Top 10 CDs of 2012

10. The Renfields: All the Stuff and GORE

Not only do fans of Team Transylvania’s horror movie-inspired pogo-punk stylings get pretty much every song recorded in this two-disc box set spectacular, there’s enough unreleased material to get this in the top 10.

Songs like “Renfields Go!” “Transylvania Fight Song,” “Ramones Zombie Massacre,” and “Porkchop” will be new favorites. If you’ve lost a copy of The Night THEY Came Home, Bastard Sons of Ed Wood, or the Stalk and Slash Splatterama series, that’s all here.

So, if you’re looking for that special something for that hard-to-buy-for Renfields fan this holiday season, All the Stuff and GORE makes the perfect stocking stuffer. The Renfields may be number ten on this list, but they’re number one in our heart.






9. Sly Roosevelt: Animal Tracks

If you fell asleep eating animal crackers watching Matt Taibbi on Bill Moyers, half reading a book on Teddy Roosevelt, and dreamt of a high energy post punk concept record, Animal Tracks may be that record.

The full-length debut from this Huntington-based indie rock outfit may not be some linear journey concept record, but the songs, (e.g. “Lion,” “Wolf,”) lyrics and CD art (awesomely done by Jarrod Schneider) all tie Animal Tracks into a really good record with a vision.









8. GoodWolf: Shitty Kids

Sleepwalker singer-guitarist Tyler Grady steps out to record more stuff on this largely solo, mostly melancholy, eight-song post-grunge release.

“Last Year” was the feel good, slacker hit of the summer. “Bikini Girl” and the highly charged, intensely personal middle finger to an ex, “Letter,” stand out. Not sure who the kids are, but whatever the motivation it’s promising to see Grady operating as GoodWolf.

Goodwolf – Last Year from Geoff Hoskinson on Vimeo.

7. John Lancaster: Crash Test in Progress

Following up on 2010’s Phantom Moon, Lancaster continues charting new sonic territory, this time with his live band. “Saigon Moment” channels Lancaster’s inner Dave Grohl. His soulful vocals on the bluesy parts of “Like Castles” actually sound like Huntington’s own Bud Carroll, the song standing out among his solo material for taking this kind of direction.

Most of the material, though, like “The Riot Act,” and “Catacomb Satellite” tie back into or at least jump off from what’s heard on the solo debut, making the six songs found on Crash Test In Progress feel like some sort of expansion pack for the CD. Great material, even for a seasoned, polished hard rock work in progress.






6. Bud Carroll: At Least I Can Still Smoke In My Car

While you’d be right to imagine the guitar hero and multi-instrumental talent Carroll could knock out a few crunchy grooves in his Trackside Studios in a few hours, this release finds him standing astride his bluesy Southern Souls days (“I’m No Stranger”) now into AC30, still singing soulful songs about his nowhere towns and lost loves.

Standout songs include “There Someday,” “I Just Wanted You To Know,” and “We’ll Be Together Again.” Carroll released this (not surprisingly) stellar 12-song effort in January, and it’s stood out since.







5. Bishops (self-titled)

Would you believe that if Demon Beat bassist Tucker Riggleman recruited cohort Adam Meisterhans to shred in his nascent garage rock band with Paul Cogle (Nagato/Vox Populi) that the result would be killer?

Riggleman’s own singing and songwriting efforts pre-date his involvement in The Demon Beat and Prison Book Club, and hearing songs like the opener, “My Own Way,” “Happy,” and “Shit Happens” will likely excite fans of both groups.

How many Demon Beat side projects can there be? Never enough! Talented dudes, each, and it’s Riggleman’s chance to stand out here.








4. Spirit Night: One Man Houses

Shepherdstown native Dylan Balliett releases a killer, amped-up sophomore full-length and promptly gets dropped off in NYC by The Demon Beat dudes and sets up residence. Maybe he moved up there, then released it right after. Whatever.

Following up on 2010’s What We Will Be and the Normal EP, Balliett, again joined by drummer Pete Wilmoth (FOX Japan) and Ryan Hizer (Librarians/Good Sport) on bass mostly shed their dreamy lo-fi atmospherics for something approaching high energy 80’s post punk on this nine-song effort.

“Goodbye Jones” and “Summer Clothes” are standout tracks, but it’s Balliett’s version of “Rubberneck” that might take WVRockscene best song of 2012, if there were such an ill-conceived thing. Hopefully there’s more Spirit Night to come out of NYC in 2013.

3. The Tom McGees: This Just In

You’ll be fallin’ out, spinning and kicking, and raising your fists to the high-energy, hilarious, totally NSFW ska stylings of this Charleston-based eight-piece “punk party” band.

You’ll come for the driving punk rock, the alternately blaring and swooning horn section, and machine gun snare rolls. You’ll stay for the endearing, jilted love songs Mike Withrow and Adam Dittebrand are singing. Never has cussing out your ex-girlfriend, or, then, telling her you really love her, seemed so fun. Hear “The Choice” and “Half That Bad” for that. Just a killer nine-song debut from these characters.






2. Juna: Sing

Like the mountains that surround us, John Morgan’s Appalachian folk symphony manifested as Juna seems at once imposing, maybe these days, cold, but unfolds itself to reveal a warm, stunning, sonic beauty.

That he’s able to create and record the richly arranged songs like “Even” and “Banner” all by himself, makes this 10-song effort all the more impressive.

Fans may expect this kind of sound as Morgan follows up on last year’s release, Hunt. It’s so much more, though, as Morgan provides a snapshot into his own life, the forces that pull, and the ties that bind him, and some of us, here in West Virginia.







1. The Demon Beat: Less Is Less

Like the cover itself, with Adam Meisterhans, Tucker Riggleman and Jordan Hudkins blended together to form one super-rocker, everything just seems to come together on this, the fourth full-length studio effort from these Shepherdstown-based dudes. Ironically, maybe, given the title of the record, fans of the band could be said to receive more than they expected, even out of these guys.

The amalgamated rocker on the cover sports a flannel maybe as a nod to the fat, fuzzy, feedback-flecked grunge, almost stoner rock sound found on songs like “Bummer Machine,” “Fingers,” and “Bored Forever.” “Teenage Wasteland” and “Wunderwal” rock hard. “Song 2 Part 2” and “I Melted” are more melodic, some might say pretty, rock songs.

Space jams “Off The Wall” and “The Wall” close out the record impressively and more experimentally, as these guys are wont to do. Like the diamonds they sometimes adorn their album art with or get tattooed on their arms, the material on Less Is Less, instead of some huge departure from their previous material, just shines a little differently, reflecting a slightly different angle.

NOW they're talking: Good Sport Q&A

Photo: Pat Manzi

Five old friends (L-R: Aaron Crothers, Anthony Fabbricatore, Ryan Hizer, Pete Wilmoth, Dave Klug) bring a new band to 123 Pleasant Street Friday, as Ryan Hizer (Librarians, Big Ass Manatee) takes his (until now) electronic project Good Sport out live...


One of the more exciting developments from 2011 as it relates to covering the “WVRockscene” as it were actually came out of Pittsburgh -- you could say, via Morgantown. Operating as Good Sport, Ryan Hizer released the electro-pop EP And Now We Are Talking.

Fans of his previous bands got excited. But shows failed to materialize though, out of what was essentially a solo effort.

Now, after recruiting longtime friends and Magic Town scene vets Aaron Crothers, Pete Wilmoth, Anthony Fabbricatore and Dave Klug, Hizer and co. have been rehearsing in anticipation of bringing Good Sport to Morgantown Friday for a show with Sleepwalker and The Demon Beat. Since we really liked the EP, and were on speaking terms with a few of these dudes, we thought we’d catch up and simultaneously learn more whilst raising awareness about the music these guys are making...


