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So who are the suckers, exactly? Not Suckers-- Byrne/Brock-flavored Brooklyn quartet who have seen all of MGMT's photo spreads-- but the suckers. Lowercase. By cloaking their visuals in assembly line fake-LSD/new-age nonsense (see: dollar-store cat creep on the front of their debut EP, psychedelic fruit salad MySpace wallpaper), are Suckers in fact the suckers? Or are they suckering us (and MGMT) by hiding their real-band, yelp-friendly first four songs underneath second-hand, fourth generation hippie flotsam? If I mention how Yeasayer's Anand Wilder co-produced the EP, does that make this band a legitimate BK poly-pop front runner? How many pink'n'blue feathers am I holding up?
More slippage: Despite its title, "It Gets Your Body Movin'" is not a lost cog from the C&C Music Factory. Not even close. If your body moves, it'll just tilt, maybe. Because there's a lot more hoisting suds sing-along here than you'd expect. There are only three or four different lines in the entire song. Easy to remember. It's refrain rises, falls, rise again bigger. It's dead simple; there's nothing to hide behind. Made me think what-- quite literally-- gets me up come 8:04 a.m. A loud noise. Work, sure. A little fear. But, simpler still, a body moves because it can move. Meanwhile, down-but-not-out trumpet and whistle solos show what only a certain type of body can do. Everyone's a sucker, I guess, until they're not. - pitchfork.com
When Pitchfork's Ryan Dombal caught a set from Brooklyn psych-pop space cadets Suckers at SXSW, he had this to say: "During their set, my music journo friend and I simultaneously gave each other the same exact 'These guys are good, huh?' face. I've been to a lot of shows with this friend and the face thing is an extremely rare occurrence." High praise!
This summer, Suckers will tour, which means you and your friends might get to make the exact same faces. Thus far, the band only has one EP to its name. But they're already drawing breathless praise, including a BNM track review from us. Their new video for "Easy Chairs" will hurt your brain. It's increasingly becoming apparent that you should go see this band before they blow the fuck up. Dates below. - pitchfork.com
Suckers and Girls may be this year’s Yeasayer and MGMT. Two young groups with only a few songs released each, Suckers and Girls have each generated a fair amount of interest in as-yet-announced long-players. What makes both groups exciting, apart from a couple of killer singles (“Hellhole Ratrace”, “It Gets Your Body Movin’”) is their patience. Though Suckers is cut from a familiar Brooklyn psych-indie mould that incorporates shouty vocals, electronic instrumentation, and free-flowing structures, the group’s obviously enamoured of the easy beauty of long melodic lines, off-center horns, and singing, all together, in a slow-motion sort of celebration. Oh, and their melodies seem to be all somehow brilliant sing-a-long anthems.
The vocalist, Quinn Walker, must have grown up listening to David Byrne , to Talking Heads; but his self-introduction on Suckers EP is impressive in its breadth. With hardly an effort he slides from hung-over slur to carefree exuberance. You can’t help but be buoyed up with him.
Each of the four tracks on Suckers EP have a similar anthemic quality, but importantly, hint at other directions that the group could explore on a full length album. The opening of “Afterthoughts & TV”, reluctantly dragged-through-mud with an Animal Collective-esque electronic warble: a killer ballad. “Easy Chairs”’ plodding bass-line: pop radio nostalgia. The rickety change-ups of instrumentation on “Beach Queen”: a curious, interest-sparking knack for sniffing out novelty.
And we haven’t even touched on the group’s most fully realized song, “It Gets Your Body Movin’”, which closes Suckers EP. Not just that song, but the whole EP deserves a close listen—this is a first impression that only whets appetite for what’s to come. Pay careful attention.
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/73649-suckers-suckers-ep/
- popmatters.com
Discography
s/t EP
Single: It Gets Your Body Movin'
Photos
Bio
Quinn Walker (who released last year's acclaimed solo double-album, Laughter's An Asshole/Lion Land on CocoRosie's label Voodoo-Eros) and Austin Fisher are cousins who grew up just down the street from each other in a small fishing village in Connecticut, home to 35 tiny islands topped with Victorian homes. As children, they were obsessed with the oldies radio station. In high school, they began collaborating on musical projects, mostly improvising into a dictaphone with guitar, keyboard and found objects. In 2004, after Austin finished college and Quinn stopped bouncing around the country, the two relocated to New York. Soon after moving to the city they asked Pan, a good friend from home with an extensive musical background ranging from electronic music to metal, to start a new project.
Suckers merged as the sound and aesthetic of three one-man bands playing together. Pan, Quinn and Austin each played multiple instruments per song: singing, shouting and chanting in unison. The trio knew they were missing something or someone, and thankfully, that person arrived in drummer/keyboardist Brian Aiken, fresh off a year abroad in Hungary. Once Brian was on board, the band hit their stride, packing local venues and sharing bills with friends and kindred spirits in Yeasayer, MGMT, Dragons Of Zynth, Chairlift, Kyp Malone and Awesome Color, among others. Their heralded live performances feature group singing, primal beats, future sounds, Serbian interpretive dancers, trumpet blasts, religious truths and sheer enjoyment.
All four men are on a mission to break musical barriers and cultivate something new while keeping it accessible for ears inclined toward classic pop.
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