Believers

Missouri outfit Believers make sophisticated and intricate indie-pop, and their self-titled debut EP has some great hooks to boot. - Forbes

Columbia, Missouri, band Believers make us feel okay about just wading out into the lake, walking into the water without knowing the depth, or what lurks beneath the surface. It has convinced us that we're not being put into too much harm's way by doing this. We're not going to be startled by the coldness of the water. It's going to feel about right and the mud squishing between our toes is going to feel cushiony. You can just keep walking, even as it gets up to your belly button, even as it passes your nipples and moves up to your neck. You're really into it thick now. It's here when you can either take it as far as you ever could, or you can turn around, head to the shore, examine your skin to see if you've acquired any leeches and then towel off and put your clothes - which feel a bit grittier - back on your body.

The feeling here - the one conveyed with this layered music and these animalistic vocals - is one of getting untethered. It's one of feeling like there might be some magic there in the depths, if we're just able to let ourselves get down and into them. If we're just able to let go, we can see if it's there, if there's anything to that sensation that seems to be calling us like a storm siren. Believers give us faith in these sensations, as if they might be tangible, as if they could be waiting for us. They convince us that within the cloudy and muddy waters that we might be walking into, there is something special there, something that's likely not going to make itself known for quite some time.

When singer Wesley Powell sings, "The alchemist comes to show us just what we've done," he's trying to remind us that we're sometimes oblivious to what we're making, to what's actually becoming of the work that we're doing, of the progress that it might not feel like we're making at the time. Without really knowing it, that blind faith - if we're willing to follow it - might lead us to spinning gold that we could use the help actually seeing for ourselves. - Daytrotter

In some ways, almost all modern pop music is influenced by the music of Africa, where many of the rhythms and tones that eventually found their way into jazz, rock, hip-hop and pop originated. But lately there seems to be a fresh infiltration of African pop sounds from the 1960s and '70s into the indie rock lexicon, worming in far deeper than Vampire Weekend. In the modern reissue era, with shops like Other Music featuring a wealth of amazing (and amazingly diverse) Afro-funk, jazz and pop albums on our shelves, the vibrant African music of this period (and earlier) is more available to listeners around the world than it was even in its heyday, and as such, the shimmering guitars, dancing tom-tom rhythms and enveloping multi-part vocal delivery that were a part of so much African popular music of the era have crept into the indie lexicon. Few new bands I've heard are making more of this source material than Columbia, MO's Believers. Their vinyl-only self-released EP would never be mistaken for the revisionist Afro-funk of modern American groups like Antibalas or the Debo Band, but this five-piece, led by Brothers Wesley and Tyler Powell, make swooning indie-pop with many of the same elements. The guitar melodies are fluid and sparkling, and matched with skittering bass lines, lurching keyboards and tom-heavy rhythms, yet as these songs explore elements of highlife and Afro-funk, the group always sounds like what they are, a young American indie band, and that's a good thing. Wesley's baritone croon can remind me of Beirut's Zach Condon at times, and the comparison is also apt because, like Beirut, Believers absorb and incorporate international sounds without aping them, making their own modern indie rock out of many of the same elements.

-Josh Madell (Released 2012) - Other Music

This band Believers sounds like a bunch of the bands I always wanted to emulate in some way, shape or form. It's got this really strange constant reverby type of hollowness that I thought was going to fucking annoy me, but now that I've gone through it a few times, it's actually quite cool how it separates all of the instrumentation into different corners. With this huge sort of hole in the middle, you can appreciate the percussion flopping around, the guitars noodling steadily, and the vocals which are half anthemic/half singing the words you're writing in your rhymebook in a coffee shop so no one hears you (but you secretly get loud every few minutes so that chick with the tall ass boots looks your way again bro bro). This band is called Believers. I fucking love them right now. And I will not say that they have made believers out of me, because that is something Del would say. And Del is a piece of shit. - SYFFAL

I can’t get enough of this set of songs from Columbia, MO’s Believers. Perfect for road trips or to pair up with that Daughn Gibson album that’s been in our rotation. Together, they are making my week.

From the Believers Soundcloud:

“…we’d like you to look at this as a demo; we did the best we could and we know you could certainly carry our work to an even higher level. Please know that this is just a tiny smattering of the many complete songs we perform live.

Many thanks for your ears! We hope to god/gods/void you enjoy it.” - Glo Fi Must Die

Its always pleasing to see a band finally be able to realise their undoubted potential after doing the hard yards, especially when there are so many artists out there that emerge from their 'bedrooms' and 'basements' to instant blog acclaim (not that there's anything wrong with that by the way). So it is the case with Believers, the music project of Wesley and Tyler Powell. Having emerged in Columbia, Missouri in 2009, and quickly moving to the independent oasis that is Austin, Texas they had difficulty bringing their musical vision to tangible reality. So they shelved it until two years ago when they returned home from various quarters and enlisted dual drummers Pete Hansen and Taylor Bacon and instrumentalist Travis Boots in a bid to bring their brand of expansive pop and tropicalia to full fruition.