WVRockscene: How have the full band practices gone? Where have you been rehearsing at? You guys all live in Pittsburgh right?

Ryan Hizer: They’ve gone pretty well. The first one was in the attic of Aaron’s old house, but we didn’t like lugging all our stuff upstairs, so now we’re practicing in a storage facility in Pittsburgh. Everyone lives in Pittsburgh.

Dave Klug: The band practices have been great. The bummer/weird thing is that I had a stroke in May when we were rehearsing for our first show. Obviously we had to cancel. I’m totally back to normal now but it was a strange experience for sure. I have some memory loss of about two months before the stroke. I forget recording the Goodwolf record completely...

Pete Wilmoth: You could draw a cobweb and that would diagram how we met each other and what other bands we’ve played in pretty well -- a common experience in Morgantown, where guys are constantly shuffling the deck and starting up new projects. Aaron has been in Pittsburgh for a while, Dave a bit longer, and the rest of us have been part of a small pilgrimage north to Pittsburgh.

It’s kind of strange; my “new job” is not so new and I’ll be voting as a Pennsylvanian for the first time in a matter of weeks, but I mostly run with the same crew as before. I feel really lucky.

-----
rockscene: For people who may have been casually familiar with Librarians, catch people up with what’s been going on with you since Present Passed -- how long have you been in Pittsburgh? You move there for work?

Hizer: I’ve been here for a little over a year now. I mostly just wanted a change of scenery after doing the same thing in Morgantown for several years, but I didn’t want to go too far from my family, so I just went an hour north.

-----
rockscene: How long have you known these guys and how did the idea of a full-band version of Good Sport get floated?

Hizer: I’ve known Dave for about nine years, I joined his old band (The Minus Tide) with when I was 19. I met Aaron the same year when Librarians opened for The Emergency at one of our first shows, but we didn’t hang out much until a year or two after that. We were in Big Ass Manatee together.

I can’t remember exactly when I met Anthony. Our bands played together when I was 19 or 20, but I don't think we spoke. He was very involved in Morgantown -- he threw great house shows, was a U92 DJ, organized some comps that I was on, and we had a lot of mutual friends, so he and I became friends too. We were both in Nirvana 2 and David Bello and His God Given Right.

Pete came to Morgantown around 2007, I believe. I met him through Andrew Slater, who was in It’s Birds at the time and also played with the Wilmoth brothers in FOX Japan. Pete and I later played together with Dylan Balliett in Spirit Night. I asked these guys if they wanted to help me figure out how to do Good Sport live last December.

Anthony Fabbricatore: Ryan covered it -- I met nearly everyone that matters to me when I was doing basement shows and DJing in Morgantown. As for band-specific stuff, I did Nirvana 2 with Ryan and eighty other dudes for about a summer and a half, and Pete and I were in the original lineup of Russian Tombstones with Dylan, which feels like ancient history at this point.

I guess I volunteered for Good Sport by default back when Ryan was finishing “Pushover” last summer. Ryan and I were driving around listening to some early unmixed versions of the track, and he asked if I had any ideas to fill out the bridge. Well, for over a year, I’d been obsessed with this chopped and screwed remix of a Bun B track, and it wrapped up with this guitar lead that sort of transformed the remix from this ominous trunk/trap beat into just this heavy fucking monumental song.

So anyway I wanted to emulate the same sort of soaring, phased out Peter Gabriel shit, which I believe ended up becoming more of a cornerstone of the project and the band that followed than either of us expected.

Klug: I’ve known Ryan the longest from back when he was in The Minus Tide. I’m pretty sure he was introduced to us through Mikey Iafrate. I’ve been helping Ryan with his projects in any way that I can. I think Ryan is a great musician and songwriter. I really respect his opinions. I know everyone else from playing in great bands in Morgantown.

-----
rockscene: You guys appear to be good friends how long have you guys known each other? How good of friends are you guys, whether it’s making music or going to a baseball game?

Hizer: We’re all really good friends who would probably hang out more often if we had the time. I live with Pete and Anthony, so I see them every day.

Wilmoth: Ryan, Anthony, and I are well into our second lease together, and none of us has ever left a passive-aggressive note on the kitchen counter or anything, so the state of the Good Sport household is strong. That goes for Dave and Aaron, too. The five of us are busy enough that it feels like anytime we’re all free, we try to practice. We honestly don’t get as many opportunities to just hang out together as I would like.

-----
rockscene: What was the response to the EP, from either friends or various press type outlets?

Fabbricatore: This EP was the first “release” from our now-sort-of-on-hiatus digital label Garbage Days. I had a very vague idea of how to promote an album, based on my time as one of the directors of a college radio station and also just being like a sensible person who doesn’t believe in forcing shit in people’s faces.


We didn’t have anything physical to send to people, so with some help from Ryan and others, we just personally emailed a hundred or so major bloggers with a Mediafire link, a PNG of the album cover and the Bandcamp page and crossed our fingers. And then all of a sudden, there were kids in Sweden putting it on their end-of-the-year lists -- I’d never experienced anything like it.

Klug: It seems like so long ago. I feel like it was mostly positive. Most people seemed excited about Ryan making music post-Librarians. I definitely was.

Hizer: It was really good. More people paid attention to it than I anticipated. Lots of foreign blogs covered it, which was really cool. Anthony was a big help getting it out there. Geoff Hoskinson shot a video for one track, which got a lot of views/shares. My friends had nice things to say about it. It was cool.

-----
rockscene: That video for “Pushover,” how much fun was that to make?

Fabbricatore: Yeah that video was a hilarious mess. It was literally Geoff being like “I wanna film you guys doing a bunch of stuff in excruciatingly slow motion.” I remember a bunch of awkward scenes, moves, sketches, whatever that didn’t make it into the video, like one where I put my head through the collar of Ryan’s shirt; someone taking a bite of David Bello’s fresh pizza tattoo; Adam Meisterhans being pulled away on a skateboard. It was a great time and Geoff’s an incredible filmmaker though, so all of our mid-afternoon fucking around in front of a green screen ends up looking pretty rad.

Good Sport – Pushover from Geoff Hoskinson on Vimeo.

Hizer: I love doing stuff with those guys. The video was a lot of fun because we were winging it. I remember standing in front of a sheet, making some dumb faces, and thinking, “What the hell is this going to be?” But Geoff made it look great.

-----
rockscene: Going back Ryan, pre-Librarians, as a young lad, were there any synth-oriented bands or acts that influenced you to make the kind of music you’d make in Librarians or Good Sport?

Hizer: It’s funny, at work last night someone played the Jock Jams station on Pandora and I realized all that electronic sports warm-up music had an actual influence on me, at least in terms of how beat-driven they are. So there goes a little integrity.

I listened to a ton of hip-hop, which has informed Good Sport to some extent. I remember the first time I realized what a sample was. “Superfreak” came on the radio and I told my mom it sounded like “U Can’t Touch This,” she just laughed at me.

The wishy-washy synth stuff came later. At one point I was really into “Talkie Walkie” and the soundtrack to The Virgin Suicides, both by Air. I was listening to a lot of Silver Apples and Can while recording the Good Sport EP, but I’m not sure anyone could hear that.

Aaron Crothers: “So, There Goes a Little Integrity” should be the title of the next EP.

-----
rockscene: Aaron not only did you play in The Emergency, your collaboration with Hizer goes back to Big Ass Manatee right? What were your thoughts first hearing the Good Sport material, and how cool is it to be back in a band with him and these guys?

