[mp3] Introducing // The Gary

Written on March 9, 2011 by Will in Music

thegary [mp3] Introducing // The Gary

It is really strange where I have been discovering music lately. Some of the greatest bands I have discovered lately have come courtesy of the fantastic Baseball Prospectus podcast Up and In. Every week, they use some indie band as the theme music for the episode. I have been introduced to bands like ShellShag, The Bismarck, and much of the work from Steve Albini. On the most recent podcast, the hosts talked about the unpretentious awesomeness of this band. This past week, the episode used the straight-ahead rock music of The Gary – a rock trio from Austin, Texas.

Ever since English 9A during my freshman year of high school, I have been a huge fan of two particular words: dichotomy and juxtaposition. I am a total word whore. Use either one of those words in the proper context, and in an equally interesting fashion, I will instantly fall in love with you. The Gary not only use dichotomy properly, but they manage to use it in an extremely enlightening and thought-provoking way. But of course, I am not going to write about that particular song. I am just demonstrating how The Gary have a sweet vocabulary.

[mp3] The Gary // Awhile from El Camino

Comprised of Dave Norwood, Paul Warner, and Trey Pool (and signed to Austin’s Cedar Fever Records), The Gary are a fun jumble of bands like Pavement, Sonic Youth, and whatever jangly indie labels you want to throw at them. Besides having a fantastic band name, the Texas trio offer up solid, driving rock music with thoughtful lyrics. Their most recent work, an EP entitled El Camino, was released earlier this year. The six-song offering was recorded by indie music legend Steve Albini, the brains behind Nirvana’s In Utero and founding member of bands like Big Black and Shellac.

My favorite track of the release is “Awhile,” which is a slower number that features a driving, pounding beat. It also contains some lyrical nuggets like, “I’m in the space between thoughts, wholly owned by nothing” and “I’m in the space between words, in the all consuming chasm.” Heady stuff that really calls to mind some of the more thoughtful non-sequiturs of Pavement’s Steven Malkmus or Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy. It’s not to say that the lyrics are meaningless, but that you have to ruminate on them on for awhile before coming to any sort of conclusion. That is truly my reaction to The Gary. You have to just let it sit there and enjoy it.