Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
Other People are a young and inventive indie rock band from Los Angeles, California. Their self-released self-titled debut is stuffed with clever lyrical quips, stretchy voiced group vocals, and discrete references to the undead. It comprises a record of dreary spooky haunted tunes that aren’t that sad. At times their theme and sound are comparable to an adolescent less keyboard/synth contingent Wolf Parade—without keys the band implements tangled, start-stop, twinkling guitar parts.
Album opener “Attracts Rats” is a slow trot where part time lead vocalist Nate Michalski shifts from relationship uncertainty to mocking of the executive branch—the sarcasm, satire, and irony are all heavy—and is rejoined by his bandmates on the chorus for an expressive chanting session. “Black Dirt” plays up the wonderful production, done by the band’s own Charlie Lesoine, as sound effects swell about, intertwining beautifully blended guitars cavort, and a synth bass line mixes with the bass guitar. Will Bromell’s drumming hits harder and with energy (which contrasts his diligent time keeping on earlier tracks) during the rocking critique on human life, “Human Beings”.
Still, while these early tracks will impress, it is hard not to fall in love with late hitter “Picture Frame Me”. This song is performed by a hip electro drum beat that backs only delayed acoustic rhythm guitar and occasional interjections by the bass and the other guitar. The last verse is started with group vocals and the band’s other lead vocalist Gabe Michalski eventually breaks out, “Long face, picture frame, breathe in and fill me with sky!” The album closer “Thank You For Being Alive” displays the band at its creepiest. A softly and slowly played acoustic guitar is backed only by production effects, Gabe’s voice is scraped and tentative, and the falsetto of the backing vocals adds to the shivers.
One could make a living stressing how young and promising this band is—its youngest member is 18, its oldest is 22, and the rest fill in spots in numerical order in between. But Other People is a memorable album, and it deserves your attention. It’s shallow to bring up their age at all because if the members of this band were in their thirties, this album would still be impressive. - www.goodhodgkins.com/
Discography
Other Peoplpe (2006) - Self titled full length album
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Based in Los Angeles, this young and thoughtful group creates a spontaneous yet strangely familiar sound. On their self titled debut, cadence and mood shift from song to song, covering a vast area of musical ground. As delayed guitars swell, novel chord progressions and expansive arrangements reveal clever quips and earnest group vocals. Lyrically and musically, Other People are trying to challenge the current direction that rock-and-roll is taking; they manage to build on past musical inspiration while making us question what we should expect from a rock band in the future.
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