Straight up punk rock may be all the rage at Beerland on most nights but pop melodies are in vogue this Saturday when The Strange Boys and Shapes Have Fangs headline with sugary sweet potions that will keep your heads bobbing in unison throughout. The sound of the '60s is unavoidable in both bands’ lo-fi garage-rock and we decided to catch up with each of them for a quick rundown on the state of affairs in their respective circles.

The Strange Boys got things going in Dallas in 1991 and currently comprise of Ryan Sambol, Matt Hammer, Philip Sambol, and Greg Enlow. Sambol (of the Ryan variety) claims that “trouble with the law” caused the band to move to Austin although we were unable to obtain any further details! Their Nothing 7" was released last year on Dusty Medical Records while the Isn’t It Pretty To Think So 7" drops next month. An LP can also be expected (on In The Red Records) in September. When quizzed about his favorite bands in town, Sambol confesses to “like The Golden Boys, Hacienda, Cry Blood Apache, The Carrots, and The Teeners” among others. As for what’s wrong with the world today -- we received a lengthy list that is best cut n’ pasted for true authenticity and full effect -- “The new world order, false flag terrorist operations, IRS, UN, NAU, EU, OPEC, FEMA, TTC, NAFTA, CAFTA, INTERPOL, FCC, IBM, jerks and idiots, people who don't read, and TV.” Phew! So what’s right? “Homemade meals, doggies, rivers, books, poetry, art, Woody Allen, and women.” Well put!

Shapes Have Fangs formed in Austin in 2006 but the members (Dustin Coffey, Skyler McGlothlin, Evan McGlothlin, and Josh Willis) have been playing together since high school. The crew then went to art school in Denton where, per Coffey (guitar and vocals), “we had a Stax / Meters / Detroit Sex Machines influenced funk band called the Breadwinners.” In fact, we decided to use this interview opportunity with Coffey to check up on their discography and recording techniques.

What is the complete Shapes Have Fangs discography? Any future releases we can expect soon?

Dustin Coffey: We have two demo CDs. Pretty soon we are going to release two 7 inch records (One on Business Deal / One self-released) and then an album shortly after. The little records should be out this summer.

Discuss your recording process and the utilization of old TEAC equipment? What acts influenced the band in general and also inspired you to record in this somewhat retro manner?

We use the tape machine because we like the unintentional results you get from it. It adds a layer of mystery to a song. We aren’t analogue zealots or anything but we really like what the tape compression does to the song. Also, we aren’t trying to recreate the sixties or whatever period as a style. We are more or less just interested in the aesthetic of the recording. We like plenty of music from '50s – '60s but we get just as much inspiration from bands like the The Fall or Gang of Four. These are bands that were obviously fans of music that predated themselves and they had a recording aesthetic. But they weren’t just doing bring-back-the-sixties thing by any means. Same goes for Billy Childish (Someone else we really admire). He seems to go to great lengths to “secure” the sound of his recordings, but he seems uninterested in completely mimicking the period you might associate with the quality of the recordings. There’s plenty going on now. You just have to look around to see it.

If you could sum up Shapes Have Fangs' career aspiration in a word, phrase, or sentence, what would it be?

Self-sufficient.

San Antonio act Hacienda’s harmonious pop and Austin three-piece Follow That Bird!’s Sleater-Kinney-esque concoctions get things started at Beerland this evening.

[The Strange Boys MySpace]
[Shapes Have Fangs MySpace]
[Hacienda MySpace]
[Follow That Bird! MySpace]