Tango In The Attic is yet another band from overseas to take over America. Hailing from Scotland, Tango in the Attic adds a nice vibe to the modern-day indie scene. Sounding like Vampire Weekend and Animal Collective, Tango In The Attic introduces us to a very unique sound. They have a lot of interesting percussion and electronic sounds going on giving it a trippy feel to it like Animal Collective, but, the heavy bass and poppy sound, sound like Vampire Weekend.
This is clearly seen in the first song on their newest EP. Sellotape was the name of their previous album and was arguably their most popular song. They put it on this EP, and it’s a great start. There is always so much going on in this song. There is a great synthesizer part, a groovy bass line, and eclectic percussion mixed with the synthesizer gave it a sound that brought me to outer space.
“Easybones” is the next song and it rocks. With the synthesizer doing its thing in the background, it’s a heavy drum and guitar rock song that turns into a very indie chorus with high-pitched, beautiful guitar riffs. This is definitely a song that you vibe and space out to. “Pillowcase” starts off with an island-sounding guitar riff playing over echoed vocals. Even though this song rocks, it definitely has that lay back and relax vibe to it. The percussion in this song mixes so well with the guitar for a wonderful sound that makes me want to go to the beach on the next sunny day, not like that’s going to happen any time soon, unfortunately.
The last song “Crush” is a seven-minute long extravaganza. Starting off with the synthesizer making spaced-out noises it meshes right into a light drum marching beat of sorts. In then comes the vocals and guitar for a spacey indie sound. A few minutes in the song gets very drum-heavy with hard pounding drums overpowering the vocals and guitar and percussion. After a minute or so of that heavy drumming, it fades right back into fading, echoed vocals over the trippy synthesizer. This goes on for a while and the song eventually fades out on beautiful noises from the synthesizer and the guitar.
I listen to a lot of music but its rare to find a band like this. One that makes you want to sing along but one that also makes you wanna kick back and go for a trip to outer space.
These bands from overseas have always introduced different sounds to us Americans, and here is Tango in the Attic coming to America with a sound that is a collaboration of Vampire Weekend’s happy, upbeat sound and Animal Collective’s synthesizer-heavy, trippy sound, making music that takes me away. If you like new sounding music that is well orchestrated with great musicianship and fun, happy sounds, listen to this Scottish band called Tango In The Attic.
Eat Sleep Breathe Music caught up with Tango In The Attic to talk about how they came together, their favorite things about CMJ, and their touring plans in the future.
ESBM: How did you all come together?
TITA:We all grew up together. We’ve been working on projects in different forms since we were 13 or 14. We started Tango in the Attic whilst at university in Edinburgh.
ESBM: What influences your music?
TITA: We’re influenced by other people’s music. When we wrote Sellotape, for example, we were all on a diet of Pavement, Oasis and the Beach Boys. Things like new instruments or recording processes have an effect as well.
ESBM: You recently played CMJ in NYC this past October, what was your favorite thing about the festival?
TITA: Jordan lives in New York now at the moment so we all hung with him for a few days which was fun. There was a lot of interesting stuff going on…though traveling from venue to venue was problematic because it’s so spread out.
ESBM: Do you have plans to tour the US?
TITA: Not at the moment, though that might change soon. There’s low cost flights from the U.K. to the U.S. starting next Summer…which will allow us to travel a lot more often.
ESBM: How do your fans in Scotland compare with US audiences?
TITA: Scottish audiences drink more, are rowdier and listen a lot less to the music. American crowds can seem a bit stand-off at times but you can sense there’s more appreciation of what you’re doing.
ESBM: You started the clothing line Crushed Up, how did that come about?
TITA: The clothing line was launched along with our new creative collective Domicile Crocodile (www.domicilecrocodile.com). They were designed by the collective’s photographer and video maker Fraser Stephen. He also did the artwork for the Crushed Up E.P. You can buy the Vinyl and clothes at domicilecrocodile.bandcamp.com
ESBM: Any last words?
TITA: Mike Geist.
For more information on Tango In The Attic check out their official website and Facebook page.