Wolfe and the Wayside

Aaron Wolfe of Wolfe and the Wayside recently chatted with me online via email about his band's music and what makes them so darn fun to listen to. What our Webzine discovers is that Wolfe and the Wayside are made up of super talented group of men who have come together to make some great music that features catchy hooks and fun lyrics. If you want to learn more about this band, then read on in this fun spotlight. Enjoy!

Isaac: I just listened to several songs off your new EP/CD. What was the inspiration for making your new album?

Aaron Wolfe: This is our second EP, our first "Bugs & Bottlecaps" was just a tool to get us gigs and try to get our name out there, but after playing out a bunch we started to want a stronger representation of what were all about. I started writing songs from a stronger place of reflection, taking in all the stories and feelings I had of my childhood and boiling them down into a few themes and concepts: The party on Friday night in the summer that you hope never ends, the first date with a girl that might, just might, be special, the heartache of alienation, and ultimately the devastation and pain of aging and changing. It's heady shit, but really we just wanted to record our four favorite songs.

Isaac: Who were your influences?

Aaron Wolfe: We're really influenced by 70s power-pop bands like Big Star, and their modern off-spring such as Wilco, The Replacements, Teenage Fanclub, and The Shins. Take all that and add in a healthy respect for Bob Dylan and Weezer and I think that pretty much rounds us out. Actually, I've been listening to a lot of songs that I grew listening to lately. Bands like the Cure and Nirvana feel like they are more important now than almost ever before.

Isaac: What do you consider to have been the highlight(s) and lowpoint(s) of your career to date?

Aaron Wolfe: We just had our EP release party at this unbelievable club in Brooklyn. It was an amazing turnout almost 200 people packed it in, and we played a great set. At the end as we were wrapping it up, we sort of did a sing along version of one of the songs. To hear 200 people sing your lyrics is pretty unbelievable.

As for lowpoint... it's silly but we played this show in NYC that I thought was really special. I had this distinct feeling that I was really reaching people, that there was a sense that people were truly engaged in our tunes and were listening to the music. At the end of the gig, someone gave me a video that she had filmed of the show. I was so excited to hear it! After all, it felt like a triumphant gig. That night at home I heard the truth which was the whole time people were yacking it up and bored out of their mind. In one particularly quiet moment, you could literally hear someone ordering Mexican food. I'm thinking, "Hey! Can we hold off on the enchiladas for a second? I'm emoting over here."

Isaac: Brief history about your background plus the style of music you play.

Aaron Wolfe: I grew up in the New York area, I taught myself how to play guitar from a Hal Leonard book. When I was 17, my friends and I formed a band called "The Magic Possum Band" we were a huge hit in the suburban three block radius of my friends house. After dropping out of three or four colleges, I fell into a great situation playing bass for a touring band and then soon after formed my own band with a few other friends. Wolfe & The Wayside has pretty much been the core group it is now for a couple of years.

I'd say we play Indie-Pop. Though I also think we're sometimes just a rock band.

Isaac: How easy is it to gets gigs for you as an artist? What is the live music scene like in your area?

Aaron Wolfe: We're pretty lucky, because NY is such a rich music town. That said it's hard to find good rooms to play in because there are soooo many bands in the scene. It's also really very hard to get new fans. People tend to support their friends and when it's your set they split for the bar. But we do alright. We've got a core group of folk that come out and support and slowly slowly we're building a head of steam.

Isaac: What do you think of the state of Indie music at the moment? Do you listen to radio much at all? Has the Internet helped music grow or hindered it in your opinion?

Aaron Wolfe: Indie music is great as it always is and will be. People are always writing and recording great music. The business is dead. I don't know what it will take but there it is a fucking desert out there. You hear success stories but they're few and far between, no one buys music, no one is supporting music, and no one has figured out a way to make this whole thing work. And the only people that are out there working with Indie music seem to be trying to make a buck off the musician rather than make money WITH the musician. It's pretty sad.

