Not impossible, just improbable: Edwardsville’s Resoldered
Editor | Apr 21, 2010 | Comments 1
Classic punk rocker Paul Weller makes it pretty clear in his song “Burning Sky.” Young rockers grow up, put on suits and sell out.
“Cause we’ve all grown up, and we’ve got our own lives, and the values that we shared once upon a time seem stupid now ‘cause the rent must be paid.”
The implication is, either you’re punk and you don’t worry about things like paying the rent, or you become part of the rat race.
If Resoldered ever heard this song, they never paid it much mind. The middle-aged, Edwardsville post-punk band’s newest album, Everybody In Between, starts off at a blazing pace with “You Failed Me.” This melodic post-punk song blows away any expectations you might have of working suits getting together to play in a band.
The rest of the album, which will officially be released April 24, matches the high expectations “You Failed Me” sets up, without falling into the repetivieness of some genre punk. And, probably an advantage of having middle-aged song writer who’s also a sociology professor, the lyrics are good, ranging from funny in “Can’t Stand” to poigniant in “I Won’t Die For You.”
Resoldered tries to avoid a genre label, in fact, but tend to compare themselves to classics like NoFX and Descendents. Story continues after video.
Listening to the new album, it’s easy to come to the conclusion that what they’ve done is the opposite of selling out.
When Edwardsville Scene met with bass player Doug Allen and guitarist/songwriter Dave Kauzlarich at Sacred Grounds last month, they made it clear they’re happy with their day jobs as teachers.
“This is not about getting signed,” says Dave.
Resoldered isn’t trying to come up with the next big hit, they’re just looking for a creative outlet.
“I think that’s what’s different for us,” says Doug. “We just do what we like to do. We have a lot of artistic freedom.”
The funny thing is that by not worrying about getting famous or getting signed, the band seems to have found a back door to the “don’t give a damn” punk attitude that Weller felt was essential.
And it’s paying off.
“We’ve started getting the respect of other bands” Dave says.
The night after The Ataris played Letterman, Resoldered got to open for them in St. Louis. They’ve also had the chance to play for other national acts, including Hurts to Laugh and Voice of Addition.
Resoldered got together a few years ago, of course, when Doug and Dave met through their kids at the Edwardsville YMCA, and eventually discovered they both had played some music in the past.
After that, the band congealed somewhat slowly.
“We went throught drummers like Spinal Tap,” Dave says. They even played a gig for friends using a drum machine. Finally, Dave prevailed on a former student, Paul Saunders, to become the band’s drummer.
The band officially formed in summer of 2008, and a year later had to replace orignal lead singer Cory Blad with Jason Hodge. Even now, they say getting a band practice together “is like convening a NATO summit” when everyone’s trying to juggle families and day jobs, and still make the band work.
In then end, their own lyrics sum up the feeling you might get discovering great post-punk (or whatever you want to call them) music coming from a middle-aged band in Edwardsville.
“It’s not impossible, just improbable.”
Resoldered officially released their new album, Everybody in Between on April 24 at the Firebird in downtown St. Louis at 8 pm. We hope they’ll play Edwardsville soon. You can buy the new album here. If you enjoyed this story, share it! Just scroll back up to the top and click on the Twitter and FaceBook share buttons to spread the word.
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Dave from the band here! You all are too kind. I did want to say that if interested, the album is available on itunes, amazon, cdbaby, and tons of other digital distribution sites. The physical cd is available at shows, Vintage Vinyl, Slackers (in a week), and by contacting us directly at resoldered AT rocketmail.com. Thanks again to Edwardsville Scene for everything they do to promote art and music in the area!