In the music industry, buzz can feel like an unseasonably warm stretch in the dead of winter. It's nice while it lasts, but it never does. The buzz dispensers quickly tire of this week/day/moment's object of adoration and soon move on, and the aftermath can be unpleasant.
Consider Tapes 'n Tapes, who first gained notice when 2006's self-released album "The Loon" turned the Minneapolis quartet into blogosphere darlings. But that quickly faded, and each subsequent Tapes 'n Tapes album has picked up worse reviews than the one before. You can trace the devolution of their critical reputation in hipster circles through the influential website pitchfork.com, which awarded "The Loon" an 8.3 (out of 10) rave. But 2008's "Walk It Off" dropped them all the way to a 5.9 rating, and their current album "Outside" (Ibid Records) just picked up a wince-inducing 5.5.
Alas, slings and arrows are part of the gig.
Yelp and grooves
"I don't think there's much value you can put into reviews because they're just somebody's opinion, and we realize that," says Tapes 'n Tapes frontman Josh Grier over the phone from Minneapolis. "I mean, we all love our music and everybody is entitled to their own opinion. Reading too much into that would be a recipe for disaster - make you into a head case trying to cater to someone else. We make the music we want to make. if somebody else doesn't like it, well, we can't let that affect the music we make in the future."
Undeserved opprobrium aside, "Outside" is an immensely likable record that wears well, setting Grier's nervous yelp to elastic, skittery grooves with hooks sharp enough to stick. It's a less-self-conscious take on Vampire Weekend's worldly underground rock, with a vibe recalling prime Talking Heads.
In fact, that's a comparison that you should probably see more often than you do. Tapes n' Tapes seem to get compared with the iconic '90s alternative-rock band the Pixies most frequently, but Talking Heads makes for a more accurate reference point.
"I definitely think the Pixies comparisons have been overplayed, at least for how much I've ever listened to them," Grier says. "Sure, the Pixies were and are amazing, and I do listen to them. But growing up, I heard a lot more Talking Heads just because my dad was playing their records when I was a kid. I was not even aware of the Pixies when they first came around because I was too young - like, 9 years old."
After breaking through with "The Loon," Tapes 'n Tapes hooked up with the semi-major label XL Records for their next record and spent three years on the road more or less continuously. That led to a bit of burnout, followed by retrenching.
He sits, plays and writes
So it is that "Outside" finds Tapes 'n Tapes back in the do-it-yourself world. The band members released it on their own label, and the prolific Grier is already looking ahead to the next record. Another set of songs is already in progress.
"Songwriting has never been too much of a struggle," Grier says. "I sit down, play guitar, things happen and I write songs. It's a process I find very weird, playing guitar and a song just comes out. I like playing by myself in the basement, which I try to do as much as possible. And just messing around playing guitar, trying things out, songs come. I think it's good to be constantly making music.
"At this point, I feel like we're all in it for the long haul and for a long time," he adds. "We've got this album out, so it's time to tour. Then after that, it's more touring or getting back to demos and the studio for another album. The cycle of a band can be endless, so long as everybody is into it. At this point, we're four friends having fun making music together. That's where it sits. Until it stops, we'll keep on doing it."
