Layer Cake

I want to tell you that Layer Cake’s farewell show at Rubber Gloves on Saturday night was not a somber event, but I can’t. Endings, especially untimely ones, are rarely happy occasions, but I was somehow hoping to leave the show with a feeling of optimism—and, who knows, maybe I can generate that by the end of this piece—but I’m not going to lie: Saturday night was a stone cold bummer. As Christopher Mosley wrote here last weekend, Layer Cake, one of the most exciting and fully-formed new pop acts to come out of the area in years, is taking a (possibly permanent) hiatus after bassist and vocalist Mary Stratton relocates to the Pacific northwest later this week. For those of us who care about local music, and who still sometimes manage to feel the elusive thrill of an exciting new discovery, this one hurt.

“Somber” is too intense a word to describe the mood on Saturday night, though. The quartet’s feather-light harmonies and general incandescence made any serious moping impossible. (If that weren’t enough, the bubble machine puttering throughout the crowd sealed the deal.) Still, the sense of an ending was hard to shake. I caught myself wanting to greet friends almost as if I were at a funeral, with an affirming squeeze of the shoulder: “How are you holding up?” Whether or not I was projecting this feeling of loss, the unusually heavy crowd showed up early and stayed late—a testament to the impact the group has had during their brief but brilliant run.

Layer Cake went on a little before midnight, after strong sets from fellow locals Dripping Wet, Mink Coats, and Bethan. Catharsis felt imminent as the band took the stage and drummer Isabella Vasquez launched into the propulsive opening beat of their ambling, infectious single, “Nothing West.” The room brightened as the other players harmonized on the opening hook, and that energy remained high throughout their fittingly brief set. Songs like “A.M.” and “Friend Request” were delivered with the nonchalant professionalism that has come to define the band’s live show, and a line from the latter took on another life in light of that evening’s context: “I wanna get out of here / is that cool with you?”

On record and on stage, Layer Cake make their case with confidence and poise. They don’t hide behind sheets of reverb or distance themselves from their material with ironic smirks, as too many young bands are wont to do. Just as lazy music journalists slap Parquet Courts with the “slacker” misnomer, others might be tempted to apply the same label to Layer Cake. Of course, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Even if there is a breezy playfulness to their music, you come away with the feeling that being in this band is probably a lot of work. More significantly, though, you also get the feeling that being in this band is a lot of fun.

It’s hard to key in on a particular element that makes these songs so special. It isn’t just Jena Pyle’s largely unadorned and expressive guitar, or the shimmering yet sometimes buzz-like melodies of Geena Sisomphou’s Omnichord. It’s not even just the sticky, complex harmonies that lodge in your brain after first listen. Rather, it’s the coming-together of a series of truly indispensable elements—yes, like the group’s moniker implies—that makes the band such a memorable and compelling act. This is precisely why the loss of a bass player, a recoverable setback for countless other groups, might just spell out the end of the band.

But Saturday night wasn’t just about endings. It also marked the release of Layer Cake’s Milk Jr. EP, a remarkably strong debut that suggests, perhaps even more than their airtight live show, just what potential they really had. Its succinct runtime and simple pleasures bring to mind former U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins’ great line about reading haiku: “It feels like eating the same small, perfect grape again and again.” Considering the recurrence of junk food in the Layer Cake universe, though, I think it’s more appropriate to say that having these five songs on repeat for the last three days feels more like eating the same perfectly-frosted cookie again and again.

I’d like to end here on a personal note. As I prepare to leave the golden triangle for the midwest, I can’t help but feel a heightened connection to Layer Cake’s graceful exit. I’ve been seeing bands at Rubber Gloves since I was sixteen, and I’ve witnessed in the decade since the natural peaks and valleys of Denton’s ever-shifting music culture. Saturday night’s show carried a special weight for me: it was the end of something. I thought of all the great acts who’ve launched here, and those who will in the future. It didn’t occur to me until the walk home that Layer Cake was the last band I’ll ever see in Denton. I’m okay with that. - D Magazine

Late in their career, dream-pop icons the Cocteau Twins gave the world a very tragic take on a decaying relationship in their entirely crushing song, “Half-Gifts.” The band refers to it as an “old game”:

When you can’t have me, you want me
because you know you aren’t risking anything.

I’m very hard-pressed to ever declare a single band as the “best,” even though we make quite a habit of that around here. But Layer Cake is the best new band I’ve heard in the area in quite some time, and I can say that without wavering. But maybe it’s like the Cocteaus expressed above; it’s just a copout because they are likely playing their last show for a very long time on Saturday. Therefore it makes it easier to declare such a thing. The band has stated on the event flier that it could be their last show, period. Bassist and vocalist, Mary Stratton is moving to Seattle next week, thus bringing this promising new act to a screeching halt. These things happen all the time in art and music, and yes, the scarcity does tend to plunge emotions to their truest depth. But it’s not that simple.

Perhaps replacing a bassist is no huge deal and musicians do it all the time. That may be true, but what Stratton contributes to the band is an enormous part of what makes them so great in the first place. She is joined by drummer, Isabella Vasquez, keyboardist Geena Sisomphou, and lead singer and guitarist, Jena Pyle. All of the members sing and I can’t overstate that fact. To lose a quarter of the often-complex harmonies seems unthinkable.

The clean and gently clanging lines sometimes remind me of another great local act, Bedhead, combined with the beautifully melodic dourness of The Organ. They may have never heard either band’s music for all I know. They do one cover and it’s by Metronomy. I once heard the original piping out of Neiman Marcus downtown, blaring out to a mostly empty street on a Sunday.

This is very much an opinion, but I contend that much of the timeless music in the world has a sort of carelessness to it, whether intentional or not. Those little intangibles are what separates the truly special act from the standard band just pounding away to sound like everyone else, silently hoping nobody notices them for who they really are. But for Layer Cake, it’s the opposite. Every drum hit, harmony, and Omnichord sound is extremely calculated. The band is never rushing through a set; they take as much time as the music demands. Nervous new bands often tear through performances as to make their own music practically unrecognizable. Not so here. Such labor does not always come off with such grace.

At a recent show in Denton, I stood next to Shiny Around the Edges’ founding member, Jenny Seman during the band’s performance. She seemed to be enjoying it but I didn’t want to make assumptions. “It was like a sleepover!,” Seman said as the band packed up their equipment. Then she clarified. “There are not enough women in Denton playing music.”

The band released a video earlier this week, for the track “Nothing West.” The clip was directed by Eric Michener, otherwise known as Fishboy. The cartoonish visuals are classic Fishboy as much as anything else. The band is depicted as an evil version of themselves called Slayer Cake, and Michener has touched on these light-and-dark themes in his previous work. He once played a show where his pop act attempted to do battle with the Undoing of David Wright, an effectively frightening band that used drum machines and makeup to heighten their dark and dramatic music. The two very different groups traded off songs while the crowd chose sides. The idea here is the same, but instead Layer Cake is attempting to battle itself:


(video of nothing west here)


The video is as slick and well-made as is the standard for Michener. And while it’s definitely an appealing way to draw new fans, Layer Cake appears more serious in a live setting. The band will release its first EP at the show on Saturday, and you should attempt to see them as they are. Like every wonderful discovery in this life, leaving so soon.

Layer Cake performs at Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios on Saturday, July 26. The supporting acts are Bethan, Mink Coats, and Dripping Wet. - D Magazine