Crothers: I got to know Ryan playing Emergency/Librarians shows pretty regularly over a few years. Big Ass Manatee was just too much fun not to join when a spot opened pretty early in their existence. We knew from that our work ethic meshed pretty well, but the need to work together really locked in when we were recording and producing the last Emergency record. I had always been the editor in that band, making changes and arrangements, trying to tweak the songs until they were just right. Ryan became my editor and came up with some really amazing ideas, almost all of which made it on to the album.

When he, Tony, and Pete moved here it was pretty inevitable. And Now We Are Talking was a quality way to start the whole thing up again. Dave and I were already getting together in his studio to basically just play around, Pete managed to squeeze this into his schedule of being in 37 bands. It all just fell into place pretty quickly. You couldn’t ask for a better group of guys to work with.

-----
rockscene: As far as the sound goes, between Librarians and now in Good Sport -- Ryan, you and your friends have definitely crafted a unique sound. Now taking it out live, how special is it to kind of keep Morgantown weird or just have this kind of creative outlet among friends that you don’t see all the time?

Hizer: It’s awesome to have a built-in support system for anything you do. It was really important to me to play our first show in Morgantown with our friends’ bands. Not only because it will be great to see everyone, but because I’m going to be really nervous for our first show. This way, If we suck, we suck in front of our friends, and that’s OK because they’ve seen me suck before.

Crothers: I hear the psychedelic/garage rock quality to the music, but that's what I lean towards in my taste most recently. I’m sure each of us equates it to different influences.

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rockscene: Ryan looking back to the time leading up to getting Easy Candy Stranger out how would you compare the feeling you have about Good Sport as a project versus Librarians’ early days?

Hizer: I’m trying to let Good Sport just be what it’s going to be, rather than obsess over details and intentionally guide it in any specific direction. I don’t have the amount of free time I had back then. If I try to slave over this stuff, I’ll never put anything out. I talked to Trey [Curtis] a couple days ago about how we both felt we were taking ourselves too seriously near the end of Librarians. We were still having fun, but all our songs were downers. I’d like to avoid that if I can.

-----
rockscene: Do you consider what you started as Good Sport folding into a full band permanently? For anyone familiar with the EP is there any more inclination to the weirdness found on Bad Harmonies or toward some more straightforward band type thing?

Fabbricatore: That seems like the plan. With a couple exceptions with the older stuff, all of the current arrangements are based on contributions and ideas from everyone in the band, building off of either the EP tracks or new sketches that Ryan brings to practice. I certainly want to keep at it.

Hizer: We’ll definitely record some full-band stuff when it’s appropriate. It all depends on what serves the songs best. I don’t really know where it’s headed. I’ve learned that I almost never succeed when I sit down and go, “OK, I’m going to write a song that sounds like this.” I just plug away and whatever happens, happens. So we’ll see. I definitely want to get everyone more involved in the recording process.

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rockscene: Is there any plan to record a Good Sport full-length? More shows?

Hizer: We’ll definitely play more shows. We’ll probably put out a single next. I’m trying to decide if I want to dive into the stress-fest of recording a full-length. A few more EPs might be more manageable.

Fabbricatore: At this rate we’re on pace to finish a whole record by 2018.

-----
rockscene: You guys are ringers and veterans of bands but how much are you looking forward to this show at 123 Friday?

Hizer: I hadn’t been thinking much about it, but now that we’re within a week, I’m extremely excited. More than anything, I’m just looking forward to hanging out with people at a show.

Klug: I’m really looking forward to it. The last time I played out was over a year ago with M Iafrate and the Priesthood. That group is taking a break at the moment for personal reasons. This should technically be our second show. It’s not too soon for stroke jokes.

Wilmoth: We’d definitely like to get a foothold in Pittsburgh and start playing shows there with some regularity. After all, we’re a Pittsburgh band. It’s just a tougher nut to crack, because there’s not one obvious place where all the bands play. In Morgantown, 123 is the no-brainer choice, and that applies tenfold for our first show together. Even though I probably know fewer people there every time I return, that place genuinely feels like home. I’m excited that we’ll be bringing something new to 123 on Friday.

Crothers: I’m just really excited to play my first home game in ages.

Fabbricatore: I realized today that I haven’t played a show in nearly two years. It’s just weird because I’ve been active in bands for over a decade now, and during that whole time I was booking/playing/DJing a show at least once every three or four months. It’s just a part of moving to a new place and leaving a part of your life behind, but there’s no venue I’d rather return to for this show.






--- Good Sport plays 123 Pleasant Street Friday with Sleepwalker and The Demon Beat, who are releasing their new record “Less Is Less” at the show...

CD Review: "One Man Houses"

CD: One Man Houses
ARTIST: Spirit Night

Dylan Balliett never ceases to surprise and impress the highly esteemed/regarded editorial staff here at WVRockscene. Ever since we were introduced to Spirit Night quite literally out of the blue back in 2010, finding out about What We Will Be pretty much with everyone else, we fell in love with the songs and sound Balliett quite literally brought out of his bedroom with friend Pete Wilmoth.

From his bedroom, now relocated to Brooklyn, Balliett -- via Shepherdstown, Morgantown and Pittsburgh -- brings his buddies Wilmoth, Ryan Hizer, and Dave Bello back for One Man Houses, the third proper Spirit Night release and follow-up to last year’s Normal EP. But if you expect any of the dreamy, echo-soaked acoustic-based stuff found on the aforementioned records, yes, there’s that (“Everywhere I’ve Gone” is a good example) but dear readers, you are in for quite the surprise.

You may find yourself cussing with excitement when you first hear the plug-in-and-go punk rock and indie sound of “Goodbye Jones,” “Kerouac,” and “Grasshoppers,” (which we made the mistake of listening to preemptively, spoiling the surprise of the new sound) complete with fuzzy bass (via Hizer) and crashing hard rock cymbals. Something like ‘Daaaamn, this is Spirit Night?!’



There’s also a jangly 80’s college radio rock tone and edge on some of the songs, like “Summer Clothes,” like this could fit into that era and sound, maybe pre-Green R.E.M. or something, fronted by someone who sounds like Elvis Costello?

More great backing vocals and harmonies back up Balliett’s alternately sullen or gutteral, shrieking vocals. One of the great things about Balliett’s material is really the visceral, raw emotion laid out in the lyrics. Themes, like those found on previous Spirit Night tunes, include lost or misplaced friendship(s), moving/leaving (all the more appropriate since Balliett really has moved), growing up, and, yes, jerking off instead of falling in love. But the early childhood trauma and murderous rage explored and described on the six-minute long “The Last Time” is really something that we’ll leave up to the listener to discern.

And let’s not call this stuff lo-fi anymore. The subtle childish laughter and wind on “The Last Time,” adds ambience, and random (panned?) percussion found and added to maybe the most awesome song we’ve heard in a long time, “Rubberneck,” (written by Balliett friend and longtime cohort Dave Bello) is a real treat for the listener. Sure, Balliett writes cool songs with great lyrics, but it’s those little things that make the songs cool. And don’t let us not say something else about “Rubberneck,” if anyone cares: this is a completely badass, hit song if ever there was one, as Balliett boldly belts out the chorus:

“You can read my numbers
If you deal me out
A fresh deck.
Spell out my accident
If you stare me down
And rubberneck.”

This is the standout track on the record. It is indeed way more killer than it appears just reading it as text.

So, if you were mad that Normal was just an EP and not a full-length, One Man Houses, even though barely half an hour in length, with nine songs, more than makes up for it. Thumbs up here to Dave Klug for mixing and mastering duties, and to Balliett and friends for pulling this off. If you thought you had it kind of figured out what Spirit Night will be, you may have thought wrong.




