Tearing Up the Field

With wry lyrics and twisting guitar hooks, Seattle's Hollow Bodies splice several strains indie rock to elate, debate and mourn American life. A self described "shoegaze-country band," the group is known for swapping genres between tracks so that their sonics match the message of each story-song. The resulting rock recalls like minded fuzz-folk artists Wilco, Yo la Tengo, and the humorous lyrics of Super Furry Animals.

Hollow Bodies formed in 2015 from the ashes of Diomedes, a prog-rock band about the Iliad. Songwriter Anand Balasubrahmanyan joined guitarist Chris Dewar and drummer Josh Lindgren in an unconventional power trio consisting of just two guitars and drums. The group used an army of effect pedals and alternate tunings to let each guitar fill a distinct space in the mix--creating bellowing low notes, looping feedback and raucous leads with just two sets of hands. 

Their first album, Night After Night (2017), spun satirical yarns over a lush bed of guitars. The records kick starts with the catchy stomp of "Strangers," which examines how online dating forces swipers to project their hopes for themselves on other people. "Pity Me" uses the story of Aroldis Chapman to question why althetes accussed of sexual assault are allowed to frame themselves as victims. "One of Us" is one of those laugh-while-crying songs, skewering anti-immigrant politicians whose caustic logic boils down to: "only one of us can be one of us."        

Playing shows around Seattle, at both improv comedy clubs and traditional rock clubs, Hollow Bodies honed their sensibility in venues that embraced humorous storytelling and encouraged the virtues of performers playing off each other.  That spring their original drummer, Josh, left the band to become an agent for podcasts at CAA. 

Over the next year, Hollow Bodies continued to write new material and perform with a series of session drummers who were either too enthusiastic or too indifferent to stay with the band. After one drummer quit the group a month before they were scheduled to enter the studio for their sophomore effort, the band enlisted Dominic Cortese (Warren Dunes) to quickly learn the songs. Dominic’s driving psych-rock beats powered the resulting album, Tearing up the Field (2018), to new heights, expanding the band’s emotional and sonic range. Standouts like fan favorite “Wise Up” combine pedal-drones with a catchy chorus right out of 1964’s pop playbook. “Play with Fire” launches a mournful country lament into space with a whoosh of feedback and technicolor loops.