LITTLE ROCK — Little Rock alt-rockers Underclaire have plans to start 2010 the right way. They’ve got a fine new CD, Making Sky, and are celebrating its release with a show Friday at Sticky Fingerz.
“We’re releasing the record on Jan. 1. It’s national hangover day,” says Underclaire’s Mike Mullins. “I like that.”
It’s fitting, since the self-released Making Sky took most of 2009 to produce. Guitarist/singer Mullins and the rest of Underclaire - drummer Bryan Baker, guitarist Edison De-Leon and new bassist Rob Brackett - recorded the 12-song cycle over 10 months with producer Barry Poynter, who has been behind the board for all three of the band’s LPs.
Why so long? A number of factors, Mullins says.
“We recorded it on weekends when we had time off from our jobs and whatnot. We also had to work around Barry’s schedule.”
Poynter’s studio work has appeared on TV shows like South Park and on HBO series like Six Feet Under, Deadwood and others. He also has a list of bands he has produced about as long as a Bill Clinton speech. And that’s Poynter playing bass on Making Sky.
Having new toys and technology to play around with at Poynter’s Palace studio in Maumelle was also a factor in the time it took to record.
“We used Pro Tools,” Mullins says, referencing a popular recording software. “There are a lot of things you can nitpick with and polish in this controlled environment.”
The extensive studio time also gelled with the album’s overall vibe. Mullins says the band wanted to get away from 2004’s indie-rockish Smalltown X and experiment with a larger, more produced sound.
“The last album was so stripped down. This time we wanted to do something the opposite,” Mullins says.
The result is a sweeping, bouncy, sometimes dramatic collection of layered and wellcrafted songs.
It’s also a bit of a concept album. The songs tell the story of brother and sister twins who are having a rough go of it.
“The first six songs are from his perspective and the second six are from her perspective,” Mullins says. Seems the brother is in a bad relationship, there is a suicide and the sister goes off on a killing spree.
Grim-sounding themes for sure, but the music surrounding the story is hooky pop with an edge. The album ranges from the radio sweetness of “Las Muertas” to the loud/soft/loud aggression of “Black Swann.”
The title cut is also a standout.
“We’re all fond of the title cut,” Mullins notes. “It has all the right elements of a good title song.”
Mullins comes up with the lyrics, but “we all compose and arrange the songs. The band is a total democracy, for sure.
One person doesn’t call all the shots.”
A Virginia native, Mullinsstarted Underclaire after meeting original drummer Matt Kuntzman while the two were in the Army. Kuntzman talked Mullins into coming to Arkansas when they were discharged and Underclaire was born.
Kuntzman would return to the service, but Mullins kept on with the band, and Underclaire’s debut, Lights Out Cairo, showed up in 1999.
Mullins says the band has plans for Making Sky. Along with Friday’s show, the group will play Jan. 29 at the Whitewater Tavern in Little Rock. There are also dates in St. Louis and Austin, Texas.
“In the past, we’ve done one or two shows out of town. But with this big-sounding record we wanted to push it and say, ‘Let’s go further than we’ve ever tried.’ We’re hitting the market and trying to see what we can do.”Music Who: Underclaire CD release party with opening acts Andy Warr and His Big Mouth and The Breakthrough When: 9 p.m. Friday Where: Sticky Fingerz, 107 S.
Commerce St., Little Rock How much: $5; $10 admission includes CD (501) 372-7707 stickyfingerz.com
Style, Pages 31 on 12/29/2009