Events

[POP] And the Kids is one of those bands that’s here to remind us of the power in pop music that’s crafted intuitively. First with Turn to Each Other and now on the new Friends Share Lovers, both on Signature Sounds, the quartet (formerly a trio) demonstrates how spontaneity doesn’t necessarily mean simplicity. It’s a recipe that’s garnered quite a bit of positive attention, making the Western Massachusetts band critical darlings. But there’s plenty of edginess on both And the Kids albums, which are also chock full of sonic curveballs. Call it scrap-pop with a dissonant bent. “I think we manage to balance a lot of musical elements,” front-gal Hannah Mohan says over the phone. “We’re obviously trying to keep it semi-accessible while letting our actual personalities and intended meanings come across.” She says that while the band’s roots have a folkie foundation, Canadian keyboardist Megan Miller’s contributions altered the sound considerably. “Megan brought way more options, so now we try and utilize them. The surprises in the music seem to captivate people—we don’t use 4/4 time through an entire song and my ADHD comes across since I get bored super easily. Sometimes we get crazy ideas and just go with them. But I think the key to what we’re doing is that we’re not trying too hard to make anything—we’re just making it. When you’re trying too hard or you start over-thinking each step, something gets lost.” The ADHD might also inform her penchant for music she describes as “simultaneously creepy and beautiful—almost circusy, but warped” (think PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake, which she cites as a game-changing fave).

Modern relationships are complicated, and navigating them is a recurring subject throughout Friends Share Lovers, released earlier this month. Themes about bad boundaries, dysfunction, and remaining true to self fortify a soundtrack that’s perhaps a bit more lush than its predecessor (ala production from Besnard Lakes’ Jace Lasek). Mohan says she’s very aware of how easy it has become for people to hurt one another in a world where not responding to a text message can set off an emotional whirlwind and cyber-communication lacks the benefit of tone. But some of the events that inspired the new songs date back further into her shared history with drummer Becky Lasaponaro—the pair have been friends since middle school. “Going back four to six years, we had a close-knit group of friends that felt like family. But these events kept happening where couples would break up to be with other people in our circle. Eventually we all ran out of options, but I guess if there’s a conclusion it’s that these behaviors are okay. They happen a lot in close groups of friends and they happen for a reason, since you have so many things in common with these people. You let it run its course.”

Since Miller has some visa status woes that prevent her from coming down to the States (in her absence, bassist Taliana Katz is touring with And the Kids.), Mohan and Lasaponaro headed to Montreal for a month to work on the new material as a band with both Miller and Lasek’s input. “Working with Jace, we experimented with more sounds and went diving deep into the ocean of reverb. We’re super pumped we got to work with someone that helped us make such a dreamy record.” Thursday, June 16 at Babeville’s 9th Ward with New York City’s Jess Best and locals dreambeaches.