Nadeem Salaam
“We’re going to be there and we’re all really excited here at Elevtrtrax that our ethereal maker of Wild Nothing will be giving Brooklyn a little slice of vibes to kick the week off! Doors open at 8:00pm, tickets still on sale for $16.00.”
Ask Jack Tatum what ‘Wild Nothing’ means and he’ll answer: ‘a contradiction’. In 2010, 21 year old Tatum released one of the finest cult pop records of the summer whilst ensconced in his senior year of college in Blacksburg, VA, a small mid-atlantic town better known for producing football fans and engineers than musicians. Tatum lives in contradictions. You’ll often hear Wild Nothing referred to as a ‘one man pop band’. Jack creates in the studio, alone. On the road, he’s with a band. There are two Wild Nothings. The critically acclaimed debut ‘Gemini’ was underpinned with summery childhood longings, and shot through with the instant dichotomy of anxiety and almost whimsical paranoia. The album, which was home recorded by Tatum and rooted heavily in 80’s indie-pop, quickly gained popularity throughout the internet. Tatum assembled a band of Virginia friends and hit the road for the first time. ‘Gemini’ showed a promising future for a songwriter who wore his influences on his sleeve while still approaching pop craftsmanship in his own way. When asked about it in regards to ‘Nocturne’, Jack states: I don’t think it’s going to be a secret to anyone that I care about pop music, but it’s definitely more my sense of what pop music used to be or even what pop music would be in my ideal world. The new album ‘Nocturne’, is a window into Tatum’s “ideal world” of pop music. Written largely while living in Savannah, GA during 2011, the songs that became ‘Nocturne’ speak to a new Wild Nothing where the lines between Jack’s influences and personality have been further blurred. The album features some open references to past music just as ‘Gemini’ did, but it’s also an album that feels much less rooted in anything in particular and, well, more adult.
“It has the potential to be one of the defining American indie records” – The Quietus
Though only 21 years of age, and recently a student at Philadelphia’s Temple University, DSU is Alex G’s fifth album. “I have been making music for as long as I can remember. My older brother is a talented musician and, as a kid, I would take after him by playing the keyboard. I always preferred writing my own music to learning other people’s work,” says Alex, which may go some way to explaining the volume of original material that exists. All recorded at home, almost exclusively solo, and, until recently, all self-released and available only via Bandcamp; the volume of his work online – combined with its vitality – has helped build a fervent cult fan base, resulting in two sell out US-only pressings of DSU via the esteemed Brooklyn bedroom label Orchid Tapes.
Wise beyond his years, Alex’s lyrics draw upon personal experiences whilst conveying something universal as if touching upon topics with a world-weary authority: the frustration that comes with dealing with reprobate friends, self-centred drug-use and the stinging loneliness of an unreciprocated affection all feature prominently. Like classic alternative artists Neil Young and Alex Chilton, Alex’s songs are refreshingly robust and rapturous, with enough lo-fi grit to ground them in a sparse, impressionistic space.