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States drummer Joe Stroll, frontman Chris Snyder and bassist Previn Warren fight about politics, and then put it in their songs.
Political ‘States'
By Eddie Shoebang
Wed Jun 20, 2007, 12:00 PM EDT
Leave it to a couple of Harvard graduates to create one of the most creative and political rock albums of the year.
The States, a rock trio now based in New York, will likely play songs off their new album, “The Path of Least Resistance,” when they perform at TT the Bear’s in Cambridge on Thursday, June 21. The album, their sophomore effort, drops on Aug. 14. With the new disc and the show, the band gets a chance to voice their political views, though it may not be the political issues you’d expect from three twenty-somethings.
Instead of the predictable Bush whacking songs or Iraq war laments, frontman Chris Snyder tackles issues like gentrification, nation building and the political scandals of lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
That’s right. A song about the disgraced Washington, D.C., lobbyist whose various political crimes are still reaping guilty pleas and verdicts in the court.
“We wrote it in early 2006,” says Snyder of the song “Black Jack.” “We wanted to write a political song and that story was on our minds. But we couldn’t figure out how to write a good song about it. It’s a weird topic and hard to get your fist pumping to.”
The band solved the problem by switching the focus of the song. Instead of being about the scandal (and the intricate crimes of a well-connected Washington D.C. lobbyist), the song turned into a sort of confession told through the point-of-view of Abramoff. Here’s a sample lyric:
“My paper planes, their destination was a tragedy/But I’m no pilot, don’t go blaming me/ If you were dealt the hand that I got/ You’d have cashed out before you were caught.”
“Black Jack” is such a strong, creative effort that it caught the attention of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, where the track won a Grand Prize in the rock category (but the band didn’t win the coveted Lennon award).
“Our approach is different,” says Snyder. “We like writing about things that have no easy answer.”
So instead of the war, Snyder and company wrote a song about gentrification (renovating low-income housing, thus attracting wealthier tenants) in “New Land.”
“Most people don’t know quite what to think about it,” says Snyder. “And that’s how we feel. We really like writing songs about complicated issues.”
The band members know there are no easy answers, in politics or music — not only do the three of them have different political views, they each have varying musical tastes as well.
Bassist Previn Warren (who Synder met at Harvard and calls “Prev”) enjoys the Red Hot Chili Peppers and has a more of a funk attitude. Drummer Joe Stroll (who was the only one who answered a craigslist ad for a drummer) brings his “mild insanity” and love for metal and Mars Volta. Synder exists somewhere in the middle, listing bands like Wilco and Explosions in the Sky.
“It took a long time to get over that initial clash of worlds,” says Synder. “When we’re writing, sometimes one person is satisfied and the other two aren’t. Occasionally, there are flashes of genius. Those are the things that make it to the record.”
The result is a hybrid sound. There are moments of funk, rock and even metal, but no particular style dominates. Somehow, the three of them have found a way to take the best out of each world and made it work.
The lyrics are varied as well. They stem from political arguments that band has while touring the country in their van.
“We are friends before anything else,” says Synder. “Whatever happens, we’ll get beer or milkshakes at the end of the night. We can be vehemently disagreeing, but it’s not going to change anything.”
Snyder, who studied social studies at Harvard, credits the arguments with adding “color” to the music and feels it brings a different perspective that currently isn’t out there.
“It’s really important to have fist-pumping bands,” says Snyder. “Bands that help people protest. We’re just trying to have people think about this stuff.”
