Cookies break ground with 'Modern Silence'

Jason NeSmith got the idea washing dishes.

He turned to Kay Stanton, his wife and fellow band member in Athens' power-popping Casper & the Cookies, and said, "I know what I've got to do."

And so, NeSmith did it. Given the chance, he'd do it again. "I'm not sorry," he says.

"It" would be the closing trio of songs on "Modern Silence" the Cookies third full-length CD that hit stores May 12.

Called "Post-Modern Silence," the suite began as NeSmith's attempt to rework a never-finished song by his friend Don Condescending from the pop band The Shut-Ups. NeSmith recorded a few minutes of the track with Stanton and Jim Hix, the third and final member of the Cookies. Then he sent out an e-mail to his musical friends asking them to send him a musical contribution to the song, telling them only that it should be in F sharp.

NeSmith ended up editing together performances by 35 musicians including Bryan Poole from Of Montreal and Robert Schneider of the Apples in Stereo and an African Grey parrot. "They all wound up there somewhere," NeSmith explains.

Showcasing the work of so many other folks meant the Cookies don't play on the last 10 minutes of their own CD.

The idea, according to NeSmith was to see "what it would be like if a band could disappear from the record."

NeSmith loves "Post-Modern Silence" and says he's heard a lot of positive reactions from fans. Some, on the other hand, have questioned whether it's trying too hard. "I know some people think it's a bit of a stretch," NeSmith admits.

The record as a whole also has attracted mixed opinions.

"We're too long," NeSmith says of the critical reaction to the 70-minute "Modern Silence." "It's all too long."

It's true that Pitchfork critic Matthew Perpetua wrote that the record "invites serious listener fatigue despite the band's gift for writing songs with pleasant melodies."

But then, the RetroLowFI blog called "Modern Silence" a contender for the "album of the decade" competition.

"For me," Stanton says, "it's better to get a strong reaction than no reaction at all."

Cookies shows, she explains, always have included their trademark tightly constructed pop songs with more experimental fare. That edgier material didn't make it onto the band's earlier albums, and the band members wanted to change that this time around.

"It's all over the place," Stanton says of "Modern Silence." "That's a big part of what we like about it."

Stanton takes over lead vocals several times on the record, showcasing her wide vocal range. She also co-wrote two of the songs.

The move reflects Stanton's growing confidence as a performer. When the band first began performing in the late 1990s, she felt nervous about putting herself in the spotlight.

While the Cookies played more than 150 shows for their last record, Stanton still gets nervous before taking the stage. She funnels her jitters into her stage clothes, dressing up in glittery dresses and knee-high boots.

"It's a ritual to get ready before the show," Stanton says. "It helps me a lot. Gives me something to focus on."

Shyness is not what motivates NeSmith and Hix to sport extra long false eyelashes on stage. Nor is it the reason Hix sometimes draws a line down his face.

"It's low-budget glam," NeSmith explains. "If we had the means we'd be tarting it up a lot more."

The Cookies' plan to do lots of touring this summer. As for their next album: NeSmith thinks it might take a while for his creative cup to fill again after "Modern Silence."

Sometimes, NeSmith says, he can write a song in a few days. Sometimes it takes years. Right now, he's got nothin.' "I feel pretty empty," he says

Stanton, for one, isn't buying it. She predicts it won't be long at all before NeSmith returns to pairing fun melodies with quirky lyrics. "He always says that," she explains.

Casper & the Cookies

Release party for "Modern Silence" with The Lolligags and Marshmallow Coast

When: 10 p.m. Saturday

Where: The Caledonia Lounge, 256 W. Clayton St.

Cost: $5 (21 and over) or $7 (ages 18-20)

Information: www.caledonialounge. com

Rate This Article: - Excellent Good Average Poor Terrible

Comment on "Cookies break ground with 'Modern Silence'"

Your Name

Your Comments

Verification Code: FPGAK5
Enter Code:

Related News: