|
Saying
I was sorry (yes, it was me) was easy. Cavallario graciously accepted
the apology. "I can tell you that you're not the first reviewer
that has reached out to us and said, 'I misjudged you,'" he said
from his home in Rochester, New York. "It's happened a lot over
the past four years, and it really says something about our band.
For some reason, our music doesn't hit people right away."
It might be
because Aloha's music isn't easy to grasp on first listen. The four-piece's
sound is deceptively simple, but repeated plays pay dividends, thanks
to their intricate counter melodies and almost proggy sense of structure
that recalls classic art rockers like Genesis and new indie turks
like Karate. The thread holding it together is Cavallario's breathy,
lullaby coo, reminiscent of Dismemberment Plan's Travis Morrison
. Some Echoes, the band's latest album, released last April
on Polyvinyl, continues in the same vein, but with more tuneful
results.
I couldn't help
thinking that maybe my apology was unnecessary. After all, what
were the odds that Cavallario actually read the original review?
Turns out that he had. He reads a lot of music criticism. "I
don't live in a vacuum. I read Pitchfork and Dusted
and Coke Machine Glow and blogs and try to read every review
I can," he said. When it came to the new record, his only concern
from Pitchfork -- the bible of indie rock criticism -- was
that its rating eclipsed Here Comes Everyone's 7.2 out of
10.
"My wife
called while we were on tour and told me the score was 8.0. The
number was important to me -- I just wanted it to be higher than
the last one. I don't want to sound like a sap, but it's a privilege
to do music and have someone give a shit enough to think about it
to write a review. Most people who have everyday jobs never get
any feedback."
Cavallario said
ultimately it doesn't matter what a critic in New York City says
when your playing Columbia that night, and having a good time. "I
know a lot of bands that can sell out 1,000-capacity theaters who
haven't received a good review in five years."
Back to 
Published in The Omaha Reader Feb. 14, 2007.
Copyright © 2007 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.
|
|
"I
don't want to sound like a sap, but it's a privilege to do
music and have someone give a shit enough to think about it
to write a review."
| |
|
