  by Rob van Alstyne
As the film careers of the various Baldwin brothers readily attest, ibling rivalry does not always produce artistic greatness. Local pop group the Vestals, however, provide a nice counter-argument as to the benefit of sibling-abetted artistry. Led by Wisconsin ex-pat brothers Ben and Jeremy Gordon, the Vestals made a relatively large splash on the local scene with the 2004 release of their self-titled debut album, a taut collection of anglophile loving lusciousness that garnered comparisons to power pop legends like Big Star and Jason Falkner while throwing in just the right amount of darkness around the edges and vibrato in the throat to get Jeff Buckley fans excited. After touring the country and garnering props from some elite British music magazines, the Vestals reconvened in Minneapolis last summer to start work on a sophomore album, the recently unveiled Songs About Girls … And Other Mysteries.
 Rather
than producing a follow-up in the vein of their well-received debut, however,
the Vestals opted to
blow the doors wide open on Songs About Girls’ 14 tracks. “Our
basic strategy was to put everything that we had on the table and then just
pick up what we thought were the best songs,” says Jeremy, the younger
of the Gordon brothers at 29. “I didn’t care what style it was or
what vibe it was. We basically did the opposite of worrying about what sort
of album it was logical to make as a follow-up.”
“I think that my attention span is so short anyway that I’ve already
completely forgotten about the last album,” says Ben, 33. “Pretty
much any songwriter will tell you that they think the best song they’ve
ever written is the one they’re working on that day—even if it’s
actually the worst—you’re always most excited about what’s
happening at that moment and trying to push it forward.”
Other than continuing to split lead vocal duties down the middle, the Gordon
brothers appear to have completely re-envisioned the Vestals sound on Songs
About Girls. To be sure, there are still slices of immaculately-produced-tea-time-power-pop
to be found—the Jeremy penned “Before I Run” and “Nothing”
are pure summer anthems—but elsewhere the Vestals push their sound into
previously unexplored terrain; with Ben cranking out a snarky piano ballad on
starving artistry (“Motorcycles and Butterflies”) and a crunchy
slab of aggro-pseudo-funk (“Nobody’s Laughing”). Not every
unexpected detour clicks on all cylinders, but it’s always exciting to
hear a band intent on pushing the envelope rather than spinning their wheels.
Helping the band grow in unexpected directions were studio drummer Noah Levy
(Honeydogs) and producer Jason Orris, both of whom hunkered down with Ben, Jeremy
and longtime bassist Mark Weigel for a marathon 36-day recording session at
Terrarium Studios. Although both brothers are ecstatic with the job done in
the studio by Orris, engineer for the likes of Golden Smog and Mandy Moore,
the whole affair almost never happened. The Vestals were originally slated to
record with big name producer Jim Wirt (Incubus, No Doubt). One can only imagine
that the pairing would have resulted in a slightly different sounding record.
“We had recorded the basic tracks at Terrarium last summer and Jason ended
up moving three doors down from my place in Northeast so we would always be
hanging out outside smoking cigarettes and he kept checking in on what was going
to happen with the album and letting me know he really wanted to produce the
record,” explains Ben. “He would always be bringing it up and suggesting
different ideas based on the early mixes. For a while, though, the label had
thought that we should really get some ‘name’ guy. We actually had
a guy lined up [Wirt] and he was going to fly in and work at Terrarium. Like
two weeks before we were supposed to start recording he backed out. Jason just
stepped in and said, ‘Let’s do this right now and make it happen’—we
knew it was the right thing to do.”
 “We
wanted it to feel like we were getting our friends together to make the record,”
says Jeremy. “We didn’t want someone from the outside forcibly pushing
us in a different direction. Although I can tell you from experience it’s
kind of hard to disagree with two brothers when they’re intent on doing
something and both
in agreement.”
With their buddy in place behind the boards the band was able to zone in on
their primary concern all along—making a great record. It helped that
they had one of the Twin Cities finest drummers at large to aid in the process.
“Noah Levy ended up drumming on nine songs on the record and he hadn’t
heard a single song before he came in,” says Jeremy. “He caught
on quickly. The arrangements definitely changed a little bit when he got his
hands in it. Things were still shifting even at the point where we were in the
studio recording. What was great about having so much studio time was that we
could kind of go in and allow ourselves to have that sort of creative wiggle
room. We recorded for pretty much 36 days straight; I think there was about
three days off in there. It’s not like we were working hard the whole
time, though; we weren’t going to our day jobs—there was definitely
a fair amount of partying mixed in.”
Alcohol, team songwriting decisions, days spent in absence of sunlight; the
whole situation struck me as the perfect fodder for brotherly fist fights begat
by stir craziness, but it turns out my visions of familial fisticuffs were unfounded.
 “There
weren’t really any fights,” says Ben. “I think if you’re
in a band and you get to really relax and focus on music for many days in a
row in a studio you are truly in a lucky position. If that kind of intensity
drives you nuts then I’m guessing you’ve never really had an actual
job. The whole time I just felt blessed to be able to be focusing on what I
love.”
“Yeah, there were no fights,” concurs Jeremy. “We were actually
angelically loving the whole time.”
“If it had been a tiny little basement studio recording situation I don’t
think it would have worked out,” admits Ben. “But with the Terrarium
there’s so many places to escape to, there’s a piano room, cable
TV, two different places to poop—there’s plenty of room to spread
out.” ||
The Vestals perform on Thu., May 18 at the Hexagon
Bar with Frank Brownstone & Associates and Cascade Retreat. 9 p.m. Free.
21+. 2600 27th Ave. S., Mpls. 612-722-3454. They play again on Sat., May 20
at the 331 Club as part of the Art-A-Whirl
Celebration. With the Pogue Brady Rock Band, Le Cirque Rouge de Gus Cabaret
and Burlesque, The Roe Family Singers, JoAnna James and Glen Hanson. 1 p.m.
(Vestals at 8 p.m.). Free. 21+. 331 Northeast 13th Ave., Mpls. 612-331-1746.
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