Related: Wanna bone up on past mediocre WVRockscene posts on Spirit Night? Start yer boning with part one of our Q&A w/Balliett from July 2010...

Balliett/Bello split out on Garbage Days

Two WVRockscene favorites, Dylan Balliett and David F. Bello, recently teamed up for a split release on Garbage Days. You may have read all about Balliett's Spirit Night and Bello's rockin' here on this blog, be it in Sleepwalker or his solo efforts, and you may have heard about Garbage Days, mentioned in our recent chat with Charlie Wilmoth of FOX Japan, but not altogether in one big run-on sentence right?

Do check it out though. Balliett (now in NYC we believe) submitted the dreamy "25" and Bello contributed the Pixies-meets-Radiohead jam "Monster," killer stuff indeed. Thumbs up to Garbage Days for getting all this music out and thumbs down to WVRockscene for not covering it.

Wait, we are!

CD Review: "Normal"

CD: Normal
ARTIST: Spirit Night

Thank goodness Dylan Balliett didn’t ruin Spirit Night’s new five-song EP Normal by leaking or previewing any of the songs online. At least not that I saw. While there are only five songs on this new EP, I liked/loved What We Will Be enough to want to hear it in its entirety all at once on the first listen.

I don’t want this review to be taken as offense to any of the other bands whose CDs I may have tried to review, or be a referendum on the state of rock and roll, the music industry or people’s slavish attraction to the phenomenon of social media.

No, this review is about this music and what it means to me.

Why does anybody do what they do? Why do people write songs? Why do people run blogs covering people who do? Much less interview them trying to ask profound questions or feel them out as individuals like they necessarily have anything meaningful to say.

“Hey, you’re a rocker so what do you think about poverty or politics? You wrote a song about something so you must have some deep insight I don’t, because I didn’t write a song!”

There are a lot of mean jealous angry people who become “critics” as a vent or outlet for their own shortcomings, faults and failures. I’ve always tried to approach musicians with respect because writing and playing a good song isn’t easy or everyone would do it. Even people who wouldn’t be considered traditional “artists” in the musical sense, and who may invite much scorn and derision from more “mature” “critics,” if you will.

CD reviews describe the music, the sounds, arrangements, lyrics, vocals, singing atmosphere and production. But do you feel anything like an actual emotion? Balliett’s painfully honest, deeply insightful poetic lyrics are one, big, raw emotion. Whether you say the words are depressing or just have an up-off-the-floor hopeful charm, the words and the beautifully arranged songs resonate with me.

To the songs: Normal picks up pretty much where What We Will Be left off, musically and emotionally. As mentioned at the top of this “review” it would’ve sucked if for whatever reason it didn’t stack up to the debut because I liked it so much. Balliett didn’t need to change anything from the version of atmospheric indie-melodramatic-post rock on What We Will Be.

The title track opens the EP with the familiar acoustic-based ambience, emotive vocals, rich instrumental arrangements found on the debut. But fans will instantly notice bass (largely absent on the debut?) sporadic 8-bit distortion, and neat, almost schizophrenic layering of lo-fi vocals. A great sound for headphones, with enough subtle synth or sprinkled on distortion to give the songs the same effect dew on morning grass does -- it makes them glisten, gives them their own sonic translucence. Is that the right word?

Normal people, like the musicians they may or may not idolize, are these days able to present a postcard bumper sticker-type snap shot of their lives to other people online, whether it’s real or not. Sometimes people get sad or have bad days, and a lot of what you might see in the mostly shallow “friend” culture of something like Facebook isn’t a representative sample of people’s lives, thoughts and/or feelings; rarely as witty or as acerbic describing your own shortcomings as some are in quite passive-aggressively condemning people they’ll never meet.

Intentionally or not, Balliett touches on humanity’s seeming slavery to an online superego, when he sings on Normal:

“And I can’t wait
To e-mail you someday
And say that I miss you.
And I can’t wait
To e-mail you someday
And say that I’m normal.”

Balliett has moved from peeing in Gatorade bottles to the sink -- and he’s done it “like a champ.”

Balliett, like many others with an inkling of an artistic soul, takes his pain, loneliness, feelings of doubt or inadequacy -- something bad, right? -- and turns it into something beautiful and with a quite real feeling to it. Everybody feels lonely or sad sometimes, but few show it to others or open up about it.

Lyrically and at its acoustic core, Balliett’s songs sound like they’re written in isolation at 3 a.m. after a night with or without friends, or on a solo drive home the morning after -- whatever. It’s these times alone that Balliett is able to turn his own thoughts and emotions into something great. Most of the songs seem like love letters as opposed to cobbled together crack speak with catchy rhymes or neat turns of phrases.

“2:24” instantly features what is a huge asset to Spirit Night’s sound: a huge assortment of bells and percussion provided by Pete Wilmoth and on this song, Balliett’s use of the glockenspiel. With piano, bass and rolling heavy tom type rolls, and the bells, the song has the charm of a jewelry box that plays a tune with a dancing ballerina or something.

The great thing about the songs is that they would be great without the flowing soundscapes or studio tricks and effects; Spirit Night is really a vehicle for Balliett’s songwriting and musicianship -- he could likely play a lot of these songs solo with an acoustic and they’d still be just as great.

But that’s another thing that makes hearing new Spirit Night stuff exciting; the contributions of Balliett’s friends to his music. Whether it’s Wilmoth providing percussion of all types, or David F. Bello playing bass, or super neat sonic contributions from members of Librarians, the evolving cast of friends makes the songs seem even more special. Balliett seems like he’d be a good friend, and the songs, in addition to being intricately layered, simultaneously have the feel of something you could sing around a camp fire together with friends.

Normal also features a demo version of “Don’t Miss Me,” and whether you like this slightly more overdriven, slightly different still no less pretty version more than the one on the debut, I’ll just throw this out there: I’d rather hear Balliett’s rough cuts and mixes than most other bands final product. I’d rather see Balliett mess up a chord during a live solo show than see some band play a song they’ve played a thousand times in a hundred different towns for the same reason I love his music; the beauty in the brokenness, the flaws that make something sublimely great.

“Final Days,” with its faster, more upbeat “sunny” acoustic riffs and progressions, is kind of a standout track just for its sound. And like so much of Spirit Night’s music, the verbal imagery painted by Balliett matches up and vibes with the sound. Balliett, while describing himself as a “traveling shit show,” promises to take care of himself.

“I turned the family name
To a badge of shame
We must wear
Over the centuries,
Passed like the disease
That brought us there,
The destiny we share
And the color of our hair.”

“These aren’t the final nights:
I’ve still got some fights left in me.
But when you’ve lost every one
You’ve ever begun
Then you see
That it’s not worth your breath
To have feelings for anything.”

It’s always great when bands list their lyrics. I’m glad Spirit Night does, not necessarily because they’re hard to hear, but because they really are kind of poetic. Sometimes you could get the feeling bands don’t because on one level they know they aren’t saying anything meaningful or they know they’re using their music as one big put on -- as a false front. Nothing wrong with that really; rock and roll is replete with examples of people inventing new personas, but a lot of times, if there’s nothing there, people move on after long.

“The Weather” closes out Normal with a catchy, sunny admission from Balliett:

“I hope you don’t mind if I go on about the weather;
Sometimes I can’t think of things to say when we’re together.
I just want to be there,
I just want to be there next to you”

I’m probably not the only person who at one point or another has felt that the desperation is gone from rock music, or that every song that could be written has already been written, or that with all the crap that goes on in your day to day life it’s hard to connect with music anymore and feel like it means something.

