that regard, if you want people to hear a couple of songs, there’s plenty of free distribution channels like Myspace to get the word out.
My point was the ‘take home’ aspect of selling your music; A lot of people that actually buy music still want to buy “something”. At some point, that’ll certainly shift and more people will want the iTunes download vs the physical CD that they can rip themselves. But, for the time being, if you wanted to sell your 10 song album, providing it in the easiest format to get from aforementioned format into mp3, mp4, aac, wav, etc is the best bet.
That said, a cassette tape — just like vinyl — paired with the free download code is equally appealing.
But there’s still a zero percent chance that given a cassette or a CD, an average normal middle class American would claim the cassette is more ‘listenable’ or ‘accessible’ in 2009.
Also: This band sounds interesting.
Audio CDs have been commercially available since October 1982. Wewt for not finding CDs from the 70s.
While vinyl albums have uncompressed sound, cassette tapes do not, and in fact have the lowest quality sound of all mass-produced music (no was cylinder comments, please).
“Cassettes and their players were typically more rugged and resistant to dust, heat and shocks than the main digital competitor (the CD). Their lower fidelity was not considered a serious drawback inside the typically noisy automobile interior of the time. However, the advent of “shock proof” buffering technology in CD players, the reduction of in-car noise levels, the general heightening of consumer expectations, and the introduction of CD auto-changers meant that by the early 2000s, the CD player was rapidly replacing the cassette player as the default audio component in the majority of new vehicles in Europe and America.” [oh auto-changers--those things always sucked ass]
Tapes are shitty and trendy. You can get a CD for about 3-4.50 a pop from small production runs, C90 tapes run about 3.90, so there is really not any significant savings, especially considering the added space on CDs for artworks and inserts for the same price.
Pretentious and lame. If they offer an mp3 download, I probably wouldn’t care, but that’s my two cents.
You people are absurd. WHO CARES IF THE SHIT IS ON TAPE, CD, 8 TRACK, VINYL, OR WHATEVER because we all know that you’re going to go download the fuckin thing from your friend or get it on SOULSEEK anyways.
We recently offered a free digital download of our album through bandcamp.com. That time is up, but now you can go there and stream our music for free as well as download or stream the 2 MP3s Austin Sound has posted here. Also, people that buy our tape will have their own digital download code.
Now back to the music…
Mark, I actually buy shit from bands and then immediately rip it to my digital collection.. which is exactly why I asked how that cassette tape would get from being a cassette into my computer (and, my question has been effectively answered by the kind member of Way No Way!).
Last time I didn’t pay for something that I liked? Probably back when Napster was still free. The couple thousand CD collection in my living room attests to my continued support of musicians across the world.
I love the new Austin Sound, reminds me of old message boards back in the day. People arguing over stupid shit that does not matter. Now that’s entertainment
Guy From Austin, you are right. We are arguing over stupid shit, but I can’t help but add another thought…
When blank cassettes are bought in bulk wholesale with their cases, they’re cheaper than blank cds with cases. I’m not sure where you got your figures from, go to tape.com for a more accurate quote.
There are many Austin bands putting out tape releases, not because it’s hip but because it’s more affordable for them.
If you want to be trendy, pretentious or lame try writing two articles about White Denim. Oh wait…
i don’t care what the format, when the tracks are this fresh and tasty, do what you gotta do to hear them. and for goodness sake, go see them play!
oh, and i heard waynoway didn’t pay for these tapes at all! they actually stole them from the senile elderly and dubbed their own material over them. then they forced swine-flu infected kindergartners to replicate the cover art with broken crayons. so yeah, cheaper than cds.
haha, i love it– everyone here is crazy! Unfortunately, we have some bad news– if you are reading this before sat. nov 21st, we apologize but will not be able to play at the parlor this weekend. One of the members of the band had a death in the family and will be out of the state on saturday; we will reschedule the tape release, so keep posted to our myspace for further details. Thanks for all the support and please go check out red leaves because it is also their cd release and they are an excellent band! Be good……
WNW
No Way! Way? Bummer.