Breaking Laces Leave Their Traces
 The
New York band looks for success outside their own backyard
New York bands usually have a way about them. A kind
of urban swagger, an aloofness that comes from living
in one of the world’s largest and most vibrant
cities. Maybe I’m categorizing too much, but you
can usually pick the New York band out of a line-up.
So many bands, so many Ramones or Strokes lookalikes.
And maybe that’s unfair. Breaking Laces, who hail
from Brooklyn, seem to break that stereotype. They’re
not your typical New Yorkers; they have a fresh face
and sound that doesn’t sound like a creation from
the mean streets. And tough guys? Fuhgeddaboudit.
“We’re probably the least hard core guys
around,” admits singer Willem Hartong.
A major downside is the competition. There are so many
bands that unless you’re the Strokes you really
have to work to get attention. And that includes getting
off stage at 12:45 a.m. after a gig in Toronto and heading
right back to New York.
“That was insane,” he recalls. “You
know what happened was that we were trying to get in
to this place in New York for a while, and we got it
after shifting the date a few times and all of a sudden,
North By Northeast calls and says ‘you’re
in’, and we’re like, ‘Oh, no!’”
It’s not like road trips are anything new for
the band; they’ve been spending a lot of time
touring this year supporting their CD, Sohcahtoa,
(Sidewinder Records). They’re concentrating on
bringing the CD out to audiences around the country
instead of building the hype in the Big Apple and getting
signed. “If we were signed to a label, they would
be sending us out of the road doing what we’re
doing now anyway,” shrugs Hartong.
The four-track sampler from the release they gave out
during their gig at Holy Joe’s reveals a good
mix of radio-friendly pop with a bit of edge in the
lyric department. They’ve drawn comparisons to
bands like the Violent Femmes, but I think that’s
probably because their sound is based more around the
acoustic guitar than any real resemblance. Basic reference
points might be It's A Shame About Ray era
Lemonheads or the Barenaked Ladies without the heavy
irony.
The track they’re currently shooting a video
for, “God In Training” is a kind of a geek’s
fantasy, where Hartong ponders the idea that once he’s
out of training and he becomes God he can quit his paper
route and women will want him.
“Meagan” is a pretty ballad, more contemplative
than sad, with strings and piano that stay in the background
creating the mood and acting as counterpoint. The songs
are all solid individual pieces that sound fresh and
sincere and will certainly capture the attention of
more important ears in the months and years to come.
The band has just come off a month-long tour around
the U.S. They plan to come back to Canada, hopefully
in November and their video for “God In Training”
will be serviced to MTV in the U.S. as well as Launchcast
on the Internet.
-- Keith Powell
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