I know I’m not the only one who feels the way I do about Spirit Night and Dylan Balliett. And maybe that’s the thing to take away from this long-winded rambling review; not only is Spirit Night a great name for Balliett’s musical vehicle for his own journey through life, his journal of day to day existence highlighting the sublime beauty of the pain of solitude -- attachment to others -- but the real joy of life in the end.

On a very real fundamental spiritual level people sometimes feel lonely; aside from twins or octuplets, we were born into the world alone confused and alone, and will likely leave it in the same way. In between birth and death real spiritual connections are made with friends and family. That is what I get from Spirit Night, a real connection. Who knew something free could be worth so much?

If powerful, evil people try to use music as a tool to lay self-destruction or hate on people, if there is that kind of war being waged on people, I’m even more proud to say I’m with Spirit Night. This release, I am very happy to write, did not disappoint.

Related: Saturday's the night for Spirit Night; Spirit Night Q&A Pt. one and two

Saturday's the night for Spirit Night

Dylan Balliett (above) will be joined by his good friend Pete Wilmoth (and a few others) Saturday night as Spirit Night plays 123 Pleasant Street in Morgantown.

Simply put, Spirit Night's CD What We Will Be is one of our favorites of 2010. No idea was had on our end how much we'd love it. Well, for whatever reason there has been nary a Spirit Night show.

This Saturday, all that changes.

To see what is up with Dylan and Pete, we again caught up with the pair for a fun, informative Q&A.


WVRS: Dylan what is up with life for you right now? Are you living in Shepherdstown or back in Morgantown?
Dylan Balliett: I moved back to Morgantown in August with the intention of working on albums for Spirit Night and my other band, David Bello and His God-Given Right, but -- surprise! -- we haven't really gotten any work done on either. However, I think we're going to try to bang out a good portion of at least the Spirit Night album in the month or so we have left before we get kicked out of our studio. I'm going to record this one on my laptop just like What We Will Be which means I'll be mobile again as soon as we record Pete's drums and I'm not sure how long I'll be sticking around after that point.


WVRS: Are you worried they'll ban Four Loko?
DB: Honestly, yes. The thought of having to go back to being drunk on just regular beer is terrifying to me.
Pete Wilmoth: Oh, God. I'm proud to say I haven't tried this stuff yet. Call me a prude, but stimulants-plus-depressants just scare the hell out of me.


WVRS: Dylan did I see pics of you on the road with The Demon Beat and/or Tucker Riggleman? Have fun on the road?
DB: I lived with my parents for about eight months this year as I recovered from an injury and the resultant surgeries. Since my expenses were so low and I had a pretty big chunk of savings to live off of, I spent a lot of that time on tour with The Demon Beat. Honestly, I had some of the best times I've had in my life. I saw a lot of the country, heard a lot of hilarious and absurd jokes, and got to see The Demon Beat play every night. I feel really lucky to have been able to do that and I'm really grateful for the fact that they let me tag along. I love those guys and I miss them, but it's good to know that pretty much anywhere I choose to live, they'll probably be rolling through at some point.


WVRS: Dylan I thought I saw on Facebook that you recently recorded new stuff? Is that right? New songs? Have you been collaborating with any more local notables or friends of yours musically?
DB: There will be a new Spirit Night EP released before the end of the year. It'll feature three new songs (one of which is actually just a re-recording of an extremely old song of mine), one demo from the album, and possibly an alternate take of the title track. Right now, it's just me and Pete, but this time around Sean Gibat is mixing and mastering because I love his work and we've always talked about collaborating on something. I'm pretty excited about it.
PW: Dylan and I have recorded just *one* new Spirit Night song so far, although we have a handful more in the works. One reason we've been a little slow on the uptake is that Dylan has been busy recording with Dave Bello & His God-Given Right, and I've been busy recording with FOX Japan and The Overcoat.

WVRS: When we caught up for the Q&A w/you and Pete, you mentioned the possibility of shows. How did this 123 show get lined up?
DB: LJ gave us the show and then we picked some local bands we really love to open. I was so surprised that Sandra Black said yes because they don't seem to play so often anymore. We're all super excited about seeing them, as well as Juna.
PW: Oh, we had talked about it a while and finally just went ahead and pulled the trigger. We're lucky to have some great friends who are beyond capable of stepping in and fleshing out what would otherwise be a pretty bare bones operation. Dylan and I are both pretty thrilled with how it's turning out. I also can't properly express how pumped we are about the opening acts (Juna and Sandra Black), both of whom make wonderful music and are pretty in line with our aesthetic, as well.


WVRS: Are you and Pete gonna be able to practice before the show? You don't live nearby each other right?
DB: We live about a block apart now, haha. We've done about five practices so far and will hopefully be able to squeeze in another one or two before Saturday night.


WVRS: Pete how excited are you for people to see what you bring to Spirit Night live as far as percussion? Definitely richer arrangements and more instruments than what you get from a drummer in most rock bands right?
PW: Well, it's certainly more instruments, with the hand percussion and everything. I don't know that it's richer, per se, but I certainly have to think differently about it. Even in the live show, there are songs where I'm sitting at the kit, but it's more like I'm playing concert percussion.


WVRS: Can we expect the same stable of guest musicians & friends that we heard on the songs on the CD? Who all will be performing with you on stage? Are you going to be able to capture the same sound live as you got on What We Will Be?
DB: The live band for this show is going to be Ryan Hizer (Librarians, Big Ass Manatee), David Bello (David Fucking Bello), George Zatezalo (It's Birds, Single Dads), Pete, and me. All of those guys appear somewhere on the album. And yes, it should sound pretty much exactly like the album but much, much louder.
PW: More or less, yes. George Zatezelo (It's Birds, Russian Tombstones) and Dave Bello both appear briefly on the record, and Ryan Hizer (Librarians, Big Ass Manatee) was instrumental in tracking a lot of it. We're really grateful to have all three of them on board. They're wonderful musicians in addition to being wonderful people.

It's definitely going to sound different than the CD, just by necessity. We can only layer on so many weird loops and synths, and I can only play so many of the percussion parts. Same with the vocals. But there were also times during practice where we were adding instruments - bass, for example, which is mostly absent from the record - to the live performance. It's going to sound great, I think.


Related: Spirit Night Q&A Parts one and two

Photo: Brian Deery

Smells Like Team Spirit: Spirit Night Q&A Pt. 2

In part two of our Q&A with Dylan Balliett and Pete Wilmoth of Spirit Night, we get more background on who and what influenced What We Will Be, and what the future may hold...

WVRS: Dylan, the song “Green Street,” that’s in reference to the actual street in Morgantown, right, with the DIY venue? Talk about how the college town influenced the songs. Would there be a Spirit Night if you hadn’t been there? Why did you name the whole thing Spirit Night?
DB: Yep. I had that riff kicking around for years but didn't have any words. I decided one night that I really wanted to make a song, so I went over to Green Street, where we all hung out all the time, and sat in the basement with David Bello and just wrote out the words as we recorded it. We got really drunk and our friends came over and joined in on the recording process. I don't remember who exactly was involved, but I know Pat Manzi and David Bello both had a big part in it. Anthony [Fabbricatore], Tyler [Grady], and Kyle [Vass] were there, too. I named it "Green Street" because it was written there, but also because I think that song and that house both kind of captured our youthful craziness symbolically. It seemed when it was done to be a song about the things we had done in that house, so I thought the title was appropriate.

I'd like to think I'd have made music anywhere I went, but I guess I couldn't have made this exact album without Morgantown. I might never have been sad enough somewhere else to write these songs. Haha. They're definitely all about specific people I met in Morgantown, so for me it's always going to be an album about the time I spent there.

