“Gloom-Doom” Pop
Guards are Making Waves Across the Blogosphere
The most recent release by the elusive Guards is making waves across the blogosphere.
New York City’s Guards are a testament to the random power and speed of the Internet in the music industry today. In the past few months they have begun to pop up everywhere, though the band has never released a full length album, doesn’t have a MySpace page, or even an official website.
“I’ve actually felt like its been a slow process, but that’s all relative to what you think success is,” said Richie James Follin, lead singer and frontman of the band. Just last week Guards released their self-titled EP, and have been receiving huge praise for it on blogs across the web.
“I think that’s just the way things are now with the Internet – one day somebody decides to write about you, and then everybody wants to write about you; what seems like overnight success was really years of playing shows with that same band,” said Follin.
In fact, much of Guards’ recent success can be attributed to Follin’s younger sister Madeline, of the similarly Internet-famous indie-pop band Cults, of which Follin also contributes his guitar to. Through the use of social media sites like twitter, Madeline and friends promoted her brother’s music and set the whole thing off.
http://killerbabytomatoes.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/guardsrichiefollin2.jpg
“The songs I wrote were initially for Cults, but I ended up singing on them,” explained Follin. “I sent the songs to Madeline and she tweeted about them. That’s really kind of how we became a band.”
Though Follin’s latest project is fresh off the press, he and his newly formed bandmates are certainly not new to the scene. Guards EP features friends and family, including Caroline Polachek of Chairlift, James Richardson of MGMT, Loren Shane Humphrey of Willowz and his sister Madeline of Cults, who together make up the band.
Guards’ lo-fi sound features strong but simple pop melodies and lyrical sing-a-long vocal tracks. Paired with washy guitar lines and a simplistic rhythm section, their sound is reminiscent of the rise of ‘60s inspired indie-pop with a new wave edge.
Follin’s emphasized use of the omnichord throughout the album and dual male/female vocal harmonies (strongly noted on “Trophy Queen” and “Sail it Slow”) give the sound a hauntingly melancholic feel to it.
Though a few labels and genre names have been tossed around in an attempt to brand their sound, Follin has created something of his own:
“Gloom-Doom!” he said. “It’s kind of happy, but evil at the same time.”
http://killerbabytomatoes.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/guardsep.jpg
Album art from Guards’ self-titled EP
Though Guards’ sound is new and exciting, what is equally impressive is their willingness to give away music at no cost. The band’s entire album is posted free to download off their Bandcamp page.
“We just really wanted people to hear the music, and that’s just the best way to do it,” said Follin. “I really have to like something if I’m going to buy it, and I usually have to listen to something a bunch before I end up liking it. I felt similarly about these songs – if people heard them enough and it got out there it would be a good thing, regardless of whether we were going to make a small amount of money and have fewer people hear it.”
“People are just going to steal music anyways,” said Follin, laughing. “You might as well just give it away to them. I would rather people have the music, like it, and hopefully that will lead to something.”
Guards play Il Motore (179 rue Jean-Talon Ouest) Sunday June 18th with Cults and Writer. Tickets are $15, doors at 8pm.
