BATTLES with WALLS at the Phoenix (410 Sherbourne), Tuesday (October 4). $18.50. HS, RT, SS, TM. See listing.
Battles have spent the last year proving they’re unfazed by the departure of their former singer/keyboardist, Tyondai Braxton. Still, despite their well-received sophomore LP, Gloss Drop (Warp), and their rejuvenated live show, he’s all anyone seems to want to talk about.
“For a record he didn’t have anything to do with, he really seems to be woven into its story,” admits guitarist/keyboardist Ian Williams over the phone from New York. “The record’s not about Ty or his absence. It’s about what the three of us did without him.”
On Gloss Drop, Battles occasionally fill Braxton’s slot with guest vocalists like Gary Numan and Blonde Redhead’s Kazu Makino (whose parts are projected aurally and visually in concert), but for the most part they’ve gone instrumental. And it’s not as monumental a change as people make it out to be. Though Braxton’s pitch-shifted vocals were distinctive, they were never Battles’ main draw.
“We’ve always made a concerted effort not be the traditional sort of band where there’s a lead guitar and a lead singer,” says Williams. “It’s more like textural music where melodies and riffs and vocals all swim around each other. Nothing sits on the surface as the main attention-getter.
“Even the way we set up onstage – the drummer sits front and centre. But the media are unable to get out of the mindset that since Ty sang, he was the leader. What is this, 1964? Are we the fucking Kinks?”
Battles’ genre-eschewing mix of unconventional time signatures and formula-skirting songcraft should presumably exempt them from the usual pop music rules. Their accessible, danceable grooves, though, have earned them modest crossover success, thanks in part to the so-called “alternative” music press. A notable 9.1 Pitchfork review for their debut, Mirrored, sparked much of their early buzz.
With pre-Battles pedigrees that include stints in influential underground bands like Don Caballero and Helmet, Williams and co. are relics of an earlier era when “alternative” was typically separated from the mainstream by an (often self-perpetuated) gulf. But ever since MTV embraced Nirvana’s Nevermind in 1991, the distinction has become blurrier and blurrier.
Unsurprisingly, Williams doesn’t see much difference between the indie and mainstream worlds.
“The word ‘indie’ has always been a shifting concept,” says Williams. “It used to signify a more antagonistic standpoint toward success and whatever it felt like the system was at the moment, but now it’s often reduced to skidding into the fuckin’ mouth of whoever happily throws money at you. Whatever the corporation wants, just say yes and smile and sing happy songs.
“I think a modicum of success in contemporary indiedom gets you shackled with the most conventional expectations. I’m not saying that’s necessarily a bad thing. It’s kind of cool that there’s less cultural ghettoization now.
“But there’s a difference between your typical indie pop band and the kind of band we are. It’s hard for people to switch gears, because it’s all just mishmashed together.”
Interview Clips
In concert, Battles substitute the guest vocalists with video projections of each of them performing their parts. Williams explains how they came upon that resolution and why it might be better than having a real, live vocalist.
Battles were unlucky enough to be at Pukkelpop festival in Belgium when, in the midst of a horrible storm, a stage collapse killed five people and injured 70. Williams recounts his memory of the incident.
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