"Spirit Night" is a phrase I saw on a sign outside of Chick Fil-A advertising what I assume to have been a pep rally type event for a local sports team. I think the words are very beautiful together on their own, but I like that they also signify something that to me is kind of ugly, or at the very least tacky -- a sporting event at a fast food chain restaurant. But it got me thinking about the idea of "spirit" and how these events are almost spiritual or religious in a way, a gathering of people to ritualistically chant in worship of something that they love. And this is not me snobbishly judging them at all; I think it's awesome. So I thought about the ways I let my own spirit show, and it's always through music and art, and I do it with my friends in that same group gathering sort of way.

So many people contributed to this project that I see it as a kind of collectivist thing like that. I think it's spiritual in this very down to earth, American way, but it's represented by this phrase that sounds more creepy or otherworldly, "Spirit Night." I also think the term "night" plays into it similarly. I think about the ways night is represented in literature or in horror movies and then I think about all the drunken nights that influenced this record and how when my friends and I were drinking, this "spirit" would kind of come out of us from deep within. You know, werewolf shit.

WVRS: Looks like members of Librarians played an important role in getting this out; would you count them as a kind of local influence? Did working with Klug, and from his past work with Librarians, make it easier for you to arrive at a final sound you were comfortable with? Some of the atmospherics sound like it could be Librarians. Wrong or right?
DB: I don't necessarily think this album sounds like Librarians, but they had to have had an influence on my music somewhere along the line. I've probably seen them 30 times in the past six years or so, and I lived with Ryan for a little while and could hear their practices and stuff. Seeing them as a younger person, I think they made me want to be in a good local band because their shows were so fun. We've played in other bands together as well. I think I'm generally influenced more by my friends than anything else, so yeah, I'd say watching what those guys do has had an effect on my music. And this album wouldn't be anything without Dave Klug's work, so thanks to him as well.

PW: I don't know that I really hear the parallels to Librarians, honestly, although I'm certainly cool with that association. Klug's contributions to this record are immense. The difference between what we sent him after tracking and what came back to us is staggering. I would recommend him to any upstart bands in the area.

WVRS: What about shows? Did I miss something or are there Spirit Night shows?
DB: Yeah, we live about three hours apart right now so it's not exactly feasible to do shows just yet. However, I'm sure we'd both like to, and I'm hoping when I start traveling to Morgantown to work on this next album, we'll end up doing a show or two. Maybe more!

PW: No, there haven't been any shows. In fact, we just kind of surprised everyone with the record when we were done with it - it was fun. Dylan and I have talked about doing some shows, though. (see below)

WVRS: The CDs, you’ve got some pressed, how many do you have and do you envision running out?
DB: Our friend Jordan Hudkins helped me print a bunch of promo copies that I'll be sending out to review sites/radio stations/etc. It's actually an extremely small run just for that purpose. I really just want to focus on the digital release for now, though I wouldn't be opposed to releasing it on some other formats in the future.

WVRS: The atmospherics and layers on the songs, you can pull those off live, right? Mainly acoustic based, do you (Dylan) plan on being able to just play these solo? Will/would there be a bigger lineup if there’s a Spirit Night “full-band” show?
DB: I'm totally opposed to doing the songs solo. Haha. I guess It's kind of a weird thing, but I just don't think they work without all of the elements going on. They're so based on shifting dynamics that I think most of what makes those songs what they are would be lost with just one guitar and one voice. However, I do have a lineup in mind that kind of excites me and I totally think we could pull the songs off. It would be more guys than just me and Pete, but probably not any bigger than a regular rock band.

PW: I think we could manage some approximation of the record, yeah, although obviously, many of the songs are really sonically dense. I think we can go one of two routes with it. One where it's mostly Dylan singing and playing a guitar and me backing him up with percussion, vocals - maybe a little keyboard and guitar, too. I've listened to the record with that in mind enough that I think we could get most of the crucial parts between the two of us, although it would take some multi-limbed, multi-instrumental, Marinelli-like ambidexterity on my part.

The other option is to really try to do the whole record with a bunch of our friends. Obviously, this would be a blast, and it'd be cool to split up the percussion parts and give myself something easy to do, so I can sing the whole time.

I think when/if we do a show, it'll probably be somewhere in the middle: friends will join us here and there, with only a couple songs necessitating a crowded stage, but other songs will be mostly me and Dylan.

WVRS: The latest review from Obscure Sound mentions “clumsy interweaving of keys and guitar,” that said, the guitar isn’t entirely shred-tastic or complex; there’s a catchy, touching, laid back vibe (mostly laid back vibe), with the lush tones and drums overtop your mostly acoustic songs. Now, all that said (if you agree with that generalization) compared to the more in your face, amps to 10 type rock acts, why would/do you think this kind of vibe be so well received?
DB: Well, I don't think we sound too much like any one band, but I think we use time-tested elements from all kinds of popular music in our songs, and maybe that's why it's successful. Just because it reminds people of songs or musical styles they already like. And I guess I agree that there is kind of a laid-back vibe in a lot of songs, but we also throw in plenty of surprises to shake people out of that feeling of complacency, and maybe people like that our songs have those unexpected turns, or that the record has them (going from something so quiet like "What I Will Be" into a rocker like "Green Street" so late in the track listing, for example). I really can't say why people like it though. I'm just glad that they do.

PW: I feel like I can tell you why. I think the timbres on the record are great - again, another nod to Dave Klug here, as well as our friends in Morgantown (Brian Spragg, Ryan Hizer, and Trey Curtis) who actually know how to track stuff properly, unlike us. But for me, it's the melodies Dylan writes. I know you don't hear this too often from drummers, but melody is everything. Always and forever. Period. If you don't have a great melody, I'm usually not that interested as a listener. And as a percussionist, I'm always listening to the melody when I write my own parts - sort of "in service" of where the song is trying to go. Lucky for me, Dylan really knows how to craft a hook.

WVRS: Pete the drums on “Last Cigarette” (among other songs) how they fade in and build are killer. “Brains” has what sounds like xylophones or bells; between recording DIY and with Klug, how proud of you are you with how your contribution(s) in the percussion department sounded on the CD?
PW: Thanks, dude. I mean, I'm really pleased with everything. It was a new thing for me, because I haven't really done anything other than drum set in rock bands since high school, when I was doing orchestral and concert percussion. So it was a nice change of pace and a new challenge to just listen to the song a lot and say, "I don't think I'm going to put any kit on this song at all, but I know some staggered tambourine with reverb will sound really haunting right here."

And it was just fun to get back into written music. On the songs where there's a billion percussion tracks, I had to put Dylan's demos on loop, sit down at my desk with a bunch of staff paper, and figure out what would best serve the song and how each of my instruments should be interacting with one another.

WVRS: You guys have made a great CD, lauded by reviewers, together. Between Dylan’s songwriting and Pete’s contribution, what do you think makes this sound so infectious and effortless? Chemistry?
DB: I definitely think there is chemistry between me and Pete. Or maybe just a mutual appreciation of each other's style that makes it easy for us to agree on things. We definitely "click" immediately in a lot of cases, but other times we'll have to talk through something, or I'll have to do a good deal of explaining about what kind of mood I want for a certain song or part. Luckily, we're both comfortable enough with each other and confident enough in each other's abilities to do that talking, which I think is what matters most. So yeah, it's a mixture of chemistry and mutual understandings that make ultimately makes our music work.

PW: The one thing I know is that I really enjoy making music with Dylan. We've always been completely on the same wavelength at every step of the process, so it's just smooth sailing. And somehow, I think we both make each other better, despite how similar our tastes are.

