Music

Incredible Drive

Talbot Tagora's Spontaneous Post-Punk Combustion

by Dave Segal

Andrew Waits

TALBOT TAGORA

Seattle trio Talbot Tagora named themselves after a defunct European car that commercially tanked in 1981, but one gets the impression that their choice was more about the sound of the words than any pathos that accrues around a failed consumer product. Say "Talbot Tagora" and feel the kinetic energy that surrounds it, the alliteration and hard consonants, and then that sensual trailing off to "ora." The moniker appears at once utilitarian and exotic, much like Talbot Tagora's music.

The group's members—Ani Ricci (drums), Chris Ando (guitar, vocals), and Mark Greshowak (guitar, bass, vocals)—are still in their late teens/early 20s. But their sound—all tense atmospheres, scathing yet tuneful guitars, declamatory vocals, concise durations—harks back to an era before they were born, specifically the post-punk and no-wave movements (including Sonic Youth's earliest phase) that flourished around the time their automotive namesake was floundering.

"We are fans of bands that fit under that timeline," Ando says by e-mail while Talbot Tagora are on tour with Abe Vigoda. "So it probably subliminally bleeds into our songwriting. It's not intentional. We're interested in that era because it seemed that a lot of those bands had political purpose behind their art. A lot of art inspires us, though—atmospheres, too."

Inspirations aside, Talbot Tagora's onstage demeanor is unprepossessing, but their songs flame out of their introverted selves with a flamboyant intensity. The few times that I've seen them live, they've delivered a scrappy racket that seemed simultaneously coiled and chaotic. Their music felt inchoate, but you could sense something special brewing beneath the tentative spatter and din. Ricci seemed to be playing in a different universe than Ando and Greshowak, yet what initially struck one as incongruously intricate beats managed to enhance the guitar (the hectoring voice of brash assertiveness) and the bass (the usually mellifluous voice of reason) parts.

Ricci often keeps very strange time compared to most rock drummers. This adds a crucial friction to the songs and keeps the sound fresh. Most drummers strive to maintain some kind of order, but Ricci's role seems to be to instigate more chaos and confusion, although she refutes that view.

Clearly, Talbot Tagora favor instincts over analysis, and while that makes for vaguely unsatisfying responses in interviews, if the result is the excellent music found on the band's self-produced debut full-length for Hardly Art, Lessons in the Woods or a City, then it's a fair trade-off. The 14 tracks come off as spontaneous combustions of the mind, which are then somehow reined in to tightly wound IEDs. It's a fruitful combo of freedom and finesse that results in perhaps the most exciting Seattle rock album of 2009.

But will it resonate beyond their mainly ­underground-music fan base? Tough to say. Most Talbot Tagora songs don't have traditional choruses, their oblique lyrics elude easy comprehension, their guitar tunings are unconventional, and their sound lacks the sort of clarity that lures mainstream ears. That being said, a tension exists in their music between catchy melodies—especially in "Perception Stick," "Ichthus Hop," and "Mixed Signals Through Miles of Pilgrimage"—and abrasive textures and tricky rhythms. The struggle to hear these sweet tunes only serves to enhance them. All of these elements form a conscious strategy to shrug off typical rock-song structures... sort of.

"We're not really trying to rebel or anything," Ando offers. "We kind of broke away from the 'typical' rock barriers before we even started this band—but at the same time we didn't... a lot of our music has typical rock-band structure.

"The mainstream way of music/art/whatever is starting to disappear though the internet... the new radio," he continues. "It's sort of like an ocean (instead of a mainstream). A lot of the kids who are being born in this age probably won't have the same perspective on 'mainstream' or pop music that we or you had growing up only being able to listen to what was on the radio and not being able to buy 'Parental Advisory' stickered CDs/cassette tapes.

"As for the tension in our music, it might be caused from the way we work off of each other. So in a way, that's both intentional and unintentional because we have a conscious choice of what notes or patterns to play but don't have a choice of what the other member wants to play."

While Ando says the current tour has been going well—despite their van breaking down on the first day and having their stereo stolen from it—Talbot Tagora will go on hiatus later this year. Greshowak and Ando plan to live for a while in L.A. and New Mexico, respectively.

"We'll all continue to make art/music/things in other forms," Ando reassures. "We don't plan on breaking up or anything; we'll be playing shows when we're in town and all. Those are our current plans, but who knows what will pop up?"

Buy Tickets for Other Events