Brooklyn’s Ski Lodge has a sound that can best be described as what would probably happen if The Smiths, The Cure and Depeche Mode somehow combined their musical DNA and produced a squadron of musical babies. This week we sat down with Andrew Marr, who self produced their new EP, Heaven is Now EP, which drops on Feb 26.
The band just released a new single, “Crush Your Heart,” off that album, and you can listen to it online (links below). Marr produced this, and some of their other songs, himself. He started working in music production at the studio of Lewis Pesacov of Best Coast and Fool’s Gold, and has now moved on to making his own stuff- though now he works mostly out of his own Greenpoint apartment.
“My apartment is basically filled with gear,” he says.
“Crush Your Heart” has been described as a soaring, poppy ode to the fear of dying alone. I asked Marr if there was any truth to this description.
” ‘Crush Your Heart’ is more or less toying with the idea of how people want somebody to ‘have,’ to spend their life with,” he said. “It’s more or less about the fear of not having somebody.”
I asked if Marr had other songs about this sort of thing. He said most of his songs are about relationships (as songs tend to be), but not specific relationships or specific people.
“It’s more of a bunch of life experience jambled together,” he said.
This new EP will be out on digital copy as well as on cassette. Because here’s the thing: cassettes are actually making a comeback. People like to have a physical copy of their music, and Marr says that cassettes are a quicker, cheaper way of having a physical product to sell, as opposed to releasing music on vinyl. Plus, he says, “kids are buying cassettes.”
When you listen to Ski Lodge, you’ll hear a lot of 80s new wave influence. It’s very Smiths-ian (I just made that up, but I think it works). Andrew Marr is not actually related to Johnny Marr, guitarist and co-songwriter of The Smiths. (I asked him if anyone in his band is named Morrissey. He said no.)
If you have any fondness for 80’s new wave, and are eager to hear how it translates into a modern, Brooklyn music scene, give Ski Lodge a listen. If you want to get updates on their music, shows, and pictures of Andrew’s dog amid an apartment full of recording equipment, follow them on Facebook. And if you’re a fan of coming-of-age anthems with music videos that include weird, futuristic, Mad Max-esque costumes, check out the video for “Boy” below.
“Crush Your Heart” is available now on Spotify, and the rest of the Heaven is Now EP drops February 26th. You can catch them at their album release show on March 5 at Baby’s All Right ($12). If you’re really lucky, you can also catch me dancing alone in my room to “Anything To Hurt You.”
For more about local music and knitted Morrissey dolls, follow Lilly on Twitter.