Isaac: If you could create a fantasy band - what would be the line-up and why?

Aaron Wolfe: It's corny but I like my band the way it is. I'd like to know how to play accordion, though.

Isaac: What CD's do you currently have available and where can they be purchased from?

Aaron Wolfe: We've got two CDs on iTunes, eMusic, and those kinds of places.

Isaac: Where can fans access your music, videos, blogs, and anything else about you online?

Aaron Wolfe: If you're interested you should check out www.wolfeandthewayside.com/ we post photos, new music, videos, etc. pretty regularly. Also you can see when we're playing next!

Isaac: Message to your fans?

Aaron Wolfe: Spread the word! We musicians need all the help we can get!!
- Junior's Cave Online Magazine

BUGS AND BOTTLECAPS is the debut EP from Brooklyn based quintet Wolfe & The Wayside with a traditional lineup (two guitars, bass, keyboards, and drums). Such aggregations usually stand or fall on the worth of their material and what we hear on BUGS AND BOTTLECAPS portends good things for this band.

Wolfe & The Wayside lists Wilco and Bob Dylan among their influences, and it is the former, especially, that informs their music, particularly on tracks such as “Uptight” and “Brown Eyes/Pink Barrettes.” That is not to say that anything on BUGS AND BOTTLECAPS sounds as if it was cribbed from the Wilco playbook; it is more the mood that Wolfe & The Wayside captures, as opposed to any particular chord progression. There is a rustic angst of loss and desire that weaves its way through BUGS AND BOTLECAPS without sacrificing energy, with the arrangements being full without sounding cluttered. And while there is no particular track that especially stands out from the others, there are none that you will find yourself skipping over, either.

As musicians move closer to releasing tracks on an individual basis, rather than 14 or 15 track increments, we will undoubtedly see a trend toward collections such as this which will demonstrate whether the band can stand or fall. Wolfe & The Wayside with BUGS & BOTTLECAPS have shown they have the chops. I’ll look forward to more. (8 out of 10) - Joe Hartlaub - music-reviewer.com

As a young man, I was one of the “leather, bristles, studs & acne” crowd who vowed to forsake all others and commit to the narrow, bony—yet willing—hips of what was then the sexiest subculture on the block: hardcore punk rock. From then on, all my music was fast, loud, abrasive and self-consciously smart (or smart mouthed),and carried with it more than a faint whiff of cigarettes and dingy t-shirts, among other signifiers.

While that kept me laid and entertained for a good number of years, tossing my hat in with the early 80s punks prevented me from developing an appreciation for the more pop and mainstream music of the day. From 1979 to 1985 the music that could be found on generally accessible FM rock radio stations was like nothing heard before, and has been little heard since. It was a sound that realized that 70s rock progressivism was a disaster, and that punk was too much of a bother, but that something still had to change. So it got expansive, experimenting with sounds and influences and replacing brute force with texture and finesse.

But I didn’t know anything about that stuff at the time. So if Wolfe & The Wayside were extant in the days their sound evokes, I most likely wouldn’t have heard of them. But I lucked out; a cadre of artists exploring this sensibility, if not the actual sound, began to get their songs out, which coincided with—perhaps even fostered—my own rediscovery of “pop” music in all its forms, which then, during a long ride from upstate New York one weekend, dovetailed with singer/guitarist Aaron Wolfe playing me the then unmixed tracks that would become their On the Radio EP.

Each song had a moment (or more) where the hooks or changes or bridges evoked acts that were just on the tip of my tongue but were lost to history. This wasn’t because these guys saw fit to shamelessly bite tricks from others, but because they seem to effortlessly dip into a bag of tested pop music gewgaws that, while perhaps trite on the page, work like magic when correctly inserted into a song (see “Blueberry Dress”).

