Most Popular White Papers
Content provided in partnership with
Polyphonic spreeeeeee: this orchestral cult band is a happening for the new century
Interview, August, 2004 by Stephen Mooalem
They may look like Branch Davidian cult members, 20-some-odd blissed-out Texans swathed in robes, ready to ascend toward the heavens without so much as a furrowed brow. But the joyful noise of the Polyphonic Spree has less to do with going to a better place than with making music that's singular in the here and now.
Combining the spiritually cleansed melodies of gospel music with the experimental wanderings of Pink Floyd and the Flaming Lips, the Dallas-based collective's recently released sophomore album, Together We're Heavy (Hollywood), is a poke in the eye of alternative-rock brooding, chock-full of enough blue-sky choruses to conjure up images of cascading doves, or poppies blooming in evergreen fields. And if the uplifting nature of the Polyphonic Spree's music seems like the work of blind-eyed zealots who are running from something, then it is with good reason: Spree front man Tim DeLaughter, the former singer for late-1990s indie outfit Tripping Daisy, hatched the group four years ago with his ex-bandmates after the drug-overdose death of Daisy guitarist Wes Berggren. As a result, the Spree's blend of complex symphonic arrangements, soaring harmonies, and elaborate, unpredictable, and sometimes spontaneous performances belies a weary optimism--much like their spiritual forebears, the Beach Boys. But as with a lot of great rock 'n' roll, DeLaughter and company's tragedy gave birth to a new, creative reality, and in the case of the Polyphonic Spree, a fantastically original one.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Brant Publications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
