"when I forget, I make up...."
Taken from the duo's recently release LP "Fate Is A Big Tiger" it in uniquely different and (to me) feels kind of bipolar but in a really good way (bipolar pop rock... naw). I am digging their divergent sound and all the exquisite musical explosions.
“We started the album writing process as we were phasing out of a dirt rat lifestyle. Everything around us was changing personally and socially, and the album has this chaotic consistency to it that probably stemmed from all that. It was the only outlet we really had at the time, and it feels and sounds like we stuffed 3 years into 30 minutes,” shares Dave Stine.
-Robb Donker Curtius
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Many of us approach adulthood kicking and screaming, but responsibilities, and the reality of aging, is beyond our control. Marriage, mounting bills, careers, and having kids slowly usher us through to the other side. However, Seattle-based indie duo Weeknites isn’t going out to the 30-something pasture without a big bang. The band’s debut album, Fate Is A Big Tiger, is an escape hatch to a majestic music wonderland that melds synth-washed dream pop with post-punk emo and instantly memorable melodies.
“We started the album writing process as we were phasing out of a dirt rat lifestyle. Everything around us was changing personally and socially, and the album has this chaotic consistency to it that probably stemmed from all that. It was the only outlet we really had at the time, and it feels and sounds like we stuffed 3 years into 30 minutes,” shares Dave Stine.
Weeknites formed in 2015 as an indie quartet playing the standard local show circuit, and issuing a pair of EPs before essentializing into its current duo incarnation. Members Davis Helgen and Dave Stine share a vision and tireless dedication to their music, and the pair soon found together they could be self-reliant in terms of writing and realizing their artistic aspirations. Dave is a self-taught musician and producer who is drawn to texture and adventurous guitar sounds. Davis is a focused songwriter, and big picture guy with a gift for melodic constructs.
Davis and Dave dreamed up Fate Is A Big Tiger while working the same job. “All day we would talk about the album we wanted to make. Something that combined mid-2000’s indie rock, Swedish pop, and emo. We set a bunch of arbitrary rules to follow that fit what we pictured as a ‘perfect album,’” Davis recalls. “We wanted to lean into what we felt makes a record more than a playlist of 10 songs—we wanted to make an album; something big and complex. We aspired to create the type of music we felt we were missing which was something we would have read about on a blog in 2007,” affirms Dave.
Conceptually, Fate Is A Big Tiger grapples with unwieldy post-20s internal and external turmoil, including expanding waistlines, fading friendships, and the cursed blessing of finally finding true love. The album-oriented release opens epically with the title track, a dreamy dose of emo indie pop. The lyrics here acknowledge the inevitable tedium of adulthood with biting lyrical flair. The jaunty new wave pop of “Outdoors USA” details the woes of manic late-night eating. “Sour Berries” is both airy and anthemic, balancing sublime atmospherics against visceral drumming. The guys embrace their inner Laurel Canyon folkie side on “Miserable Now” with glistening acoustic passages, and stately strings. Here, there is an intriguing rub between the gentle flow of the vocal melodies and the acerbic wit and Morrisey references in the song’s lyrics. One choice passage features the lines: You scream and curse your parents and you tell them that you’re miserable now/When every song that you sing sounds like /Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now/Must really want them to be miserable now.
The album’s 10 songs captivate with lush soundscapes that feature chiming guitars, atmospheric keyboards, stately strings, and dense, ear candy counter melodies. Fate Is A Big Tiger’s ornateness belies its DIY homespun production. The record is self-produced, pieced together collage style, and was recorded in various apartments, closets, and garages, among other improvisatory workspaces. It has the distinction of getting the seal of approval from Chris Walla — formerly of Death Cab for Cutie — who mixed it from his home base in Norway. The album fits nicely alongside classics by Jimmy Eat World, Yellow Magic Orchestra, The Anniversary, and The Radio Dept.
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