Pete r Max 2008

,f

ON TAXIDERMY
AND IIGROUDIES"
Quirky locals Economy Teamrelease
debut album, begin searchfor wor ld's
f irst gear- toting groupie
ECONOMYTEAM
Kiss and Fondle
self-released
BY AMBER
taring out from behind glass eyes
and stale fur, mounted zebra and
wildebeest heads hang eerily over
the members of Economy Team as they
pose uncomfortably in the creepy base
ment of a taxidermist. In what seems
like the makings of a low-budget horror
movie, the band members poke around
the hundreds of preserved critters, find
ing hyenas, lemurs', and baboons to be
photographed alongside. In the perfect
place fortheirfirst band photo shoot, they
each put an accordion on their lap and
frown prettily.
"He [the taxidermist] completely
opened up my mind on weirdoes, " says
gllitarist and vocalist 1o:d HO)lIhnrr" who
' :011111: lip with 1111: iii,,:. III v ;:;;1 II" , nu i
mal purgatory. "How does that guy meet
women? 'Hi, I stuff animals, what do you
do?'"
Th e other two members, bassist Ted
Johnson and drummer Dylan Goudrt,
both agree that it was on e of the strang
est things they've ever experienced-but
after meetingthese guys, that's somewhat
hard to believe. Sitting in Holnberg's liv
ing roomamongst a collection ofMexican
wrestling masks and posters peeling off
the walls, we discussed the band's oddi
ti es as they at e tropical-flavored Dots and
smoked an endless supply of cigarettes.
Art high school buddies, the three
guys ha ve been playing together in vari
ous forms for six years, at one point under
t lu: 11:11111 ' " III< , Mill us, " T III,i r l: 1I rrnn 1gil'..
Economy Team, has been their focus for
two years and they're finally releasing
their full-length debut, Kiss and Fondle.
Ask them what kind of music they play,
and the answer is a little hazy.
"Erno math rock," says Johnson
with a smirk as Holnberg begs me not to
write it.
''I'd say we're an energy-technical
rock three-piece," Holnberg says.
"Donkey flavor," Goudrt chimes in.
"Orwolfrock,"Holnbergadds, which
he clarifies as "butt rock you can actually
listen to."
Perhaps definition-inept, Econ
omy Team have a sound that's a stellar
combination of ravenous guitar with
thoroughly thought-out bass lines and
complementary percussion. After a lis
ten of any length it's hard to believe only
three sets of hands are able to make such
stream through th e sometimes-sinister
guitar riffs and Holnberg's flexible vocals,
but as for influences , the band give due
credit to dragons, lightning bolts, and
space shi ps .
With a handful of perfectionist ten
dencies, the group members say they
don't mind taking their time during the
writingprocess (one song tooksixmonths
to finish). Musicians since th ey wer e pre
schoolers, they took years of formall es
sons that have influen ced them to think
on the technical side.
"We 're really technical in our writ
ing and that's why I think a lot of other
musicians like our music. But we have
fans ranging fr om old whi te men to young
girls-we haven't found a specific fan
group," Holnberg says, his wild blond
hair tangl ed in strange forms on his head.
After the three have finished writing
IIll llle don't even know what he's saying," 60udrt say..,
slouching backin the owl-decorated recliner,
puffi ng on his cigarette, hiding behind his aviators.
"Actually, I don't even know our song names."
a full sound. A tight-knit threesome, they
leave no black holes and are continually
keeping the listener's attention with em
bedded, jagged hooks.
Audiblo infl unnr.ns from ' 1I0 s I'ock
their parts, Holnberg ties up the songwith
his vocals, always keeping them sl igh tly
ambiguous and sketch v. V\ford, ; pllk" III JI
occasiollally, hili his lvri.. 0111'11'1 IIII HIIII
1'01' ::IIlI'I' 1' IS,"" ClI NlI M'( II AM/"'U, dl;l!
d I YPIIDP . f'"m. ' . 1 I 'll M i ll II 1 / , ,' 111111
ECONOMYTEAMfrom page 91 it puts you offs lightly."
Like most young mus icians, all of the
sing-alongs . Holnberg prefers his lyr ics guys would eventua lly li ke to leave th eir
to be a little mysteri ous; he tells stories service-industry jobs behind and have
with slurs an d gruff whines. self-sustaining musical careers . Wit h a
"We don't even know what he's say couple of established groupies to date ,
ing," Goudr t says, slouchi ng back in the Economy Team is still looki ng for some
owl-decorated recliner, puffing on his roadies. Any interested part ies have some
cigarette, hiding behi nd his av iators. tough requirements to fill.
"Actually, I don't even kn ow our son g ' "We' re looking for the combination
names." of a groupie and a roa die . A 'groudie,'''
Incor porating robots, monsters, and Johnson explains.
di nosaurs, Holnberg's lyr ics are any "Basically they have tobe dirty, slutty,
thing but serious an d real. One song is and move our equ ipment ," Hol nberg
a horror story about a man who kidnaps says.
women and taxidermi es them. The major Any interested parties should hit up
me lodies distr act the list ener from th e their MySpace. [!iI
severity, mocking with a false sense of
security. ECONOMYTEAM playa CD-release
"I hate singing social me taphors and show with Military Special, Me and My
shit like that," he says. "On first li sten Arrow; and Real Talk Radio on FRIDAY,
you ma y like the song for how it sounds SEPTEMBER 19, at the UPTOWN BAR;
and then when you knowwhat it's about, 612.823.4719
.
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