DECEMBER 2010 ISSUE MMUSICMAG.COM SPOTLIGHT ittig w Cameron erik Appelwick, matt Kretzman, Adrian Cook Josh Grier, Jeremy hanson TAPES ’N TAPES An indie-rock upstart finds space in its songs during a full-circle journey to independence In some wAys, the story of tApes completely abandoned the mangy guitars ’n tapes reads like a case study of how the and rolling-boil drums heard on its breakout music business has changed over the last 2005 single “Insistor,” the Outside tracks lead half-decade. the minneapolis quartet with melodies set high in the mix. “people released its debut, The Loon, in 2005, you Know” is a ’50s-style ballad about the independently (in the U.s., at least) on comforts of home, while “one in the world” its own Ibid label. the buzz earned them is a spanish-tinged number complete with a spot on the roster of XL recordings horns and castanets. “sonically, we talked a and a bigger budget for their sophomore lot about making sure there’s space, where DECEMBER 2010 effort, 2008’s Walk It Off. By the time you can say, ‘oh, I can pick out that bass the group began work on its new album, part,’ or ‘I can pick out what the guitar is M MUSIC & MUSICIANS Outside, the members had decided to doing,’” says Grier, who co-founded the MAGAZINE go it alone again. group in minneapolis during the winter “we’d saved enough money so we of 2003. “when we were making the last could do that, and the overall music climate record it was kind of a stressful time. we’d has changed enough since 2005,” singer been touring a long time—a whole bunch of and guitarist Josh Grier says. “we’ve stuff was going on. I was more wound up, always had a strong idea of how we want and that overflowed into the record.” to do things. when we released The Loon, while Outside will do little to quiet we did things on our own for a while, but it critics who incessantly point out the group’s got to be too much, doing all the distribution debt to ’90s alt-rock acts, Grier pays such and everything. there was a lot of learning talk no mind. “I definitely like way more bands going on. this time around, we’ve grown than the pixies and pavement,” says Grier, a lot, and bands put their own records who also cites favorites like the Beatles, out now. It’s way easier to do distribution wire and Bruce springsteen. “hopefully, on your own.” people see us for more than that. you can’t Left to its own devices, tapes ’n tapes ever tell people how to think about you. you created arguably its calmest, cleanest- just hope they do—and that they like it.” sounding album yet. while the group hasn’t –Kenneth Partridge 18 M mag 8.indd 18 12/30/10 6:14:15 PM.