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Twin Town High (vol. 8) |
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Gingersol
Wednesday 19 March @ 13:28:24 |
 by Rob van Alstyne
Brooklyn-by-way-of-L.A. band Gingersol are riding high following the national release of their sophomore full-length, The Trainwreck is Behind You. The new collection, out on Rubric Records, is filled with compact, chimey-guitar pop gems peppered with just the right touches (oddball synthesizers, the occasional electric banjo) to keep the compositions left of the mainstream. Recorded over a lengthy stretch of time in guitarist Seth Rothschild’s home studio, Trainwreck is the product of an obviously talented and hard-working band willing to stretch out in many ways, (the riveting title track mini-ballad providing the strongest evidence).
Things weren’t always running so smoothly in the land of Gingersol, however, as primary singer/guitarist Steve Tagliere explains via the telephone while loading his gear in preparation for the band’s impending national tour. “Gingersol had a period of like five years where we didn’t release anything and I think we recorded something around six albums worth of material during that time. There were a lot of business problems and lineup situations and we would make recordings and then everybody in the current version of the band would quit, that sort of thing. We talked with a lot of labels that all ended up wasting our time, it was a pretty frustrating period.”
Tagliere, like so many other artists before him, took the frustration and channeled it into his art. Recorded at home and released on his own mini-imprint (the aptly titled Pretend Record Company), Tagliere emerged in 1998 with his debut solo record, Trust Myself, one of the most compelling solo bedroom pop albums of recent memory. Turning down the wattage from Gingersol’s previous output, Tagliere’s sandpapery crackle stood front and center spinning tales of lovable losers and down-but-not-out protagonists. The album won a lot of critical acclaim, including the stamp of approval from former Minneapolis music guru Peter Jesperson.
“I didn’t want to give up doing music, and that’s what Trust Myself was all about. After a while I just decided, ‘Hey I’ve got some recording gear, I’m going to make an album.’ I self-released it, and it did alright for that sort of thing. People still talk to me about it four years later, which is pretty flattering.”
“The record found its little audience, and that was a turning point for me,” he explains. “I had given up and wasn’t going to do Gingersol anymore, but then I met Seth and he inspired me to want to play with people. And then we just started playing and decided to bring Gingersol back together, and it’s been fun and challenging. It would be nice to sell more records and have sold-out shows and be able to pay your bills decently, but the music is definitely there, and that’s what actually matters.”
Tagliere’s music backs up his words, as Trainwreck’s tasteful midtempo tunes sound polished but never overly glossy. The addition of Rothschild, an instrumental everyman who also tempers Tagliere’s voice with a smoother lead vocal sound on a number of tracks, appears to have put Gingersol over the top and into the terrain of great bands.
Tagliere couldn’t be more excited about the direction his band is heading in, but simultaneously acknowledges it’s only the beginning. “Everybody’s only scratching the surface of what music can be and we try to be really conscious of that,” admits Tagliere. “There’s a lot more we could be doing, it’s easy to fall back on formulas when you’re creating a song, but that’s ultimately less satisfying. To get the definitive version of a song and the right mix of sounds is what it’s all about. To get to the place where you’re making stuff that’s personally inspiring and you can stop thinking about and just enjoy is really special. That’s what we try to do.”
Gingersol plays Wed., Mar. 19, at the 7th St. Entry as a part of the new band showcase with No Pride, Blood of a Dying Covenant, and Johari’s Window. 9 p.m. $5. 21+. Use mainroom doors. 701 1st Ave. N., Mpls. 612-338-8388.
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