WVRS: Each of you; what does it say that this kind of DIY effort, seemingly out of nowhere win so many fans? You obviously didn’t spend a lot of money in some studio. But just doing it, and people liking it, how proud are you to have accomplished that much, and do you think it could/should influence some other college student(s) peeing in gatorade bottles, wondering what they will be, to do the same?
DB: I'm extremely proud of it, and sure, I hope it encourages other people to do the same. I think everyone who enjoys music should attempt to record their own album at some point in their life.

PW: The praise has been really flattering, for sure. I'm just glad people are listening to the record. It's one of those luxuries of the Internet age; like, there are people in Spain listening to our record and talking about it on forums. How cool is that?

Of course I'd recommend that anyone who wants to make a record give it a shot. Even if after a couple years, you think you have little to show for it besides a couple boxes of CDs under your bed, at least you made some music, just for the sake of doing it. That's always a worthwhile endeavor, no matter what the end result is. Oh yeah - and it's fun!

WVRS: You’ve got nothing but stellar reviews for the CD, and praise from just the general public too, how neat is that? Has the praise kind of changed what you may have thought of as goals or what not for the duo? Is Spirit Night just a kind of project, or is it, for you Dylan, something you want to keep moving forward with?
DB: It's really hard to say what Spirit Night will be. I initially formed it as a separate entity from Russian Tombstones that would be just an alias for my own solo songs, so that if I ever moved or otherwise couldn't play with Pete anymore, I could still have all of my songs under one name. It was very much intended to be a "solo project" but I can't deny Pete's importance to the project and I foresee us working together on a lot of the future stuff under this name. Hopefully he will play on everything I do.

Mostly though, I'd say this is a vehicle for the songs I write and it will probably end up meaning different things at different times. We could get intense and start touring with a band under this name, or I could record a whole album of just guitar songs by myself under this name. It's really hard to say right now where we're going, but I do know you should expect another album with me and Pete and friends sometime in the next year or so.

PW: I definitely plan on making more music with Dylan. I know we both want to do another record together while we're both still in the same state. I'll be done with grad school in a year, and I don't really know where I'll end up. Dylan's immediate future is similarly up in the air, but I bet we make something work out. When you find someone you click with musically - well, that's not something you should let slip if you can help it.

Related: Part one of our Q&A w/Spirit Night

CD Review: "What We Will Be"

CD: What We Will Be
ARTIST: Spirit Night

If Shepherdstown’s Dylan Balliett doesn’t do anything else with the education he received at WVU, he’ll at least have something to show for the time he spent in Morgantown.

Together with his friend, FOX Japan drummer Pete Wilmoth, calling themselves Spirit Night, the ex-Russian Tombstones members have released one of the best CDs we’ve heard in our time here at WVRockscene.

The songs, whether you call them ambient acoustic or twee pop, or, as a few reviews do, compare the sound to Beat Happening, serve almost as Dylan’s soundtrack to his years as a college student, and all that entails.

Friends, females, drugs, peeing in Gatorade bottles, machine guns with bunny rabbit ears, and just not knowing what the future holds after school; it’s all here. And like most great records, What We Will Be seems to flow nicely as a whole, from beginning to end, with uptempo catchy pop favorites of ours like “Bear Costume” and “Brains” allowing the more mellow, reverb and ambient feel of other songs like “Don’t Miss Me” and “125” to sink their hooks into yer noggin.

Balliett sings on “Bear Costume”

“Of all the boys living in your body,
The one I love, I never get to see.
He’s hiding out of sight down on his knees
In a crowded room
Thick with black balloons.”

The echo-laden ambience of the touching “Don’t Miss Me” is a nice example of the kind of “Keep It Simple” approach to the harmonies and lyrics in Dylan’s songs. “125” has a mingling room full of people sample overtop of acoustic, making you check if about a dozen or so people showed up unannounced while you were hanging insulation, listening to the CD.

Balliett sings, evoking for us a great line from the Foo Fighters song “Everlong”

“I will give you all that I have and some that I don’t.
I won't let go until you do. I hope that you won’t.”

“Stage Lights” has the mellow ambience overtop Dylan’s acoustic, as he transitions away from a relationship.

“Brains” is our favorite song on the CD, as Dylan rocks the acoustic, belts out the lyrics, and Wilmoth comes in with pounding, driving drums, half-way through the two-and-a-half minute long hit. This is a CD that we’ve listened to over and over recently, and this is the song that we listen to over and over again. Every great CD needs a song like that, and this one will definitely get inside the old noodle.

Just because Dylan and Pete are the main players on the CD, the songs have a much deeper, richly textured feel than you’d expect from two dudes on a four-track.

Wilmoth’s contributions as a percussionist alone are clearly on display. It’s not just a kick, snare and cymbal; with all the bells and whatnot he breaks out, he is his own drumline on What We Will Be. Synth and samples (and sometimes a glockenspiel) are laid on top of the catchy acoustic songs Dylan has composed over the past few years, with rockin’ results.

The duo are also joined by some notable Morgantown rockers whose names you might recognize. Most notably as far as the contributions, are various members of Librarians, It’s Birds, and David Bello. Sean Gibat (BAM, Shoe) joins Spirit Night on the Eastern, sitar-sounding “The Medicine,” with trippy sounding reverse cymbal rides.

What We Will Be was mixed and mastered in Pittsburgh by Dave Klug, who has worked with It’s Birds and Librarians, among others. He even provides synth on what seems to be the title track, “What I Will Be,” and while we won’t compare the arrangements on What We Will Be to what is on Librarians’ recent Present Passed, the atmospheres and ambience Spirit Night is going for may seem similar to what’s on the recent Librarians CD. Maybe. Grat job on his part.

“Green Street,” with guitar provided by It’s Birds (and ex-Russian Tombstones) George Zatezalo, evokes the trippy yet rockin’ 60’s. “Gone Down” is probably the prettiest song on the CD, if we had to award a title for that, as Dylan sings:

“But it’s still snowing now out there down beneath the trees.
You can see it now, it’s falling faster than the leaves.
I’m warm in this winter breeze.”

The CD builds to a climax and finishes nicely on “The Last Cigarette,” just over two minutes long, it seems like a great end to the CD.

Not only can you download the CD off Spirit Night’s bandcamp site, there, you can also read the lyrics and read about where and when the songs were recorded at, and who may have sit in with Dylan and Pete on the jams.

So, not only are the songs great, these two dudes, with the help of their friends, have put together a great CD and put it all up online for free, with all the info you’ll need on the songs. Kudos to them. Oh there are physical copies available, which we recommend you pick up.

There are CDs that we actively seek out because we know pretty much what to expect and think the acts rock. Then there are times when people contact us about their music.

Although we had heard about Russian Tombstones, when Dylan emailed us about this CD, we had no clue how much we were going to like it. It’s times like these when we are able to spotlight an act that we didn’t know anything about, but ended up in love with, that we are glad we do whatever it is we do here.

If WVRockscene married one band this year, it would be Spirit Night.

--- Related: Spirit Night Q&A Pt. 1

mp3: “Brains” by Spirit Night


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Catch The Spirit: Spirit Night Q&A Pt. 1

Shepherdstown's Dylan Balliett spent a lot of time in his bedroom (and others) recording what would be one of the most out-of-the-blue surprise great CDs we've heard here at the blog. With help from his friend, FOX Japan drummer Pete Wilmoth, together as Spirit Night, on What We Will Be, their 11-song debut, these two guys are winning a lot of fans, fast. Before we reviewed the CD, we caught up with Dylan and Pete on a Facebook thread to get some background info on this very fruitful collaboration...

