Akron/Family were in a delicate state the last time they were in Florida. Arriving in support of 2009's Set ‘Em Wild Set ‘Em Free, the-then Brooklyn-based outfit was still adjusting to touring without singer Ryan Vanderhoof, who’d left the band in 2007.
That was almost two years ago, and on Tuesday, the trio is set to arrive in Tampa. It'll be the same lineup on stage — Dana Janssen, Seth Olinsky and Miles Seaton — but what they’ll have in tow is renewed confidence and a fresh outlook on their relationship with each other, sonically documented on their latest offering, 2011’s S/T II: The Cosmic Birth of Shinju TNT.
“We got so busy after the release of Set ‘Em Wild that we forgot to recognize what we meant to each other,” Seaton told CL when he checked in from his current home in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Atwater Village. “The new record is a story of us rediscovering ourselves as bandmates and friends.”
In many ways, Shinju feels like a reincarnation. It’s as if Seaton & Co. have embraced their new existence, and while their first self-released CD-R dropped nearly a decade ago, the record is proof that Akron/Family have just begun writing the best songs of their career.
The 13-track LP opens with “Silly Bears,” a conglomeration of screaming lead guitar, zealously minced floor toms, shouted harmonies, and propulsive organ. Most of Shinju is mixed loud and can at times be abrasive, but what’s always present is an almost tactile emotional core.
Shinju is actually one of their more stripped-down, emotional efforts, and Seaton attributes the dense vibe to the harmonic overtones captured with producer Chris Koltay, who helped the band record the album inside an abandoned train station in Detroit. “It feels layered and sounds like there’s a ton of shit going on,” he explained. “On a physical level it creates a lot of feeling.”
Feeling is at the core of everything Akron/Family does. They crafted the album in secret and even bombed the Internet with six alternate versions of the record to prevent the final one from leaking. “We kept it from [our label], didn’t even play it for some of our friends or family,” Seaton said. “We wanted to keep it precious to us.”
Their secret agenda worked. Shinju has been received well by both critics and fans, and repeated listens unearth subtle sonic details that can only be appreciated after spending significant time with all 48 minutes of the effort. It’s a testament to a very organic writing process. In a world of deadlines and information overload, Akron/Family have crafted something that is very real and enduring. Seaton, for his part, seems to know this and is pleased with his bandÕs contribution to the world.
“Life is a fucking crazy, uncontrollably beautiful, brilliant mystery,” he exclaimed. “What I want to do is communicate that.”
Click here to read our 2010 story on the band in advance of their Orlando stop and in support of Set Em Wild, Set Em Free; click here to check out our Top Albums of 2011 list, on which Akron/Family's album landed...
