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Taunton-based crew goes Technicolor
BY BOB GULLA
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If you didn’t know Wheat from, say, the Chaff, and, you came across their new disc and bought it at your local record shoppe, you’d probably be pretty damn pleased with your purchase, especially if you like hearty and meaningful melodic pop/rock. But if you know Wheat, like many people around here know Wheat, it might not be so . . . uh, cut and dry. You see, after the release of their first two albums, Medeiros and Hope and Adams (both on the chic indie Sugar Free), the trio became the idols of the hipster cognoscenti. The albums were masterpieces of subtle pop understatement, assembled by tasteful producer/innovators Dave Auchenbach and Dave Fridmann. The music had an air of serene resignation, its yawning spaces filled in by aquatic washes of keyboards, slowly warping guitar chords, and gently urgent rhythms. Bandleader and songwriter Scott Levesque sang melancholic reveries while the songs slowly unreeled long, lingering melodies redolent of hot and hazy summers. As Scott puts it, "We were noisy in a quiet way." The combination of ether and substance put the band into rarefied company, quality-wise, with outfits like the Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev. Their third disc, Per Second Per Second Per Second . . . Every Second, is another matter entirely. Wheat started in 1997 in Taunton, Massachusetts. Levesque and drummer Brendan Harney had met in art school and, with guitarist Ricky Brennan, started to work together informally, basically to exorcise some romantic and musical demons. Since then, Wheat has had an additional cast of supporting players, but the core remains Harney, Levesque, and Brennan. Released on October 28 on Aware/Columbia, Per Second Per Second Per Second . . . Every Second, is not a logical progression in sound. Rather it’s a stunning turnabout, a real wrench. Yes, it’s on the Aware label, the same Sony imprint that stars John Mayer, Train, and several other artists that have gone on to become major commercial entities. That such a high-profile label would see Wheat as a viable entry on its roster is more than surprising. It’s astonishing. But then again, have you heard it? "We knew that people would be freaked out by us being on John Mayer’s label," says Levesque from the road, where the band is touring with Liz Phair. "It’s a kooky thing. We like that Aware is successful. We just weren’t interested in putting out a record that was gonna be . . . Signing with a hip indie label would just be like, ‘What’s the point?’ We’ve had a decent career. If you’re not gonna sell records, why sign a deal? Record companies don’t need to be cool. They should sell records. It’s the artist’s job to be cool. "I really think that some people just hate anything that’s successful sometimes," says Levesque, in response to the subject of signing to a major label. "People get bummed out about bands that do anything successful. There are some people who just like what’s difficult. If I piss in a cup and recorded it now, people would say, ‘You used to do that better.’ " When Wheat first signed with Aware, they had just come off a deal with Nude in the UK, another hip imprint that had lost its distribution, prompting Wheat to look elsewhere. When Aware showed up, they wanted to rerelease the first two albums and put out a new one, the same one Nude wanted to release, which was ready to go. But the Aware deal prompted the band to take a fresh look at the material on their new disc. "For the new record we redid a lot of tracks," says Levesque. "We had time, we had a budget, and we reworked some stuff." Twenty new songs emerged, and some arrangements on the old stuff that made them crazy got patched up. "I Met a Girl," the band’s most overtly pop moment, came out of those follow-up sessions. Real pop fans, the open-minded, unresentful, not-so-spiteful kind, will hear immediately that Per Second, Per Second, Per Second . . . Every Second is one of the very best pop records of the year, on a major or any other label. Props to Aware for using its leverage to issue really good music, and to Wheat for understanding that they could sign with a major force and still make a uniquely artistic statement within a larger pop context. Where the band’s debut was a grainy black-and-white photograph and its follow-up a subtle shift to muted hues, Wheat’s major label bow is a giant leap into Technicolor. "There’s a big misconception that to do anything on a large scale you have to blow people," says Levesque, frankly. "But if they ask you to do something you don’t wanna do, you just don’t do it. Simple." Still, the fact is, there are people who don’t want to hear Wheat is recording for the same people who foisted the words "Your body is a wonderland" on us. "There are people who have real fondness for our first two records," says Levesque. "We’re glad about that. I’d like to think it was based on the songs, and not the fact that we were on a hip independent label. "But then, you’re dead in the water if you worry about what people think," he continues. "We did it. We signed. It’s us. People who’ve never heard us before seem to like it. We didn’t have any big-budget producers coming in and rewriting stuff. If you like the old stuff, it’s great. The new stuff isn’t really different. Then again, we’re not the same guys we were when we were 20. I’m not the same guy I will be when I’m 50." Perhaps it’s a bit of a change from Wheat’s early days but, like all the best bands, Wheat is exploring new musical worlds while remaining uncompromisingly true to themselves. In Wheat’s case, those worlds just happen to be a bit sunnier than before. "I’m glad I’m not as unhappy as I once thought I was," Levesque concludes. "Now I sometimes even enjoy myself!" WANDERING EYE. On Friday (the 14th), Rattlehead Records continues its mad rock and roll science experiment, also known as the Institute for Sonic Evolution. There’s a competition among high school-age bands, interspersed with performances by the Fourth Point of Contact, No Remorse, Ill-Natured, Side Project, and the Amazing Mudshark. Next weekend it’s the semifinals among the youngsters, with the StereoBirds and Radio Wallpaper. The finals go down on 11/28. All shows begin at 9 p.m. at Gallery Insane. Admission is $10 for all ages. Go to www.rattleheadrecords.com for details. This Saturday (the 15th) at Jake’s Bar and Grille, there’s gonna be some hillbilly boogie fever afoot. Tim Heroux has a new jump blues/rockabilly band, featuring Jack Hanlon from the Royal Crowns. So does Sean Faling, the drummer from the Young Ones. His is called Eric & the O-Matics. The night is anchored by the Old Howards, which makes this a can’t-miss show for fans of loud, greasy, rebellious, and glorious rockabilly. Plus, there’s no cover. Get there. Check out the Old Howards web-site: TheOldHowardsSlySq.tripod.com Speaking of roots music, you can catch Lucky 57 tonight (Thursday the 13th) at the Call as part of that venue’s Looseground Roots Music Series. Also appearing are the Coots (with Boston harp legend Jim Fitting), and Cash Money and the Jetsetter, whose new album was produced by ex-Georgia Satellite Dan Baird. Illustrious Day will be at the new and improved Green Room on Friday along with Adam Zero and Tall. Shades of Green appears on Friday at Cats in Pawtucket. The show is 21-plus with a $5 cover. Also on the bill are Tester, Torn, Junkchief, and Routine 8. Shades of Green has just finished recording its next opus, entitled Greatest Hits, with Joe Moody at Danger; it’s scheduled for a December release. The first single, "Providence," is on the band’s web site. Click to studio 2kingston.tripod.com E-mail me your music news at big.daddy1@cox.net
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