WVRS: So how did you guys meet? How did the collaboration that is called Spirit Night come about?
Dylan Balliett: I'm looking forward to reading Pete's answer to this question because I honestly can't remember how we first met. I know I was a fan of his band FOX Japan and that he had talked to my best friend and collaborator David Bello about playing drums on his songs in a new band. I think we might have met for the first time at the first practice for that band, which unfortunately never saw the light of day. Later I decided to start a band called Russian Tombstones and asked Pete to drum for it. I was very happy when he said yes.

Spirit Night is kind of an extension of Russian Tombstones. The album features a lot of songs that didn't quite work with the Russian Tombstones style, songs that I really wanted to release but thought I needed to just record myself, or with just one other person, who in this case ended up being Pete. We work really well together so it was just logical to ask him to be on it.

Pete Wilmoth: I THINK the first time Dylan and I met was through Dave Bello. He, Dylan, Sean Gibat (Big Ass Manatee, Shoe) and I started playing music together when I first moved to Morgantown in the fall of 2007. Anyway, that project fizzled out, but Dylan and I became friends and eventually talked about starting a band (Russian Tombstones).

WVRS: So Dylan you’re from Shepherdstown and went to WVU; get to become good friends with Pete?
DB: Yeah, I was in Morgantown from the fall of 2004 until earlier this year. For four of those years, I was studying English at WVU. There was plenty of hanging out with Pete in there, too.

PW: Dylan moved to Shepherdstown right at the beginning of 2010, which was right around the time we started recording all of the record. (Only "Bear Costume" was recorded when we both really lived in Morgantown and was originally a Russian Tombstones song.) We only see each other now if I'm playing a show in Shepherdstown or if Dylan is visiting Morgantown for the weekend, which has been a couple times. But yeah, definitely really good friends. I miss having him in Morgantown, that's for sure.

WVRS: For people who may have got snuck up on a bit by Dylan Balliett, have you (Dylan) played in any bands previously? Coming from Shepherdstown, there are one or two killer acts, any influence you to make music?
DB: Yeah, I'm back in Shepherdstown for a minute or two until I figure out where else I can go. There are definitely some great bands here and a lot of my best friends play in them. They influence me in the same way all music influences me. I get really excited watching them and want to run home and play guitar.
As far as other bands I've played in, I've been in David Bello and His God Given-Right, Nirvana 2, Super Sargasso, The Black Giraffe, and Russian Tombstones.

WVRS: For people who may run sites dedicated to covering WV bands, why did they miss this entirely? You operated under the radar, no?
DB: Probably just a failure on my part. I'm promoting the record myself and I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm hoping some of the coverage we have been getting makes other sites aware of it and they pick it up. I'd like as many people to give it a listen as possible.

WVRS: Pete, obviously you weren’t snuck up on by this guy, as Dylan may have introduced you to the songs and they took shape, how excited were you? What have some of your friends or acquaintances who may know a thing or two told you about the music?
PW: Dylan's songwriting prowess definitely didn't sneak up on me; I've been lucky enough to be making music with him for a couple years now. I was very excited about the project. It started when he and I recorded "Bear Costume" with Brian Spragg, basically in one sitting, kind of on a whim on a Saturday afternoon. It was really fun to pile on the vocal and percussion tracks, and we were both really happy with the final product. Later, it made sense to make a whole record with that aesthetic (as opposed to Russian Tombstones, which was more of a punk rock outfit) so that's what we did. We had played "Stage Lights," "Green Street," and I think maybe "Don't Miss Me" with Russian Tombstones prior to recording What We Will Be.

WVRS: Dylan, how long have you been working on this material, just writing the songs? Looks like some songs date back to 2006? It seems like the songs are all great. Can we expect a sophomore effort to be more spotty? WILL there be a sophomore CD? What IS 125 and LHQ?
DB: The opening track, "Smigel," was the first song I wrote in college after about a three year songwriting dry spell (I had previously led middle school pop-punk and emo bands whose names I will not mention). I've written plenty of songs since then, but I always kind of felt that I would be releasing these specific eleven songs together for this project, which has been kicking around in my head for the past five years.

They all came from the same part of me and expressed this same kind of wistful, lonely mood. As for the sophomore album, that's been kicking around in my head as well, as I've been kind of sorting all my songs by mood in that way I just described. This next one is going to have "bigger," less claustrophobic sounding songs, a lot of rock songs. Probably more traditional/standard instrumentation, but just as weird despite it. It's not all written but I don't think it will be spotty compared to the first one. It's the third one I'm worried about.

125 is an apartment I lived in above 123 Pleasant Street in Morgantown and LHQ is a house I lived in down the street from there. It stands for Librarians Headquarters because three members of that band lived there for a long time and they practiced with all their bands there. I lived there eventually and recorded a good amount of the album there.

WVRS: It seems like sometimes there are songs left off a CD, or run as B-sides, that are still great, sometimes. Are there any songs that you did not put on What We Will Be? If so, why?
DB: There was ONE song I had on the track list for a really long time and ultimately decided to cut. I've since decided to put it on the next record though, so it'll eventually be heard. There are really no leftover scraps of recordings or anything though. I think a lot of people record a bunch of stuff for an album and then decide what makes the cut after the fact, but since these songs have been kicking around for so long, I really knew what I wanted and I just focused directly on that.

PW: Answering both of the above: We're definitely going to make another record. In fact, we spoke over the 4th of July about some songs we already have ready to go. 125 is 125 Pleasant Street, right by 123. It's kind of a crummy apartment, I think Dylan lived there long before I moved to Morgantown. Where you can pound beers on the roof and fire water balloons at the PRT if you're good enough with those three-man slingshots things?

WVRS: Where exactly did you record at, bathroom and bedroom wise? Obviously at some point you (dylan) fell in love with Anthony Fabbricatore, no? I mean, you married him, haha... (It says that on Dylan's Facebook page) Seriously, how much time went into just recording the material, using what equipment?
DB: I'll try to remember all of 'em. We recorded in a warehouse on the road out of Morgantown, I recorded in my friend Will's bathroom, in two bedrooms and two living rooms at LHQ, in my sister's room at home, in my grandma's room at home, in The Demon Beat's basement and practice space, and maybe somewhere else I'm forgetting in West Virginia. Then I recorded the vocals on "Don't Miss Me" by singing into my laptop's internal microphone in a hotel room in St. Paul, MN. The warehouse and bathroom recordings were for their acoustic properties; otherwise, it's just wherever I happened to be at the time.

I did it all on my laptop using Digital Performer 5 because that's what the Librarians guys used and they were able to help me out whenever I had a(n annoying) question.

And yes, I love Anthony Fabbricatore.

PW: If you go to our bandcamp site and click on the tracks, there's listings of where, precisely, every song was recorded. But I think our favorite destination is this giant warehouse practice space that FOX Japan, The Overcoat, Depresbyterians, and Juna rent. Most of my favorite drum and vocal sounds from the record owe a lot to the natural cacophony there.

WVRS: Pete talk about recording for Spirit Night as opposed to with FJ; more ghetto, or what?
PW: It was actually kind of similar in that with FOX Japan, we're often recording songs we just finished a few weeks ago. Only this time, things were even more fly-by-night, at least for me. Dylan has had a lot of these songs written for years, and I knew some of them. But for the most part, he would send me really rough demos (often just vocals, guitar, maybe a keyboard) and I would write out what I was hearing for percussion on staff paper and make notes, just to keep everything straight. Later, he and I would discuss vocal harmonies, small tweaks to the form, etc., and then we'd just do it. I think we were okay with it being "imperfect," or, if I'm going to spin this another way, "human."

--- In part two of the Q&A, Dylan and Pete talk about the songs, help from friends, the good reviews already in, and exactly what the future will be for the duo...