VIBES |
EARSHOT | FEATURE
08.28.02
Possibilities exist
BY TONY WARE
"We're frustrated we're still
considered an Americana band," says
Possibilities' bassist/vocalist Bob Spires.
"Sure, we had a pedal steel player, and Kevin,
Matt and I backed up [the Drive-By Truckers']
Patterson Hood. But that was years ago. Of
course, now we're wary of being lumped in solely
with [Elephant 6] bands as well."
How does a
band in musician-rich Athens get associated with
-- yet filed away from -- many of the town's
biggest groups? By exploring every possibility.
Almost as famous as Jack Logan's backing band
-- and for having a song covered by friends the
Minus 5 (featuring R.E.M.'s Peter Buck) -- the
Possibilities formed 10 years ago around
transplanted South Georgians Spires and brothers
Kevin and Matt Lane. The Possibilities spent two
years on its latest album, Way Out,
fleshing every corner of formidable chiming
power-pop with complex keyboard melodies and
multi-part vocal harmonies.
The result? Imagine Phil Spector crafting a
record recalling the Beach Boys, Badfinger, Big
Star and the Flying Burrito Brothers, with Built
To Spill and Polvo-style dissonance thrown in.
But unlike so many progressive psyche-pop
groups, the Possibilities don't get so mired in
influences and the process of integrating them
that they neglect the final product -- which
remains a touch Southern fried around the edges.
And My Way is just the first of several
albums they're planning to release in the coming
year.
"A lot of people try to get more and more
focused," Spires says, "but we're the exact
opposite. The stuff that simply fits better
together will be on each album."
The possibilities are indeed endless.
The Possibilities play the
Star Bar Fri., Aug. 30.
08.28.02
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