Atlanta’s Culture Culture are a bit of a mystery.
On all of their referenced websites, there aren’t any band members listed or what instruments they play. There aren’t any shows listed, except for a select few scattered on their Facebook page. For all we know, they’re all robots that somehow completed the CAPTCHA test and hacked a bunch of synthesizers.
I decided to get in contact with the band to have them shed some light on who and what Culture Culture are. Luckily, within a few hours, Zach Pyles took the time out to answer some questions and fill me in.
While sweating it out in high school together, Patrick Anderson (drums), Dakin Andone (synth, and, in the interest of full disclosure, a staff writer for Immersive), Jacob McCarthy (guitar) and Pyles (“mostly presses buttons sequencers”) started creating “boring post-rock music” (“not that post-rock is boring, but OUR post-rock was bad,” says Pyles). The foursome collectively decided to put their focus more on creating something more fun and stress-free, which ended up being Culture Culture.
Along the way, they hooked up with Tim Friesen, who Pyles describes as an “awesome jazz player from California, who’s a crazy guy in general,” and while the band isn’t exactly sure how lead vocalist Anthony Aparo came into the fold, he was “always around” and finally ended up contributing.
The band unveiled their infectious brand of synth-pop with a self-titled EP that saw the light of day on New Year’s Day 2014. Although the group maintains a heavy strain of energetic rock in their songwriting, the record was created entirely on a laptop, without using any guitar amps of any kind. When the band got tired of staring at computer screens, they went out and purchased a 4-track cassette recorder and an MPC to capture the newer material (“and then my computer got stolen, so it was pretty convenient, I guess,” adds Pyles).
After completing production on the five tracks that would eventually become JX3-Please, the band met Jason Kingsland, who has mixed records by indie juggernauts such as Belle & Sebastian and Band of Horses, as well as local favorites like Dasher and Barreracudas. Intrigued by the sounds that he heard, Kingsland helped the group tweak some of their arrangements and mixed the final record.
After releasing two infectious singles—“Ashton Kutcher, Come Back” in late 2015 and “RGB” earlier this year—that showed off the group’s range and songwriting prowess, JX3-Please finally saw the light of day on Feb. 18.
My two favorite tracks, “Got2F33l” and “1138,” are funky, modern masterpieces. Some say music can alter your surroundings and take you somewhere else, and I think Culture Culture have nailed it. Layers of synth, thick basslines, palm-muted picking and delay-heavy vocals all join forces to work their way into your brain and force your head to bob and your toes to tap.
In addition to the aforementioned tracks, the collection is rounded out by a deep, spacey number called “Stranger.” It’s very easy to lose yourself in its embrace, especially when the song goes into a hypnotic half-time groove for the closing third of the six-minute opus.
Fitting somewhere between Daft Punk, Hot Chip, and !!!, Culture Culture have carved out their own unique sound, and have solidified themselves as one of the more interesting and engaging artists in Atlanta.
Culture Culture will perform tomorrow night, Mar. 19, at Mammal Gallery when they play in support of Dot.s. Rounding out the bill are Grandchildren (PA), Grand Prize Winners From Last Year, and Moloq. Doors open at 8:30 p.m. Admission is $5.
More Info
Bandcamp: cultureculture.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @culturecultureband
SoundCloud: @cultureculture
Twitter: @_cultureculture