Totally Crushed Out! press kit
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Totally Crushed Out! press kit Anna Waronker (vocals, guitar) THE HISTORYthat dog. almost didn't make it out of the bedroom. That's where Anna Waronker first started writing songs. When Petra and Rachel Haden joined her, the trio figured they'd alternate bedrooms. But three years and a few road trips later, Anna, the Hadens and drummer Tony Maxwell are releasing their second album, Totally Crushed Out! (DGC Records). Like its predecessor, the eponymously titled that dog., Totally Crushed Out! comes replete with many of the unique stylings that have helped distinguish that dog. from their musical peers. The off-kilter distorted guitar is still there. (Anna learned how to play on her brother's lefty guitar. She still plays upside down -- and it sounds like it.) So are the transcendent violins. And the band's trademark sweet n' sour harmonies are as gorgeous/disturbing as ever. The most striking element found on Crushed, however, is how much that dog. have grown. Anna's lyrics have become increasingly intimate, and while she's still a quiet, conversational singer, her voice and guitar work have taken on greater authority. Petra's violin has become more at home within the band's musical framework; Rachel's bass thunders confidently ("We've had a little bit of practice; I feel like a real live bass player now," she deadpans); and Tony's drumming is fiercer and more bombastic, without having lost the tastefulness for which he is known. Even the band's harmonies, already mind-altering, have grown more sophisticated. Like the band members' chops, the songs on Totally Crushed Out! developed on the road. Traveling across the country in a van and gigging five nights a week can make you a little edgy; that dog. took their aggressions out on their songs. Pretty amazing for a band whose initial response to live performance was "No way! Are you crazy? Play in front of people?" Anna's known the Hadens, who are two of a set of triplets, since high school. In May of 1992 they started putting Anna's songs on tape and figured this would be a neat hobby. The relentless pestering of friends inspired them to upgrade their recordings at an eight-track studio. That was when Anna called Tony because, in her words, "he can play and do anything," which at that point included showing the trio where to plug in their guitars and demonstrating how fun distortion boxes could be. Tony helped flesh out that dog.'s sound -- he brought the noise. Perhaps equally important, Tony brought the drums. Soon a double seven-inch was released on Magnatone Records and the band began receiving airplay around Los Angeles. This was turning out better than they'd ever imagined, but "No Way!" were they going onstage. Anna had never been in a band. Even when an encounter with road kill rendered her unable to utter anything other than "that dog. . . that dog. . ." and a friend said, "Hey, that would be a great band name," it never occurred to her that a band would actually come out of it. Despite their relative experience, the Hadens weren't too keen on the live idea either. But Tony had been playing out for years. And their friends would not leave them alone. So they finally played at Jabberjaw, an important rite of passage for any aspiring local indie band. They warmed up for 9 Iron, Tony's other band, and Walt Mink, which then featured Anna's brother Joey on drums. And the crowd responded. A few more tentative shows and that dog. fast became a fixture on the L.A. club scene. But it was still just for fun. Tony was working in video production; Anna was in film school; Petra was studying violin; and Rachel was taking classes toward a psychology degree. Nobody expected that within a few months, that dog. would be signed to a major label and touring the country. (For their first record, the band signed to DGC, but in an unorthodox move, they allowed Ivo Watts-Russell's 4AD label to release their disc worldwide.) that dog. the record came out in late 1993. The single and video for "Old Timer" made the college universe sit up and take notice. "There was a certain chemistry that stuck out," says Tony, "because of the violin and the Andrews Sisters harmonies over these thrashy little punky guitar songs." A musical next step, Totally Crushed Out! is that dog.'s concept album. Anna says: "In the past year I experienced a series of breakups. I didn't want to write love songs. I wanted to try something different. But I didn't have a choice; they just came out. And then the band picked up on it. So we thought we'd make light of the whole thing by making this an official theme album." that dog. co-produced Crushed with the assistance of Rob Cavallo (Green Day), Paul DuGre (Los Lobos, Bad Religion), and their old pal Tom Grimley, who recorded their first album and has worked with Beck, among others. The sessions marked a blossoming of the band's recording ethic. Tony explains: "On the road, we'd been playing and singing harder than we ever had. We wanted to capture that sonic and emotional weight on the record. It's hard to translate live adrenaline in a static environment, so we had to be creative in trying to recreate that impact. "Our initial recording approach was very straightforward, bare-bones documentation, but we had higher aspirations this time out. We wanted to challenge ourselves in the studio. We've gone from what some called 'chamber punk' to a much bigger sound." Anna has pushed herself similarly as a songwriter. "Before, I was trying to get my point out without having to say it," she admits. "I'd usually mask it with some stupid pop culture reference. But I've been through a period where I wanted to be brutally honest and clear. Sometimes it makes people uncomfortable, and maybe it's getting to be too much, but those songs just happen." Though that dog. has stretched their collective talents both on-stage and in the studio, their stripped-down conscience prevails. "My writing and the band in general are based on simplicity," Anna states, "something that's very personal. We can benefit from more production and a really loud and noisy sound, but it's important to keep some things totally stark." It's precisely this tension -- between the simple and the complex, the assonant and the dissonant, the acoustic and the electric -- that lies at the heart of that dog.'s appeal. That appeal is in ample evidence on Totally Crushed Out!, which just may plunge you into the depths of puppy love. ABOUT THE AUTHORSanna waronker was born on July 10, 1972 in Los Angeles. She sings and plays guitar and lives and writes at "the lodge" in Los Angeles. THE END |
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