by Manny Theiner. Pittsburgh City Paper. Wednesday, March 7th, 2007.
Photo by Susanna Bartoldus
Although their name was randomly chosen from among the magnetic poetry snippets covering a refrigerator door, the inspirations which have driven the members of Life in Bed remain unmistakable. Though the Pittsburgh-based band spurns any use of the word "emo"; its melancholic, twin-guitar-line rock clearly points toward immersion in the genre's mid-'90s second-wavers on labels like Jade Tree and Polyvinyl. And it's not something the band members are trying to hide -- clearly they're proud to have played on bills with the likes of The Promise Ring, Hey Mercedes and Appleseed Cast.
Since the band's 2001 inception, a fairly wide appeal combined with solid musicianship has allowed Life in Bed to easily inhabit the various nooks and crannies of Pittsburgh's music community. "The nice thing about this band is that we can pretty much fit on a wide range of bills," says drummer Sean Finn. "We have a lot of friends in different areas and don't fit into one specific scene."
Life in Bed was originally composed of four-fifths of the members of '90s band Manifold Splendor, a female-fronted shimmer-pop outfit that was Pittsburgh's answer to The Sundays or The Cranberries. The common denominator between then and now? Another proto-emo idol -- The Smiths. And Morrissey is a force Life in Bed frontman/guitarist Bill Merante is more than happy to acknowledge from the days of WXXP. "The Smiths are the only band I listened to from my youth that had real staying power," he says. "I think that there's no doubt that what I take away from their music is their well-written songs."
And on Life in Bed's latest release, Passed and Presents, "we definitely got away from what I consider our previous M.O. in songwriting," says Finn. "Doing the clean verse and then, all of a sudden -- bam! -- a big chorus with distortion."
Merante emphasizes that the band has eschewed the dichotomy of a band like Slint for a more even-keeled, cleanly played sound showcasing the interlocking melodies of two guitars. "I'm trying to escape my math-rock influences and look back more towards the '60s, when a song was a song," says Merante. "Back then, you weren't writing a guitar part to impress someone or showcase your talent -- you would play a riff because it fits."; The puzzle-piece method by which the bright, effect-laden guitar lines interact definitely shows a comfort level between Merante and second guitarist Stephen McMillen (formerly of Voice in the Wire), who replaced original member Craig Svitek a year ago.
But it's not just the songs and style that are changing with the new album. Life in Bed's stepping up its hustle and looking to tour the region from Baltimore to Chicago to support Passed and Presents. It'll be two years in August that Finn has the booker for the live Thursdays at the South Side's Lava Lounge. He's flexed that position into a formidable Rolodex the band has used to expand into places like New York City, where the group has graced such well-known venues as North Six, Piano's and Galapagos.
Part of the excitement of hitting the road is that the band recognizes the inherent limitations of its hometown. Sure, Pittsburgh has a cheap cost of living, and it's not that hard to get a decent practice space. But based on his experience as a musician and promoter, Finn claims that the actual number of people interested in hearing original local music is as miniscule as ever. So Life in Bed is not pinning its hopes on emerging as a local icon.
"There's an established core of people who go out, and enough good bands in the city worth spending five dollars on," he says. But "if there are four or five decent shows on a Saturday night, then you're pulling from that same small group of people and somebody's going to suffer because of it."
"With the fact that there are so many college students here, you wouldn't think it would be so difficult," adds Merante. "But the average person -- even someone in their 20s -- would rather go to a bar, listen to the same music they hear all day on the radio, and see the same people they see every weekend. Traditionally, it hasn't changed much over the years."
This bit of trivia came up and was bandied about at Gooski's in the aftermath of Life in Bed's March 10 CD release show. Everyone's cell-phone clocks reset themselves, and although things wrapped up fairly quickly, there's still a little buzz of rockworthyness when you realize you're still drinking at Gooski's with your friends and it's technically after 3 a.m.
Though the evening's mood and crowd were subdued, it was certainly one of Life in Bed's more riveting performances of late. Gooski's is kind of a mystery of the faith in the sense that, despite being a tiny room with barely half a PA system, it's almost impossible for a band to sound bad there. For Life in Bed's set, the sound was remarkably clear, with each instrument -- even the tricky interlocking guitars -- occupying discrete sonic spaces. As the band played new tunes from Passed and Presents plus a couple oldies, the members seemed to play the tempos against the emotional dynamics, stretching a quiet verse or breakdown almost to the breaking point, or hitting an explosive chorus with a burst of speed.
No average Irish stew
By: Scott Tady, Times Entertainment Writer
03/15/2007
MONACA - Sure, they'll pour green bar Saturday in the Bronze Eagle, but this won't be a typical St. Patrick's Day bash.
"I've been promoting it as the alternative to the other places where you have someone's grandmother playing the harp and spinning tales of young Angus' ove affair with the sheep," says the Bronze Eagle's Seth Murphy, who quickly reminds you that he's Irish, so he's allowed to say things like that.
"I've tried to combine the best of both worlds; all the drinking of St. Pat's day, but with livelier music," Murphy said.
And by livelier music, he means his Monaca bar will host an alternative-rock triple fest of Shade, Life in Bed, and Better Ending.
"I didn't even realize that show was on St. Patrick's Day until you mentioned it," Shade bassist Brad Kiefer said. "Maybe we'll have to wear Irish hats or something."
Shade hasn't played Ireland. But the post-post-modern rockers did a six-show tour of England last year that earned them ink in the world's premier music magazine, New Musical Express.
"The England shows were great, but we're still trying to pay back some of the bills," Kiefer said.
Shade's exhilarating, artsy sound - influenced by England's early 1990s "shoegazer" bands like Ride, Lush and the Stone Roses - also has received glowing reviews from Spin and several alternative music magazines, landing the band steady gigs in New York and Philadelphia.
"We played more out-of-town shows than in-town ones last year," Kiefer said.
Since releasing a new CD in January, Shade has focused on Pittsburgh dates, including a March 8 Club Cafe show opening for national act Calla.
Shade's new single, "Wide Eyed," has been played on 27 FM radio stations, and been in steady rotation on XM Satellite Radio's Channel 43 devoted to unsigned groups. Kiefer said.
Bronze Eagle promoter Doug Robson said he booked Shade in Monaca as part of a bid to get bigger named bands into Beaver County.
"I had also got requests to specifically book Shade from people who had told me they had a great live performance," Robson said.
Shade writes and rehearses in a private, Warholian space at Fifth and Liberty downtown, a building used by other bands, including Life in Bed, another critically praised indie rock band fronted by Beaver's Bill Merante, formerly of the bands Paris Green and Irwin.
For its Bronze Eagle show, Life in Bed will play songs off its new CD, "Passed and Presents," released last Saturday.
Like Shade, Life in Bed fits snugly with the Bronze Eagle's quest to expose Beaver County audiences to the Pittsburgh region's finest rock bands.
"There seems to be a surge in talent coming from our area, especially the Pittsburgh alternative scene, that may be getting overlooked," Murphy said. "I believe that Beaver County does have the demographic to support different types of live music."
Opening the 10 p.m. show will be one of Beaver County's most accomplished bands, Better Ending, veterans of the annual Rockin' the Suburbs festival.
Scott Tady can be reached online at stady@timesonline.com.
©Beaver County Times Allegheny Times 2007