Indie wunderkind Polica to rock the Maintenance Shop
Ever heard of a little band called Poliça? Jay-Z has, so has Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, and boy do they have good things to say.
Although coming together only a little over a year ago, this Minneapolis, Minn., band sure came out strong. Their debut full-length Give You The Ghost was met with rave reviews from Grammy winning artists, appearances on television shows such as Jimmy Kimmel and Late Night, and a performance at the South by Southwest music festival earlier this year.
Enough with their resume though. I know you’re all saying to yourselves, All of this in a little over a year? I know, I was shocked, too. Until I had a listen to their album, which consists of a rather uncommon set up with two drummers, a base player, and a vocalist. No guitar, but they don’t need one with the haunting electronic vocals of Channy Leaneagh.
Leaneagh, lead vocalist, formed Poliça along with Ryan Olson in June of 2011. The two met while working in the electro-indie pop outfit Gayngs, which, much like Poliça, brought together random musicians and saw what kind of magic they could create. “[Leaneagh and Olson] wanted to work on an electric project together, so they did, and in the process decided they wanted to add a bass and two drummers,” said Drew Christopherson, drummer. “[It] seems like a strange decision, but Ryan has had two drummers in past bands - it’s sort of a formula he knows super well.”
All I have to say is good work, Olson.
Bass player Chris Bierden plays more like a guitarist, and combined with Leaneagh’s ghostly auto-tuned vocals makes for a delicious sound. Each drummer has his own unique sound as well. Ben Ivascu’s beats are deliberate and urgent - a lack of pillows in the kit gives a marching band-esque sound - where Christopherson has a bass-heavy sound, as he describes it “rap beats sort of drum scene.”
To really top off the group, they needed the perfect band name. ”It’s sort of like naming a child,” Christopherson chimes. “You want to give it a name that’s entirely it’s own.” Apparently all the suggestions started out really silly, which wasn’t fitting with how the recorded ended up turning out. Leaneagh had first started calling it Poliça and when she told her fellow band mates, they loved it. Poliça (pronounced police-uh) is the Polish word for policy, which Leaneagh thought to be very apt to the project.
“This band kind of came together with very strong intentions,” Christopherson said. “It wasn’t something that naturally occurred. It had a specific goal to bring all four of us together.”
Come to the Maintenance Shop this Wednesday, Sept. 26, to see for yourself how this policy is causing uproar across the world. Doors at 7:30 p.m., show at 8 p.m. Tickets $7 with a valid ISU student I.D., $9 for the public. $2 day-of-show increase.
JORDAN MASTERS
*photos courtesy of Middle West Management