The music is guitar driven, golden era FM rock that calls to mind Canada’s Sloan in many ways. Though devoid of soaring, face scrunching leads, the 4 songs on this EP remind the listener how much power a well-placed, well-used guitar can offer (as evidenced by the strident title track). The vocals are offered by the lead singer entirely without affect; in other words, he’s singing to you in the same voice he uses to speak to you, which creates a perfect bed for lyrics that create vivid though fleeting images rather than a simple one-track narrative.

In the end, there’s something unassuming and guileless about the music on this record. When considering the rest of the popular musical landscape, this could be the highest compliment possible.
- Todd Barmann - Independant Music Critic

Wolfe & The Wayside is a Brooklyn-based band whose backgrounds bleed through to the music itself. Aaron Wolfe, Jon Lundbom, Danny Reisbick, Colum Young and Clayton Colwell are just regular guys that do regular ‘guy ’stuff. They are proud to tell it like it is, have fun and be themselves – these are the guys that end up being the banner holders for other regular guys to rally around. Their second EP, On The Radio, is described as ’stories about weary anti-heroes that wander a world of radio-pop songs that tell the truth about growing up and finding out that things aren’t always what they seemed.’

The first track, On The Radio, starts us out with lyrics that linearly don’t make much sense and are not likely to cause any deep reflection, but nevertheless are amusing and exceedingly catchy. On the Radio is a not ready to grow up yet anthem about girls, getting high and making the best adventure out of a situation. Making a little more sense in story form is Cathedral Stars, which follows with an honest portrayal of a no-win relationship. The chorus adds that optimistic view from the regular guy perspective, “You can’t stand when I’m high and I can’t stand goodbyes, so we’ll just shake and hope we’ll make it all right” - a perfect, no drama approach to moving on when there is no way to resolve a situation.

One of the best things about this EP is the imagery created by throwing a few well paired words together to bring a clear yet slightly skewed vision to life. Blueberry Dress uses a beguilingly poppy melody to cart you through the ride while dropping candy coated cough drops in the head. Ice cream cones and soda stains and colorforms and cigarettes are just a few of the not quite perfect ideas that become stuck in a non-stop circling loop in the mind. Jailhouse rounds out this album with its most addictive song yet. They beat the score again with a memorable melody, cleverly hinted at scenarios and a hook that will not leave you alone. Oh, whoa, oh, oooh. Damn it! Again and Again!

Although On The Radio is only a four track EP, it packs a lot of punch. It’s simple honesty and flawless melodies offer a fun, absolutely non-serious series of songs that keep you moving. Throw in the off color wordsmithing and their first EP, Bugs & Bottlecaps, and you have a full 10 tracks to keep you dancing till the buzz wears off.
- indiepopreport.com

Brooklyn’s Wolfe & The Wayside have a somewhat magical feel about them. Sure, it’s great pop music, but there’s alchemy in their songwriting where the different parts of the band come together and transmute into something more than just their individual contributions blended together. While only four songs long, their latest EP On The Radio makes that abundantly clear.

On The Radio opens with the title track, an incredibly catchy alt-rock tune with roots in the garage rock era. Centered on an incredibly catchy riff, “On The Radio” is a post-modern take on the innocence of youth. This tune has a very high commercial ceiling for both radio and licensing. “Cathedral Stairs” has something of a Tom Petty meets Wilco feel but with a great pop beat. Wolfe & The Wayside get a bit messy on “Blueberry Dress”, trying hard to get things together but never quite managing. The song does features Aaron Wolfe’s best vocal performance on the EP however. “Jailhouse” closes things out; a promising tune with a chorus that’s neat but a bit too monochromatic. “Jailhouse” is the sort of tune that will really catch your attention the first time through but lose you after a few listens.

On The Radio shows tremendous promise for Wolfe & The Wayside. What becomes abundantly clear is how good these guys can be. They don’t put it all together for all four songs on this EP, but On The Radio displays the band’s ability to blend strong songwriting with a touch of pop magic the likes of which makes for a long, successful career. On The Radio has its bumps, but is a thing of beauty just the same.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5) - wildysworld.blogspot.com