There's no "i" in Team

Hello friends -

This message is brought to you by Austin-based indie-outfit Sound Team. After hearing about them earlier this summer, I finally saw the 6-member band last Wednesday when they opened up for French Kicks, and I was in for a very pleasant surprise. The lineup for the evening - Oh No! Oh My!, The Subjects and Sound Team all leading up to French Kicks - was a little daunting, how to keep the crowds rowdy the whole time?!? The Subjects were fun and a bit experimental - but they are still finding their bearings amongst each other on stage and with their fans. In contrast, Sound Teams fans were there early and up front. Wild and cheering from the moment the guys stepped on stage, the band and fans had a palpable energy flying between them, and it only made the rest of us newbies that much more excited to dance.

Sound Team just released their first full length album - Movie Monster - this July. It was not a favorite of the Pitchfork staff, who gave it a measly 3.7. This is one instance where I disagree pretty strongly with the Pitchfork crew. I have officially put Movie Monster on repeat on my ipod and listen constantly. The composition of 2-3 intense keyboardists (depends on the song), tremendously strong bass lines, upbeat guitars and a great drummer pull together all the pieces to make some excellent music. The lyrics are sometime indescipherable (lead singer Matt Oliver has a bit of a Walkmen/Bob Dylan thing going on) but there are gems like in "No More Birthdays" about speeding it up to slow back down, and noting that trouble finds its way to you in "Back in Town". Their songs have tremendous arcs - building up to the chorus and rising to peaks that just make you open your mouth and lip synch on the street when you run into someone in your office and you wish you were perhaps just slightly more composed. Right.

But I really think the heart of this band lay in the fact that there are so many of them and yet they really all look like they are on the same page. Lead singer Matt Oliver does not in any way overwhelm the stage as some lead singers have a tendency to do, and Bill Baird's quiet presence on the stage is not what you would expect since he and Oliver are the primary songwriters for the big efforts Sound Team pours out.

Regardless of the hype/backlash, I think Sound Team is a great band - both in the studio and live - and I look forward to seeing them next time they come to New York. They are currently still on tour with the French Kicks and embark on a tour of Europe later this fall.

Download "No More Birthdays" "Shattered Glass" "Back in Town" "Movie Monster"

www.soundteam.net (you can stream all of Movie Monster here)
www.myspace.com/soundteam