“On this album, I wanted to write stuff that still communicated real ideas but had a bit of lighthearted, fun energy to it.” “I was bumming myself out by trying to be more serious than I actually am,” Erik admits. The loathsomeness Paulson explores on the album certainly reflect less glamorous aspects of both his psyche and that of others, but when they’re cut with his quick wit and self-deprecation, they seem less like an actual indictment and more of an embrace of all of life’s imperfection and absurdity. That unflinching sense of self-awareness is what made Remo Drive so endearing as they found their footing in the mid-2010s, but it’s never been as crystalized as it is on A Portrait of an Ugly Man. But this time around, the guiding hands of their musical influences is less overt, a conscious decision the band address on album standout “Star Worship,” which preaches the need to eschew reverence for others and instead trust in yourself. Self-produced and mixed by the duo, A Portrait of an Ugly Man feels all at once familiar and fresh: The basement breathed a looseness into songs like “If I’ve Ever Looked Too Deep In Thought” and “Ode to Joy,” while the freedom of the sessions left the band able to explore the next evolution of their sound.Īs such, the 10-song set tips its hat to both the classic rock the brothers grew up on as well as previously untapped influences: Erik namechecks desert-rock artists like Queens of the Stone Age while admitting The Good, The Bad and The Ugly soundtrack and his binge-watching of old Westerns contributed to the album’s tumbleweed pastiche. I had really scaled it back so it wouldn’t be as hard for me to sing and play simultaneously, but the guitar is way more forward again now.” “On the last album, I approached playing guitar in a more songwriter-y way. “I wanted to get back to playing guitar the way I used to, and then throw songwriting on top of that,” Erik says. Whereas the Paulsons filtered their buoyant songwriting through the concise lens of storytellers like Bruce Springsteen and The Killers on Natural, Everyday Degradation, A Portrait of an Ugly Man is more spontaneous, bolstered by the same charm and levity that made Greatest Hits such an underground favorite. The resulting album, due out June 26 on Epitaph, finds the band truly in their element – both physically and sonically. It doesn’t feel like you’re working with the door open during the incubation process.” There’s a sense of privacy working at home.
“We take things in our own weird approach and order. “Our workflow is naturally different from what most producers and studios like to do,” Erik explains. Not only that, but the safety and security of their parents’ home provided a welcome respite for the brothers, who have learned they’re most creative without a ticking clock and prying eyes peeking over their shoulders. But $250 and a few weeks later, they found themselves fully entrenched in making the actual album itself. When the Paulsons stumbled across a Tascam recording desk on Facebook Marketplace in 2019, they thought it might make a nice starting point to demo songs for their then-forthcoming third LP. And, like the band’s earliest material, it took shape in an equally unassuming place: their parents’ basement. The album, with its acrobatic guitar work, deeply self-referential lyrics and off-the-walls energy, calls back to the dextrous, eccentric sound that helped the band – brothers Erik (vocals, guitar) and Stephen (bass) Paulson – explode into the underground with their debut album, 2017’s Greatest Hits.
Photo of your vaccine card on your phone.A clear and legible photocopy of your vaccine card.All attendees will be required to show one of the following for entry along with a government issued ID: We are also requiring all attendees to wear a mask for the duration of the concert.
REMO DRIVE FULL
In the interest of keeping our guests and staff protected and healthy, Remo Drive and Lodge Room will require all attendees of Remo Drive’s upcoming show on 11/13 to show proof of either a full COVID-19 vaccination or negative COVID-19 PCR test result.