Music
Press
Most people think of pop music as the vapid sounds created by tween faves like The Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus and their contemporaries. However, there is another whole segment of folks that think of pop music as the melodic rock created by groups as diverse as The Beatles and The Pernice Brothers, and that's the group of fans Andy Ingram is focused on.
"I'm obsessed with pop music and trying to write great songs, although I've failed more times than not," Ingram said. "I'm fascinated with that process of trying to write these really catchy little three-minute songs that people can sing along with."
Ingram, a local musician and the majordomo for Poptek Records, has succeeded in capturing that pop essence on "Yesterdays Forever," the debut CD from his band XL427. Songs such as "Snohomish County" and "Killers No More" are delectable slices of melodic rock that will have pop fans yearning for more.
"I had an earlier incarnation of the album that I was ready to put out, but then I changed my mind," Ingram said. "I originally recorded it with the attitude that I wanted it to be one-takes that were honest and sloppy, but when I finished it I couldn't listen to it myself. I decided I wouldn't release it if I can't even in enjoy it, much less ask other people to enjoy it. I kind of started the re-recording and remaking it over the last few years."
"Yesterdays Forever" was certainly worth the wait. The album fits nicely alongside the releases of Poptek acts such as Kris N., Wake up Mordecai and Ingram's other band Ruetschle.
"I want Poptek to be known for beautiful pop songs," Ingram said. "I don't ever expect to be on the level of Factory Records, but there are certain record labels in recent history where people knew to look for certain things. I want Poptek to be known as this really catchy little label."
With XL427, Ingram sometimes performs solo and other times he enlists the help of musicians Mike Ruetschle (electric guitar, vocals), Cooper (bass) and Dan Stahl (drums). He'll bring the full band to Oregon Express on Wednesday, Feb. 18 for a free Poptek showcase presented by The Buddha Den. Kris N. is also on the bill.
"This is the first showcase we've done," Ingram said. "It was actually (Buddha Den founder) Kyle Melton's idea. I think I'm going to take his cue and start doing a monthly showcase. That's the hope, at least." - Dayton Daily News/ Active Dayton
...as founder of upstart Dayton label Poptek Records, Andy Ingram seems acutely aware that his passion for pop music is not always in vogue. Although primarily serving as drummer for perennial indie pop faves Reutschle, the elusive pop talent Kris N., or the teenage Wake Up, Mordecai, Ingram has finally stepped out to front his own outfit, XL427, on the Yesterdays Forever EP...
...throughout the disc, XL427 revels in a wide rang of unapologetic pop flavors. On opener "Killers No More", the stark shoegaze and barely-there vocal delivery ebb and flow around the elegant fizz of a loping guitar. It's Ingram's economical application of sumptuous pop hooks that propel Yesterdays Forever. From the haunting, reverb-drenched piano line on "Lover's Leap" to the Anglophilic melodic descent on "The Privileged", XL427 display an amazing command over the pop textbook. With an acoustic windmill call-to-arms, the bedroom anthem "It's Not Just Pink, It's New Wave Pink" finds Ingram at his most infectious. Blending bubblegum and Britpop into a potent pastiche, the track serves as an unabashed pop manifesto with the lyrical payoff: "These are the best days of all time". On "I Like the Quiet in You", the band cash in some of their goodwill for introspective drone. As the longest track on the album, it's bulk sags the disc near the end. Fortunately, the bounce of "The Privileged" rebounds and exits before wearing out its sunny charms. With it's chorus of "On our most perfect days/All your ways are pure", XL427 strike a perfect assessment of what is best in perfect pop music... - buddhaden.blogspot.com
Discography
Yesterdays Forever (Poptek Recs- 2008)
Scribbles Christmas '08 compilation
Photos
Bio
Don’t trust them. Drummers really just want to be out front. For five years Andy Ingram, the drummer for pop band Ruetschle, has been putting together the songs for his debut as XL427. Perfection takes time and frustration and obsessive renovation and a bit of procrastination. Now after all these years Poptek Records is excited to announce that "Yesterdays Forever" by XL427 is available now.
Ingram, who runs Poptek Records and has entwined himself drumming for a majority of the bands involved, has captured the subtle sentimentality of life with his debut. Yet like the rest of life, XL427 is never a solo act. The band is filled out by Mike and Cooper from Ruetschle as well as Dan Stahl from Shrug. The six songs on the album turn sound waves into colors that can be seen through the eyes of indie kids, new wavers, spiritualists, romantics, and rock fans alike. Similar to everything else that Poptek releases, the songs are assuredly catchy and memorable. Unlike the sugary pop the label is known for, XL427 strikes a worshipful and sometimes conflictive mood on "Yesterdays Forever".
Ingram states his intent for "Yesterdays Forever", “I really just wanted to write some songs to God that were too catchy and quirky for the Christian industry and that were too pure for the drunks. I think I achieved my goal in writing songs that I can still listen to which also alienates any potential audience.”
It is this disconnection to classification that make XL427's music wonderful. In meeting the honest and modest singer/ songwriter (and drummer) his independence from the mainstream is easy to recognize. He has made his own way both in music and life. In music, Ingram has been a part of the scenes in both Dayton, Ohio and Seattle, Washington as a promoter and musician. In life, he has been a leader in many simple church gatherings and still loves to feed the homeless walking the streets in whatever city he is in.
He is so true to his core principles of sincerity, both in music and life, that Andy Ingram will be too embarrassed to even read this, much less edit this. But I speak the truth without argument from anyone who has ever met Andy or heard XL427.
XL427 is the final result of Ingram picking up the guitar and exposing his inner-self. His transition from drummer to singer was not overnight but it was inevitable for someone as talented and pop-minded as he. The debut, Yesterday's Forever, is so good and well thought out that it may inspire other disgruntled drummers to make the switch.
But change is not for the meek. It takes a special dedication to melody to really make it work. Those dedicated melodies make XL427 work and are part of why everyone needs to hear Yesterday's Forever, out now on Poptek Records.
- written by Kris Neises
Links
