Pitchfork

The indie music scene in Athens, GA is all-too-often described in tandem with words like "collective," "collaboration," "family," "friendship," and "crazy." At times these descriptors might seem overly simplistic, even stereotypical, but there's no denying that Athens bands just love playing together with each other and being BFF!

Take the new Cloud Recordings bands: Dark Meat and the New Sound of Numbers, both of which have debut full-lengths on the way: The New Sound's Liberty Seeds arrives October 10, while Dark Meat's Universal Indians hits the better record shops on November 21.

Dark Meat is an Athens mega-ensemble (full name: Dark Meat/Vomit Lasers Family Band/Galaxy) led by Jim McHugh and Ben Clack and comprised of over 15 musicians. Bands with a connection to Dark Meat are numerous. (I'm serious: Olivia Tremor Control, We Versus the Shark, South San Gabriel, Elf Power, Circulatory System, Phosphorescent, the Instruments, Colonel Knowledge and the Lickey-Splits, Venice is Sinking, the New Sound of Numbers, Hope for Agoldensummer, the Ginger Envelope, Disband, Ceramic Dvck, Mouser, Folklore, the Gerbils, and Vicariously Through Cats. Whew!)

Why all the personnel? Explains bassist/vocalist Clack in a press release: "We started as a four-piece Neil Young cover band and, from that, started writing our own material...To achieve the sound we aspire to make takes a lot of people."

Universal Indians, the Dark Meat debut, features a small tribe of artists: a backing ensemble called the Subtweeters, a huge horn section, "waves of reeds" (as described by a press release), "jiggle-billy fiddle," and the Key Bumps-- "a roving pack of cheerleaders including Chris Smith on flag twirling and Toshira blowing out on a couple of didgeridoos."

Clack assures that this did not yield total chaos: "We had a very concrete idea of what we wanted for each track, and so we were very organized. No one got the shaft as we all contributed to the record. There are 23 of us performing, 21 of whom are consistent live performers with the family."

The New Sound of Numbers, meanwhile, is the pop/experimental/post-punk project of Hannah Jones (visual artist/percussionist for Circulatory System and the Instruments). Jones' project also enlists a small army of Athens-based talent: John Fernandes (Olivia Tremor Control, Circulatory System, Elf Power, Dark Meat), Heather McIntosh (The Instruments, Elf Power, Japancakes), W. Cullen Hart (Olivia Tremor Control, Circulatory System), and Bill Doss (Olivia Tremor Control, the Sunshine Fix). A press release describes the New Sound debut Liberty Seeds as "a record obsessed with the power of rhythm, a tightened cacophony of chants and tribal beats." Sounds groovy.

Dark Meat will tour the Southeast this fall, while the New Sound of Numbers snake around the Northeast. Expect cheerleaders, didgeridoos, cacophonous beats, and friendship.

Universal Indians:

01 Freedom Ritual
02 Well Fuck You Then
03 Dead Man
04 Birdsong + Footsteps, Flute, Horn
05 Three Eyes Open
06 Angel of Meth
07 One More Trip
08 In the Woods
09 Disintegrating Flowers
10 Assholes for Eyeballs
11 Retard on Acid

Liberty Seeds:

01 Frequency Transmission Systems
02 Luminous September
03 Atmosphere of the Afternoon
04 Tuning the Air
05 Minimal Animal
06 Gonna Be Okay
07 Experiment 24
08 Seed Split Open
09 La
10 You'll Soon Be Singing
11 Fifteen Lands at Five
12 Good Things Are Coming
13 Is Is Was Was

Dark Meat:

11-08 Athens, GA - 40 Watt
11-15 Pensacola, FL - Sluggo's
11-16 Lafeyette, LA - Renaissance
11-17 Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon
11-18 New Orleans, LA - Big Top
12-01 Athens, GA - 40 Watt
12-16 Raleigh, NC - King's Barcade

The New Sound of Numbers:

10-18 Bronxville, NY - Sarah Lawrence College
10-19 New York, NY - Cake Shop
10-20 Brooklyn, NY - Union Hall
10-28 Durham, NC - Duke Coffeehouse
11-17 Murfreesboro, TN - Grand Palace Records