Starting with the crunchy licks of everyman band The Pentagraham Crackers, SLUG Localized will heat up with the running beats and toothed refrains of Wildcat Strike before surf-rockers The New Electric Sound cast their net of sensual grooves over every man and woman in the crowd. This 21+ show happens Friday, Aug. 16 at Urban Lounge, and doors open at 9 p.m. If you’re a sad, lonely ragamuffin stuck at home, check out the show through the live stream on gigviz.com.
Localized: Wildcat Strike and The New Electric Sound
Localized
Since most members had traveled nine hours from LA to Salt Lake, The New Electric Sound were a little late to our meeting at the sleepy Kokopelli’s Koffee in Millcreek, but they more than made up for their tardiness with charming smiles, courteous handshakes and even a few kind gifts. The five sat down, laughing and joking before diving into their stories.
The New Electric Sound got together in Provo nearly two years ago when Scott Vance (lead vocals and rhythm guitar) and Tom Brinton (bass and backup vocals) decided to make music. “We wanted to create a surf rock band,” Brinton says. “It was just us at first, then we got everyone else to come along. We got Tony [Carlson] to play drums and we got Ben [Zabriskie] to play guitar.” The lineup remained consistent with the exception of keyboard players, who seemed to disappear. “We were like Spinal Tap with keyboard players,” says Vance, laughing. However, the third keyboard player, Nigel Goodwin, explained that he’s here to stay—barring unforeseen spontaneous combustion.
The band has a variety of musical tastes, though they all share an affinity for vintage sounds. They started off fairly basic with a foundation of surf rock and ’60s-inspired music as they solidified their lineup, but soon outgrew the simpler, Buddy Holly–inspired sound, which wasn’t quite danceable. They needed something fresh. “Our sound shifted from a super–surf rock sound, and we tried to just save the vintage tone and feel from older songs and incorporate that into a new sound. Hence, The New Electric Sound. We started developing [our sound] so that people could dance to it and get into [it]. I think that’s what really brings the ‘new’ part into it—just being able to see people get excited and starting to dance,” says Brinton. Given the easy danceability and wildly catchy hooks on their eponymous 2012 release, it’s clear that the band has forged its eclectic tastes into a sound all its own.
The music isn’t the only thing that brings to mind the good ol’ days. Because of their slick image onstage (they wear matching cardigans during performances) and vintage sound, they’ve often been compared to The Beach Boys, but as Carlson puts it, “We go for that clean-cut, ’60s California image, and there are elements of that sound, but it’s not super prevalent.” More accurately, the band sees itself as a conglomerate of older sounds like The Beach Boys and The Kooks, cut with a dash of newer bands like The Strokes. What you’ve got are über-catchy vocals that splash over tube-amp tones, like cool ocean waves.
The New Electric Sound don’t just keep it simple with the music, either. They also have straightforward philosophies. Their motto, “good enough,” summarizes their goal, which is to write good music and have a good time. “When you’re writing music, you can beat a dead horse, but sometimes you’ve just got to call it good enough,” says Carlson. “We just try to write a good hook and give people a good time.” Vance noted that they feel that it’s important to keep things easy and free. He says, “We don’t want to take ourselves too seriously. That’s partially why we have the cardigans and old, vintage mics.”
More than anything, the band is true to itself, and approaches its sound and lyrics with the same, stripped-down honesty that frontrunners like Holly and Brian Wilson perfected in the ’50s and ’60s. “The songs back in the day were so simple. They were often about love, but you don’t get that in the same way today. People try to mask it and be cool while singing about love. We try to be upfront about it,” says Vance.
Love, it seems, is contagious. The band has enjoyed moderate success, due in some ways to the supportive community of musicians in Provo, where the band plays most of its Utah shows. “There are a lot of people helping out and telling you to keep it up, and you see lots of people being successful around you—it creates synergy,” explains Brinton. According to Carlson, fans in Provo tend to be a little more devoted: “People aren’t embarrassed to enjoy the music—they get into it more,” he says. In any case, the band is energetic, and provides audiences with a power-driven, high-energy show that is, above all else, fun and enjoyable.
Of course, having a great live show is one battle for a band. Promoting the music itself is equally important. Sometimes, Goodwin explains, you’ve got to share music for free: “I don’t think money should prevent a person from being entertained and to enjoy a song.” Vance agrees, noting that a band’s music must stand up to the test. Vance says, “If your music is good and people like it, they’ll buy it. We, as artists, need to make money as well, but hopefully, our music can stand up and be strong enough.” Overall, the band is optimistic about the shifting landscape of music. “It’s a cool and exciting time to be a musician,” says Vance. “Things are changing—the record labels are changing. It’s like a new frontier.”
Share the music (and the love) with The New Electric Sound on Spotify, iTunes and their Bandcamp page: thenewelectricsound.bandcamp.com.
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