Side projects are often a two way street; they can give under-appreciated band members the opportunity to showcase their own work without the backing of the rest of the group (think Robert Plant‘s collaborations with Alison Krauss) but they often end up being unjustly compared to the more famous work of the band or ridiculed for sounding too similar (think The Strokes‘ Albert Hammond’s solo albums). Today with the ease of recording and releasing music, the side project has taken on a different meaning altogether. Artists like Deerhunter‘s Bradford Cox maintain successful and critically acclaimed side projects like Atlas Sounds (or solo work depending on how you look at it) while still touring and recording with their primary group.
The Kansas City/Lawrence area is no stranger to the side project phenomena both good and bad, what with the likes of several mediocre break off Get Up Kids‘ acts (now behind us with their recent reunion), Frogpond front-woman Kristie Strummel‘s enduring solo career and Chris Crisci of The Appleseed Cast‘s own folky solo work as The Old Canes. Add to that list Saharan Gazelle Boy which began without much fanfare as a solo venture from Capybara‘s Darin Seal but on their second release the EP “Strange Teen Heart,” is now listed as a collaboration between Seal and Sea Change‘s Sarah Handelman.
Released at the end of last year on the local Record Machine label in conjunction with San Francisco’s Paper Brigade label, the EP has been one of my favorite listens over the past six months.
For those unaware of Capybara, the KC-by-way-of-Liberty foursome are somewhere along the lines of early Animal Collective with better songwriting chops and a dash of pop. The group recently went through a prolonged hiatus, but has returned and is planning a new release (hopefully) later this year at last check. Where does that leave Saharan Gazelle Boy? Well, file Darin Seal under the Bradford Cox category of side project as he is planning his own separate release of a new SGB recording this year as well. Seal’s live performances as SGB are few and far between but I was lucky enough to catch one at the Record Bar during the Middle of the Map Fest. The backing band consisted of members of Capybara and several other local musicians I didn’t recognize.
The EP itself is everything you’d want in a synth-pop project. It’s earnest and honest without any trace of a tongue-in-cheek approach. The four songs clock in at just under 16 minutes and have the sort of breezy, unaffected and unfettered sound and production that other acts like M83 would do well to learn from. This isn’t a nostalgia record so much as it is a work influenced by the better acts of the 80s (New Order) and the themes of teenage angst and confusion (hello John Hughes).
The first track “In A Haunted Way,” begins with a dissonant synth drone before a wave of melody and a pop beat washes over everything. Handelman and Seal trade off vocal duties in a call-and-response fashion before uniting in a dual chorus, singing “Well you gotta have your friends.” The vocal melodies are all awash in reverb as the layers of synths move in and out of one another. Up next is “Halfhair Girl” continuing the tortured themes of teendom as Seal takes center stage and croons his ode to a girl with what sounds like a strange haircut. In the mix this time is some heavily processed guitar that holds down the verses while Seal utters some lines of encouragement to the title “girl” like “If your boss asks you to change/Don’t change a thing/Don’t cut your hair.”
The title track begins with some plaintive and distant piano chords before a pulsating bass beat and another beautiful synth melody take over and Seal tells us about a girl who doesn’t smile enough and has a “strange teen heart.” Whether or not any of these characters are Molly Ringwald is left up for debate, but one has the feeling that this member of Capybara would never stoop to such referential material when his lyrics sound so sincere and somehow simultaneously removed and slightly haunted when delivered. By the time the shimmering processed cymbals and tambourines take over after the chorus, any doubt of Darin Seal’s ability to connect with the listener quickly fade away. Opening with a drum sound that seems torn from INXS is the final track “Amy Needs A Vacation” which returns to the format of the first track having both members share singing duties. Pepper in some ringing guitar chords along with a whistling synth and you may be transported back to 1985 when the Royals still claimed supremacy in the I-70 Series. Those are great thoughts to revel in while watching “Sixteen Candles” again on Lifetime and eating cans of frosting, but for many of us the nostalgia has only been created and passed down through cable television. The sound and feelings, however, remain our own.
http://therecordmachine.net/blog/2010/09/14/new-music-from-saharan-gazelle-boy/
Sean Malone
I'm the other guy that got your mother high.
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Album Review: Capybara “Dave Drusky” (3 months ago)
[...] synth work, reminding those in the know of his equally impressive 80s themed side project Saharan Gazelle Boy. In fact, there are more compelling synth, organ and piano melodies on these two songs than there [...]