When Kansas City, Mo.'s beloved Shiner disbanded after graciously sharing 2001's "The Egg" with the indie rock world, hordes of ever-loyal math rock enthusiasts everywhere cried a simultaneous, "No!"
Had frontman Allen Epley heard? In no time, it seemed, he had recruited bassist John Meredith and drummer Mike Myers to form The Life and Times and release 2003's "Flat End of the Earth" EP.
Both Meredith and Myers bailed after a year, leaving the doors wide open for Eric Abert and Chris Metcalf to complete the trio who have now successfully executed the full-length album fans have patiently been waiting for since Shiner's final days.
Densely atmospheric, moody and still nodding politely to pioneers like Sunny Day Real Estate, "Suburban Hymns" -- their DeSoto Records debut -- hit stores in August 2005.
At last, Epley had found the right equation.
"It can be tough to find a new sound if you have been writing for years as one persona," he says. But with Albert, Metcalf and producer J. Robbins behind him, the right sound wasn't so hard to find.
On "Suburban Hymns" the musical mathematicians have created impenetrable anthems that feel dark and somewhat tortured -- especially when accompanied by lyrics like, "The messages you leave on my cell phone remind me why I drink the ocean," or the album's closing statement, "We made a pact to eat each other to survive."
"Since Shiner had not had much luck writing in the last year or so of our existence, this was an obvious opportunity to finally work out whatever I wanted," says Epley. "We had no idea exactly what we wanted, so as a result, nothing was off limits stylistically."
What resulted from this newfound freedom is a freshness of style that includes plenty of haunting reverb and ethereal guitar work layered with Epley's sometimes breezy and other times angst-filled vocals that seem to revisit -- dare I say -- the grunge era.
Though obviously the band's most impressive work, Epley is hesitant to call "Suburban Hymns" perfect.
"To call it, or anything, perfect would be too absolute for me," he says. "It would imply an end to the quest. It would mean that you would have finally nailed it, and that you wouldn't be driven to hit it again."
The good news for us?
"Our perfect record is yet to come, I'm happy to report," promises Epley. "We are writing very easily and successfully as a band now. That special chemistry doth floweth between us at quite a clip these days."
But until then, The Life and Times is going to revel in post-production bliss by way of national tour. Their Milwaukee stop lands them at the Cactus Club on Friday, Jan. 27 to share the stage with Milwaukee's Crimes of Paris and Sport of Kings.
The band's Web site is thelifeandtimes.com.
OnMilwaukee.com staff writer Julie Lawrence grew up in Wauwatosa and has lived her whole life in the Milwaukee area.
As any “word nerd” can attest, you never know when inspiration will strike, so from a very early age Julie has rarely been seen sans pen and little notebook. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee it seemed only natural that she major in journalism. When OnMilwaukee.com offered her an avenue to combine her writing and the city she knows and loves in late 2004, she knew it was meant to be. Around the office, she answers to a plethora of nicknames, including “Lar,” (short for “Larry,” which is short for “Lawrence”) as well as the mysteriously-sourced “Bill Murray.”
