[bands to watch] ‘Throw me the Statue’ – Seattle, Washington

by Leigh Silbernagel in Concert Reviews, Editorials, Musician Reviews, New Releases, News, Opinion Posts, Reviews, Song Reviews

[bands to watch]: Throw me the Statue

Seattle-based Indie Pop makes a believer out of the cynical.

Indie rock at its worst is esoteric lyrics with an emo twist, overly done up instrumentation, and excessive bridges instead of skilled solo’s which leave the listener with a feeling of emptiness. The fact that I was going to observe Throw me the Statue at The College of New Jersey’s on-campus bar/restaurant the Rattskeller, which is dank, dingy, in need of massive redecorations and intense cleaning didn’t help. Throw Me the Statue is the total opposite of my worst misconceptions of indie rock. The combination of basic rock structures, electronica influences, vocal centric aesthetic, major key tonality, and a mix of acoustic and electric rhythm guitars was simply amazing.

The Band

Throw Me the Statue was formed by Scott Reitherman in Seattle, Washington and have just released their debut album, Moonbeams, on Secretly Canadian. Classified as “glam/idol/pop,” the band members are Scott Reitherman, Aaron Goldman, Will Cone, Joe Syverson and Jarred Grimes.

The band performed at The College of New Jersey on April 11^th. The second the electric guitars were plugged in and the band started strumming I made my way stage side. The fact that this band is currently on tour made an instant difference in their demeanor and stage presence. They were more cohesive as a group, had the quintessential laid back West-Coast Seattle vibe to them and were more “Indie” in dress and appearance.

Each band member was skilled, experienced, down to earth and serious about music without taking themselves too seriously. You could feel the skill of their musicianship even as they were tuning their instruments. Every song had excellent guitar build up and skillful playing. The other instruments chimed in perfectly to enhance each other—not at all like the “marching band” sound of inexperienced bands—where each band member is trying to play exactly the same melody in perfect unison with the other players. Throw Me the Statue is intelligent, creative and unique sounding. Each song had an excellent ending with a bridge out instead of the abrupt endings that are one of the tell-tale signs of an inexperienced band.

Scott’s voice was sweet without sounding too pop-like. It almost had a “folk-Coldplay” sound to it. When the group sang in unison it was perfectly harmonized. One could actually hear the lyrics, and the harmonization of the voices was like water to a person dying of dehydration. The focus was on the vocals the whole time, the riffs were steady, the drums solid and there was keyboard riffing, one of the many innovative instrumentations offered by Throw me the Statue. Between each song, the singer Scott engaged the crowd better. There was more dialogue for better crowd response and the impression that these guys are comfortable with themselves and each other. The music was relaxing and energizing, uplifting and entertaining. Overall: invigorating.

The Songs

“This is how we kiss” has electric rock instrumentation, punk influences, a subtle use of vocal harmony, a vocal centric aesthetic and major key tonality. Each song had a different sound than the last but you could still tell that it was the same artist. There was almost a Cary Brother’s sound to it. At one point in one song, the vocal control was lost and the guitar dominated. They got loud and powered it out but without over empowering the venue. There was an excellent fade out ending to each song and it was apparent that the crowd loved each song more than the last. The band knows what they’re doing, without being arrogant about themselves. For example, when one of the guitarists asked, “can you turn down the lights” he did so politely. For one song, I noticed that Scott played the guitar without a pick- and it had a power chord sound to it while still maintained the melody.

“Yucatan Gold” has basic rock structures, electronic influences, a subtle use of vocal harmony, extensive vamping, and a vocal-centric aesthetic. There was more melodic phrasing and repetition and a stream of consciousness feel to the lyrics which were at the same time, romantic sounding. Each player switched instruments with the other players. There was the feeling that these guys enjoy the music that they play – so that meant that each song delivered.

“Lolita” has a bell intro. And then switches to the use of clapping. It has acoustic rock instrumentation, a subtle use of vocal harmony, acoustic sonority, a vocal-centric aesthetic and major key tonality. The guitar playing, melodic phrasing and major key tonality with the chorus was amazing in each song. Each musician in the band has a good voice- as well as vocal control and range. The drums were strong, solid and enhanced the song with an energetic feel to it. The chord progression was steady and enhanced the singing and the vocals in terms of being a compliment to the vocals. There was almost always a riff into (or a dramatic drum into), and even a modern 80’s sound to some of the songs. They used clapping and drumming on the drum sticks at some parts in the songs. Towards the end, the lyrics had more of a narrative feel to it. Each song largely followed the same pattern but was unique. The bottom line is, this is the music that they liked to listen to as individuals and they know what they are doing as musicians. At the end the singer gave the “stick around, buy our stuff and talk to us, we’ll all be nice people” and you knew it was true- the part about being nice.

The interview

I interviewed Aaron Goldman. “The main dude is Scott. We are from Seattle and we formed 6 months ago. Scott recorded album (Moonbeams) and we are all friends with each other. In Seattle, if you have 10 friends, everyone in Seattle plays guitar,” or to put it another way, “if you have 10 friends, 5 of them play the guitar.” They started as a hobby and got signed by Secretly Canadian. They got their band name, Throw Me the Statue, by throwing 40 of the magnetic words that you put on your refrigerator onto the refrigerator, and Throw me the Statue, was what stuck to the refrigerator. Aaron named their biggest musical influences as John Coltrane. He also mentioned the Dead Kennedys as a political and musical influence. Finally, he mentioned the Ruby Suns, who coincidentally, is also on tour with the band. “We want to sound like the Smiths, if you stuck them in a room for two months, locked the door, and fed them only meat- that’s what we want to sound like.”

I then asked, what has been the biggest challenge that they’ve faced as a band. “Good question. Scott wrote Moonbeams—and it has a Motown sound to it all stacked on top—[but] you’d need an orchestra and every member only plays for a minute (or second) that’s why we switch around a lot [between instruments].” They’ve been signed by Secretly Canadian out of Bloomington Indiana. They’ve been on tour for 3 weeks and have 2 more weeks. And he said the Northeast was the highlight. I asked do you favor narrative or stream of consciousness lyrics (because I had heard both during the performance) and he said narrative. “The majority of our lyrics are stories based on true events and/or interpretations of true events.” My last question was, so what did you think of the venue, and he said “it was kinda fun, and more quiet than normal because of people eating. He said it was nice to play for people that are sober and he said that sometimes its nice to play for drunks (at bars—their normal gig) because sometimes its nice to have people heckling you and tripping over themselves.”

The Bottom Line

The band can be readily identified by its mix electric rock instrumentation, mild rhythmic syncopation, vocal centric aesthetic, major key tonality and electric rhythm guitars with acoustic instruments and electronica influences. I entered into the concert expecting to want to chop off my ears, but left with newfound respect and admiration for Throw Me the Statue, and upcoming band to watch out of Seattle, Washington.

-leigh silbernagel