Thursday, May 18, 2006

The Lashes are giddy, over-the-top, and a testament to the joys of forming a band instead of getting a real job.

The six-piece who share a messy rental in Seattle played relentlessly and released an EP before they set about releasing a full length debut, called Get It.

If it weren't for frontman Ben Clark's allegiance to Seattle's fertile music scene, you'd be forgiven for mistaking the Lashes for a glammy L.A. new wave band.

There is an overt appreciation for both retro indie rock a la Cheap Trick or even Elvis Costello, and the infectious, fresh new sounds a la Hot Hot Heat. Even the album cover close-up of guy hips brandishing layers of studded leather belts is such a nod to 1982
that the effect is charmingly ridiculous pretension.

And Clark and his band, guitarist Scotty Rickard, bassist Nate Mooter, guitarist Eric Howk, drummer Mike Loggins and keyboardist Jacob Hoffman, clearly don't take themselves so seriously that you could fault them much on their rock send-up.

On the phone, they sound as hyper as you might imagine a busload of 20-something guys to get after hours on the road to Cleveland. Clark pauses our interview so the band can sing an impromptu song for me.

They make their way to Richard's on Richards May 24, their first Vancouver performance despite the fact that they all partied here when they were still under 21 (American drinking age).

"Seattle has a huge indie scene, the great indie bands of the country are coming out of Seattle right now," says Clark, who's willing to theorize as to why.

"There's this influx of people from all over the country who are there to make music.

"As soon as I was old enough to try my hand at it, that's what I did. Seattle's got a great scene. And maybe when you're ready to drop out of college and follow your rock 'n' roll dreams I think that Seattle is good for that.

"And Seattle doesn't buy into its own hype and become a Northwest L.A. It didn't get dirty and sleazy. It has real ethics and it has real rock 'n' roll bands and hard working people who don't mind doing day jobs and playing rock 'n' roll."

For their part, members of the Lashes have all worked their share of dumb jobs.

Mooter takes this opportunity to give his old pitch when telephone fundraising for the Seattle gay men's choir.

And Loggins -- the band's 11th drummer -- takes over the phone to list the jobs he had before becoming a professional musician:

"Oh God, let's see, I sold vacuums door to door for awhile. I only sold two in one day and I made $1,000 then I quit the next day.

"I was a mover, a painter, a hard labourer and I used to crush up concrete with a sledgehammer and scoop it into buckets. And I worked at one place that made dry
soup, seasoned packets of potatoes, peas, corn and noodles.

"And I was the corn guy," he adds, and everybody in the background can be heard laughing.

"I worked for Amazon.com, made their website. I worked security for Bob Dylan concerts and stuff. I worked for Nordstrom's. I was a pizza delivery driver. That was the last job I quit to join this band."

On the bright side, Clark remembers when British rocker Pete Doherty from the Libertines came to a party at their house after a show (in the days before his famous cocaine dalliance with super model Kate Moss).

Let's just say that Doherty has been living the rock 'n' roll lifestyle for a very long time.

As for the Lashes, their evolution as a band with the current line-up has been less tumultuous.

"It was very similar to American Idol but with no promise of fame and fortune, and more pizza," says Clark.