On Monday night, I trekked down to a dilapidated duplex near Greek row, with one of my friends who promised me that I was about to hear the next biggest band to hit Seattle. I was a little skeptical. We walked in, and there were four people lounged around a messy living room, eating Doritos and strumming or beating on their various instruments.
The band is composed of four members: Adam Mina (electric violin), Kendra Cherry (bass), Rob Michael (guitar), and Darcey Taggart (drums). They’ve been together for four months. Their name is Caribou Ate My Gold. When I asked them about the name, they all laughed, like they were enjoying an inside joke. “It’s hard to explain,” Darcey said.
Their music, too, is somewhat of a puzzle. Adam named Yellowcard, William Shatner, and The Arcade Fire as their biggest influences. Even after hearing them play, it’s hard for me to describe how they managed to incorporate the bands that influenced them into one sound.
Caribou ate my Gold may not, in fact, be the next big things to hit Seattle. The rehearsal that I was privleged enough to watch allowed me one of the first peeks at a band that is, in a word, strange. A loud but melancholy electric violin is the most obvious element of all their songs. While Adam draws out the melody, Rob speaks the lyrics of their songs (which range in subject matter from banana bread, to Australian citizens, to love affairs with 9-foot-tall women), and Kendra sings soothing refrains in the background. While no one would dream of faulting Caribou for being unoriginal, its possible that the band may have strayed a little too far from the beaten path to savor any real hope of generating a large fan base.
But regardless of what the public reaction to the band will be, once Caribou plays a real gig (as of yet, its performances have been limited to friends dropping in on its rehearsals), the four members have succeeded in fulfilling one of their dreams. Darcey said that starting a band was something they have always wanted to do, and they decided just to go for it. The four members of Caribou Ate My Gold are ambitious and driven. They had a dream. They made it work. The band’s motto: “Find a place, make it happen.” The motto is somewhat enigmatic, like many other things associated with the band. But the basic gist seems to be this: if you want something, go for it. And they did.
After writing numerous posts about all the disappointing albums released lately, and criticizing one band after another, I started thinking about things a little differently after talking with Caribou. Whether or not all my favorite bands release killer albums this year, maybe it’s enough that they’re out there–recording, playing, and living their dreams.
