I first heard this debut band Crossword Smiles on the single “Parallel Lines” and was intrigued by all the combinations. It's very smart to link college rock, early REM, Steely Dan, and Fountains of Wayne. The album is just as intriguing and good--a wonderful debut that is very memorable.
The band was kind enough to answer a few questions for me.
Andrea Weiss: How did the band form?
Tom Curless: It really started as a casual conversation that Chip and I had about forming a side project. We play in other bands together but we both had songs that would fit better in another type of environment, so we decided then and there to form a new band! Crossword Smiles was born.
Chip Saam: The band formed out of a shared love for the sound of several bands we felt wasn’t necessarily present in the independent music we were hearing: The Go-Betweens, Freedy Johnston, and The Cars among others. We’re both huge music nerds. Tom and I play in several different bands together and at some point I suggested we try writing some stuff together. We each brought a handful of songs to the songwriting sessions and by the time we were done we had formed Crossword Smiles, as the songs didn’t fit with any of our other projects.
AW: Who are your influences?
TC: Initial influences for this record: The Go Betweens, Grant McLennan solo, Freedy Johnston, Joe Jackson, The Cars, and Chris Stamey.
CS: I’d say The Go-Betweens, Freedy Johnston, Del Amitri, Crowded House, and a little bit of the Pernice Brothers thrown in there.
AW: I hear a lot of Steely Dan, REM, and Fountains of Wayne in your sound, which is great. Are they influences too?
TC: Those bands are all fair game, definitely a bit of early REM in there, and we have always admired Fountains of Wayne. The Steely Dan comparisons are a surprise (and we have heard this more than once). It was not our intent but we will take it all day long! A happy accident perhaps?
CS: I absolutely love the Steely Dan reference. I always thought Tom’s guitar solo on “Parallel Lines” could have come from an Aja outtake. But I’m a big fan of sophisti-pop--bands like Prefab Sprout, China Crisis, Danny Wilson, Swan Dive, etc.--and a lot of the bands in that genre pray at the altar of Steely Dan. Maybe some of that rubbed off on how we approached the songs. REM I think has probably influenced every band of our generation, both in attitude and sound. The Fountains of Wayne influence is a badge of honor too--one of our favorite bands. I know that, especially with lyrics, both Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collinwood have had an impact on my songwriting.
AW: Most of your songs are bittersweet, which I like. What is it about that contrast that you like?
TC: I think Chip and I both appreciate the mixing of the dark and the light. I tend to start with a cynical point of view or idea, but then try to find something positive in the situation, so it ends up as a bittersweet vibe.
CS: I think the mixture of happiness and sadness makes for a better lyric than a pure notion of either. I love to read books with a bittersweet storyline as well. The reality is that that is more representative of how life goes--most good things have some kind of cost.
AW: Songs like “Take It On The Chin” and “Girl With the Penchant For Yellow” are happy, though, which is also good. Did you want a balance of happy and sad?
TC: Both of those songs are Chip's ideas, so he just must be a happier guy than me! Ha! Some of his songs are stories, à la "Eleanor Rigby," maybe partly inspired by true events, but also partly made up. But maybe I am way off. I will let him answer this one! Ha! I don't know that we planned any balance of happy and sad but it ended up this way.
CS: Both of those lyrics were definitely intended to be encouraging to the underdog in everyone. The story of persevering is one most of us can relate to. Typically, when you’re putting songs together for a project, I think there is an attempt to balance both emotions and tempos of songs but honestly these songs all just kind of felt right from the get go.
AW: Jangle pop seems to be a big part of your sound, as well as 80s college rock. Why did you choose that era?
TC: Jangle pop in the mid to late 80's was a really cool time in music. It was really quite a scene for a few years, led by REM when they were on IRS. Bands like Let's Active and the DB's. I also include the Replacements in the college rock category; they were a breath of fresh air in the mid to late 80's.
CS: I don’t think that we chose it so much as it was a natural extension of our influences. Jangle pop bands like The Windbreakers, The Reivers, The Bats, and The Chills from the 80’s were really some of the first bands I fell in love with. The bands that influenced them--The Byrds, Big Star, The Beatles--all had a jangle component. The Rickenbacker guitar became this magnet to my ears, and where you find a Ric you’re gonna find jangle. Same goes for college rock. Bands like The dB’s, Let’s Active, REM, The Smiths, The Bangles, The Church, Game Theory, The Replacements, Wire Train, Romeo Void--that’s when I really fell in love with music.
AW: Did your band name come from the Cars song “Dangerous Type?”
TC: Yes, nice spot! We are both huge Cars fans and it seemed appropriate!
CS: What Tom said!
AW: Do you have plans to tour?
TC: We would love to tour behind the record, but unfortunately it's just not feasible at this point. We are planning on playing some shows to promote the record, and we are willing to travel out of town to play, but it has to be the right opportunity. Thanks, and I am glad you are enjoying the record!
CS: We have just started to talk about a record release show here in Michigan. We’d both love to do shows is some select markets if they made sense. We’ve played in other bands in Detroit, New York, Chicago, and Indianapolis, so who knows? Thanks so much for taking an interest in the record!
