Billy Peake and Dan Gerken do little to dismiss the notion that the best art is made under conditions of duress.
It’s a cliché for a reason, as countless musicians have found inspiration in the physical and emotional threshing of their lives.
Peake and Gerken, who share singer/guitarist duties in the Ohio post-punk quartet Miranda Sound, will tell you their new record better reflects their onstage sound, that it’s a culmination of their nearly eight-year run together.
That’s true, but it obscures the fact that “Western Reserve,” released in July on Sunken Treasure Records, came kicking and screaming into the world after a violent conception.
“We had a crazy couple years with our personal lives, and we set out to make an extremely honest, direct and energetic record,” Peake said this week from a tour stop in Houston. “The production wasn’t as pretty as it’s been in the past, and we didn’t do a lot of crazy instrumentation and overdubs.”
Miranda Sound’s third album in four years benefits from its straight-ahead songwriting and production, the latter courtesy of post-punk icon and in-demand producer J. Robbins (Jawbox, Burning Airlines). After road-testing the songs for months, the band went into the studio and busted out “Western Reserve” in a week.
“We thought if there was one person that could capture our live energy, it would be J.,” Peake said. “And this time out, for Dan and I, it’s not so lyrically metaphorical.”
Songs like “Close Calls” reference actual events with a chilling descriptiveness. Gerken was hit by a car while riding his bike in 2003, leading to chorus lines like, “You should have seen me when they strapped me in/Blood in my hair, with beet-red irises.” Peake deals out the verses: “Dan destroyed an Oldsmobile/with his forehead/His bike’s crushed, his head’s a crimson mess.”
Since the accident nearly killed Gerken, it’s no surprise the band has weathered lesser calamities with aplomb. Besides its tour van being flattened by a tree in an electrical storm, founding drummer Scott Haynes left during the height of the previous album, “Engaged in Labor.”
“When Scott quit, it was touchy, because we built our songs around his drumming,” Peake said. “We changed our style a little bit but still maintained some of our weird quirks.”
With a new drummer (Dan Bell, a dentist by day) and an ambitious tour ahead (nearly 4,000 miles of travel time in a little over a week), the band is poised to grab some national attention. It plays its first Denver date at Bender’s 13th Ave. Tavern tonight.
Miranda Sound is also enjoying the push of a new label, Sunken Treasure Records, based in its hometown of Columbus. While Ohio is known for its do-it-yourself indie rock ethic, birthing bands like Guided by Voices, Devo, Pere Ubu and The Breeders, Sunken Treasure enjoys a distinct advantage.
Founder Robert Duffy, a former project manager for Netscape and one of the Columbus scene’s most vocal proponents, heads the renowned rock website DoneWaiting.com, which carries inestimable weight in the hipster world.
“When we were all at South by Southwest, I was blown away by Robert’s presence among the music blogging scene – the dude was a celebrity,” said Gerken, who’s still realistic about the prospects for a small, upstart record label. “A commitment to releasing records that you think are great isn’t necessarily a commitment to running a nationally famous record label for 15 to 20 years.”
Duffy’s fixation with the band started the moment he moved to Columbus five years ago.
“(They were) one of the first local bands I had seen,” he said. “I instantly fell in love and have been supporting them any way I can. Having them on the label was an extension of that.”
If Miranda Sound can extend the momentum it’s experiencing, this won’t be its last tour to our part of the country.
Staff writer John Wenzel can be reached at 303-820-1642 or jwenzel@denverpost.com.
| Miranda Sound
POST-PUNK|Bender’s 13th Ave. Tavern, 314 E. 13th Ave.; 9 tonight|$8|with Landlordland, tickets at the door, 303-861-7070