As their name might suggest, local quartet Legs Against Arms languishes in a constant and irreconcilable state of anxiety and struggle. It’s an angst that they manage to sublimate into their rich, orchestral-tinged sound, however, smoothly unraveling anthems on par with Snow Patrol or Stars. Keeping the textures and emotions harnessed and understated even as they climax into guitar jangle and pop-fuzz, the tandem of songwriters Daniel Dillon and Bruce Ewing push the group’s direction in a careful balance that coheres impressively into a whole. Legs Against Arms will finally be releasing their debut EP, Come On Let’s Disappear, this Saturday, November 28 at Club DeVille, with a bill that also features the Bubbles and the Baker Family.
Profile: Legs Against Arms
Year Formed:
Winter 2007
Members/Instruments played:
Alex Martinez - Drums/Bass
Michael Dillon - Bass/Guitar/ Trumpet
Bruce Ewing - Guitar/Vox/Keys
Daniel Dillon - Guitar/Vox/Keys/Sax/Snare
Former Bands/Side Projects:
We’ve talked about starting a side project called “Stuffed Animal Beach Party”. Not sure what we’d play but with a name like that it probably wouldn’t matter.
Albums:
Come On Let’s Disappear EP, 2009, self-released
Influences:
The National, Death From Above 1979, Stars, Frightened Rabbit, The Arcade Fire, Dear and the Headlights, Broken Social Scene, Jeff Buckley and John Bonham.
Strangest comment or comparison ever made about your music:
Wait, what’s your band called? Mexican Stars?
Favorite local bands:
Octopus Project, Okkervil River, Explosions in the Sky, Oh No Oh My, Quiet Company, and Tyler Jordan.
Favorite local venue:
We’ve enjoyed playing Scoot Inn, Mohawk and Social recently, but dig most the venues on the East Side or along Red River.
Upcoming shows scheduled:
Club De Ville, Saturday November 28th - CD Release
The Ghost Room, Friday December 18th w/ Tiny Tin Hearts
The Gatsby in San Antonio, Wednesday December 23rd
Shows over the next month that you’re excited to see (other bands):
Neko Case and Oh No Oh My @ Antones
Little Dragon @ Emos
Fanfarlo @ The Independent
Some of your favorite albums from the past year:
Phoenix “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix”
Frightened Rabbit “Midnight Organ Fight”
Depeche Mode “Sounds of the Universe”
Julian Plenti “Julian Plenti is Skyscraper”
Danny Malone “Cuddlebug”
Fanfarlo “Reservoir”
Grizzly Bear “Veckatimest”
Ideal band (past or present) to open for on a national tour:
David Bowie circa 1980…that or Miley Cyrus at Six Flags.
Austin Sound questions:
Who wins in the battle between Legs against Arms and why?
We’re lovers not fighters. Except for Alex, he’s both.
If we were to follow through on the EP’s title and disappear, where would we go?
Daniel: I think it’s more about who you’re disappearing with. Where you are sort of matters less I guess. It’s just about trying to capture a state of mind, that way we’ve all felt with someone when the rest of the world was irrelevant.
Bruce: I actually don’t want to disappear. To me, the title is more about irony than anything else. We all dig the ambiguity of it.
Song Introduction:
“Diamond Ring” is one of the first songs we wrote together as a group, and probably the one we spent the least amount of time on in the studio. It’s a song about the kind of immaturity that comes from hopelessness.
Daniel: I can remember Bruce playing that rhythm guitar part the first time and Michael just instantly falling into this bass groove as if it were the only thing that could have possibly gone there. It stuck, and it’s the bass line played on the record.
“The Applicant” was a blast to record. We got to write the orchestration for a small horn section and then pulled together 18 of our friends to sing at the top of their lungs for the final chorus. We were also drunk.
Sound Off:
We’re really excited about what’s coming up next for the band. We’ve been writing a lot lately and feel like we’re really coming into our own. The early days were a fun experiment in trying to merge the material and styles of two distinct songwriters, but these days we’re writing as Legs Against Arms and that’s an exciting development for us. We’re really pumped about the next record and getting out on tour sometime in the next year.
Mp3s from Come On Let’s Disappear:
Diamond Ring
The Applicant
Websites:
www.legsagainstarms.com
Myspace
