Musical brain child of now Paris based Aussie Matt Davis (ex-Gersey and Gaslight Radio) featuring former drummer for Rain Machine, Phosphorescent, Beach House et al Ben McConnell, and bass player Vincent Boyer on bass (Computers Kill People) The Wonder are one lo-fi indie rock outfit you should be keeping an eye on.
Taking diverse but familiar influences from bands like The Velvet Underground, Pavement, Tom Waits, The Walkmen and Bob Dylan, they’re producing passionate and considered indie rock with a 90s tinge.
Produced by longtime Pavement live mixer and producer of the last Stephen Malkmus record Remko Schouten, the band’s debut EP Pilot is out today via Four Track Records (through MGM). To celebrate its release Matt Davis has given us a track by track run down of the EP, he also promises “there will be shows in Australia soon, as early as May 23, and the Australian band will feature members of Ninety-Nine and Naked Bodies.” For more info visit www.thew0nder.com.
Out Of Love
Like most of the songs on the EP, ‘Out of Love’ looks back on my younger days (the working title for the record for a while was Nostalgia Songs). This one is about being new to Melbourne and young and poor, and trying to eke out an existence there. Trying to find a way in. The pressure that can put on you and how hard it can be to keep a relationship going, even relationships that you think will be there forever.
Sound-wise I really wanted this one to be upbeat and spiky and bold and it’s one of the main reasons we wanted to record with Remko (Schouten). We loved the sound of the last Stephen Malkmus record and thought that sound would work really well for us. Special mention – Toby Martin from Youth Group sang some harmonies in the chorus and 2nd verse, which really helped them pop.
Shadows Throw Bodies
This one is about my friend Marcus Bridges who died tragically. He’s the one that introduced me to Pavement and Sonic Youth and lots of other great American bands of that time and he really changed the way I looked at the guitar, and music, and what was possible. I asked Spiral Stairs from Pavement if he would play on it – I thought Marcus would absolutely love that – and one magic morning while we were mixing I received an email from Spiral with this great guitar part attached. That was a great moment in rock emails.
Nothing Else To Do
I grew up in a small town and Nothing Else To Do is about that – the boredom of it once you reach a certain age, and the desperation to get out. It’s mainly about my sister Kate and I. We would stay up late watching Rage and fantasize about being in those video clips and about jumping on the train and going to the city and doing something. Starting a band. She got out first in the end and I followed a few months later. I thought it would be cool to have some female singing on this one, kind of playing the role of my sister, and the lovely Kristen Cordle came in and sang with me in the chorus.
Sixteen
This is another one about growing up in the small town. Being sixteen and climbing out of my bedroom window to go and meet up with my girlfriend, and then us riding our bikes around the town in the middle of the night, having it to ourselves. The innocence of that, and then wanting to hang onto some of that innocence even as we get older and wiser. And then the last verse where it shifts a bit, escaping the town but kind of wanting to be back in the safety of it, in the simplicity.
In a way this tune was really the start of what the band has become and a lot of it can be traced back to the day we met our bass player Vincent. This is the first tune we really worked on with him and he brought a great tone and approach to the song. I really love what he did in the breakdown middle-eight part (starting at about 1:48), it’s a good indication of what he does – he’s really melodic but he also always makes sure the song is holding together. He’s great.
Bruises
I was staying with some friends in LA a few years ago and another friend of theirs was there and they were talking about parties they had had at the house and how much fun they were, and the friend said “Oh I do love dancing all night long at your house” and I just loved the way she said that. It sounded like a great lyric to me so I wrote it in my phone and – cut to a few years later – I had the chords to Bruises going and it felt like the right fit for it, and from there I pieced together the kind of unrequited love story and the lament about being on the wrong side of thirty.
The visual artist Taylor Holland was in the band for a while at the very start (some of his photos are in the artwork too) and he came up with the bass line that we based the end part on. Special mention should be made of Ben’s drumming on this one too – his drumming on all the tunes is fantastic – but this one just takes the cake I think. For me the fill he does at 5:17 is the highlight of the record.