That has resulted in an outstanding self titled debut EP containing six tracks that have their roots in both western pop as well as tropicalia, Latin and West African music. It's probably the last style of music you'd expect to come out of the US centre, but Believers are dreamers, utilising vivid imaginations to interweave complimentary and delicately written melodies that sit alongside and inside sprawling bass lines and intelligently powerful percussive elements. That music also contains nods to the fundamental relationship between humanity and nature, firmly establishing organic respect; establishing themselves as a mere part of it, not above or outside of it. This is all topped off by vocals that croon and swirl their way around these cerebral, yet infinitely accessible music arrangements perfectly.

Believers is available now as a very generous name your price download from their Bandcamp and excitingly, on limited edition vinyl (500 copies) complete with hand printed covers for just US$10. Highly recommended folks. With 'Forward Forward Back' going great guns at number 13 in this weeks Top 30, listen to the excellent opening track, 'Sleeves' below.

Tracklist

1. Sleeves
2. Forward Forward Back
3. Far From Home
4. Finder
5. Wandering
6. In The Water



Sleeves

Believers (USA)

From the EP, 'Believers', Self Released. - Indie 30

This band is one to watch, I’m telling you, my Spidey Sense is tingling. Believers are an impressive and enigmatic new rock band whose EP is a complex cacophony of sound that trembles and shudders with riotous energy while also being remarkably precise and emotional. I get a bit of Fleet Foxes from them at times (without the harmonies), with some Kings of Leon (pre hearing “Use Somebody” for the 9,000,000th time) and Future Islands thrown in for good measure.

I caught their first New York show EVER at Glasslands Gallery in Williamsburg last night and it was so worth the long, rain soaked walk from the L train. The band played their EP in it’s entirety and their sound, while fantastic on record, was so much more alive and addictive in person. Listen to their EP below: - Culture Whore NYC

The Old Rock House saw a healthy collection of good music on Friday night, featuring Believers, Water Liars and the headliner Frontier Ruckus.
The opening band, Believers served up a fine mix of Vampire Weekend and the Strokes-inspired pop-rock tunes. With two swirling guitars, a drummer, a standing percussionist and a highly ornamented bass, they cruised through seven or eight syncopated dance numbers that led all in attendance in a strong foot tap.
Although a young band from Columbia, Mo. Believers’ songs had a mature and practiced sound. Along with the bright “Contra” guitars and the afro-beat bass, the lead singer adds in his gentle bass croon to provide listeners with an easy one-way ticket to dance land. They sure made a believer out of me. - KDHX

When you think of Missouri the first thing that comes to mind certainly isn’t tropical oasis. If you knew nothing about Missouri and you’re only introduction to Missouri was this band out of Columbia you’d think that the streets were lined with full palm trees, thunderstorms, beautiful birds and green for days. Their sound reminds me of “Wild Beasts goes to Bali”.

You can pick up their self titled debut via bandcamp where you can also pick up an analog version as well. - Head Underwater

If the term "indie rock" ever referred to a distinct sound or style, it certainly doesn't now—and the fact that it gets applied to such a wide variety of acts can make it harder to suss out the intricacies and stylistic flourishes that set them apart from one another. Take for example Believers, a band from Columbia, Missouri. They're "indie rock," but of course that doesn't tell you that they've got two drummers who provide tight, interlocking fills that sometimes land like thunderclaps. You wouldn't necessarily know that the guitarists pluck and strum with precision and grace, their lines treated liberally with tremolo, and you'd have to get pretty lucky to guess that the bassist provides a funky, pop-friendly backbone or that the vocals include just enough harmonizing to give the songs a hint of choral texture. The opening tracks on Believers' self-released, self-titled debut EP ("Sleeves" and "Forward Forward Back") are propelled by sprightly, chugging rhythms and hooky instrumental harmonies, while the record's latter half eases into a warm and cozy atmosphere thanks to artfully delicate guitar melodies. True, Believers have only put out five songs, but they already stand out in the vaguely defined realm of indie rock. —Leor Galil Hume headlines; Nude Sunrise and Believers open. $10, $8 in advance - Chicago Reader

Believers - Finder

I happened to catch this band’s first show ever (tho I didn’t know that fact at the time - they killed it). They’re from the surprisingly hip town of Columbia, Missouri, home to the Mizzou Tigers, many rad vintage stores, corn-fed mid-western farm girls-turned-hipsters and the always excellent True/False Film Festival (which is why go there). They held court to a late-night party for the festival and they had the room completely in sync with their vibe - great fun - and it felt like they’d been playing together for ages.

Hear, one of two of their first singles. Unmastered, so the levels tend to be a bit low, but turn ‘em up and feel this. It’s grand. Get this and the other “Forward Forward Back” free on their Bndcmp. An EP coming soon on 10” vinyl. - YVYNYL

Believers - Sleeves

Got this fantastic record in beautifully designed, hand-printed jacket unsolicited in the mail the other day from this stirring Columbia, Missouri band. Lucky me. Their self-titled debut swells swoops with tropicalia shadows and glistening waves of guitar.

Pick up that 12” wax yourself for only ten bones right here. - YVYNYL

Believers is a Columbia, Missouri outfit that plies in grandiose-sounding, delicate indie rock, and earlier this year they put out their self-titled debut. Today, we’ve got their new video, a clean-looking, shape-shifting clip for the percussive single “Finder.” Andrew Droz Palermo directs. Watch it below. - Stereogum