Isn’t it every burgeoning musician’s dream to move into a house with their high school friends, record an album, play the biggest music festivals in the world and launch into the upper stratosphere of indie rock? That’s the approximate trajectory of Los Angeles band Local Natives.
The band’s debut album “Gorilla Manor” was released in 2008 and was quickly embraced by critics and indie fans alike. Over the past two years, the critical buzz surrounding Manor, coupled with the band’s almost constant touring schedule and well-received sets at festivals, including Coachella, Bonnaroo and SXSW, have led to Local Natives’ rapid ascent into acclaim in the indie community.
The album utilizes traditional elements of modern indie rock to craft a distinctive sound, characterized by the band’s yearning three-part harmonies underscored by intricate orchestrations and anxious, rolling percussion.
In an interview with The Eagle, guitarist/vocalist Ryan Hahn talked about the band’s collaborative approach to songwriting and recording. “Gorilla Manor,” after all, was named after the house in Silver Lake, L.A., where the bandmates all lived and recorded their album.
“Everyone writes for the band, so everyone has their own stuff that they’ve been brewing,” Hahn said. “If any one of us have a chord progression or a melody or riff on the guitar that they really like, that person gets with another person and shows them what they like, and they work together on it. It always starts off differently, but it always ends the same — when we’re all in a room arguing over different parts and where things should be and what should change, and playing it over and over again until everyone gets to the point where we all go ‘It’s awesome and it works.’”
Local Natives’ collaborative style manifests itself in a chemistry that radiates throughout the record, giving Manor a rare warmth. Among the most exhilarating moments of the record are the crescendos where the tension that underlies Manor is released, crashing down in waves of soaring vocals and clattering drums.
Hahn cites the Beatles and Broken Social Scene as two of his main influences, both of which can be seen in Manor’s delicate constructions and lush arrangements. Even at its calmest, in the subdued strings in “Stranger Things” and wistful vocals in “Cubism Dream,” the record’s sound seems to be teetering on edge, prone to plunge into a pounding rush at any moment. And Manor’s rowdier moments — when “Sun Hands” breaks down into a stomping ruckus, the orchestral whirlwind of “Who Knows Who Cares” — are breathtaking. To use Hahn’s words, Gorilla Manor is awesome, and it works.
Local Natives wrap up their tour next week, stopping in D.C. next Thursday for a sold-out set at the 9:30 club, before traveling to Europe for a string of shows.
Try your best to get some tickets to Local Natives’ show next Thursday, Oct. 28, at the 9:30 club.
thescene@theeagleonline.com
