January 27-February 2, 2005

music

Found Sound

STEPPING UP: (from left: Kennedy, Cawley, Muller, Garito, Kehoe) Audible's debut CD, Sky Signal, comes out on Polyvinyl this week. Photo By: Michael T. Regan

Local indie-pop combo Audible plays it by ear.

by Michael Pelusi

First it was a solo project. Then a duo. And then there were three. For local band Audible, the road to becoming a five-piece with a fine, just-released debut full-length, Sky Signal (Polyvinyl), was if not fraught then certainly long and winding.

Frontman Mike Kennedy is most recognizable for his loose-limbed drumming over the years in local bands like Matt Pond PA, Lefty's Deceiver, Mazarin, Mesmer and others. Unbeknownst to many, he has also plugged away on guitar and amassed a songbook of his own since 2000. "I started out as a drummer and never really had aspirations to songwriting," he says. "After playing in bands with songwriters that I really admired, I [thought], "Maybe I should try to do that.'"

Kennedy's songs combine basic guitar strums with a rhythmic pull, recalling his percussive background, and melodies that are Eno-like in their Zen simplicity.

After receiving an emergency call to open a show at the Khyber one night in 2000, Kennedy enlisted then-girlfriend Mary Garito to play keyboards. The two-piece debuted that night, supporting a little-known Omaha outfit called Bright Eyes.

"It was fun," says Garito. "We were nervous, but then we were like, "whatever.'"

After a few shows, the two decided another musician was needed to bring the live sound closer to what their demos mapped out. The logical choice was guitarist Jim Kehoe, a friend and bandmate of Kennedy's since adolescence. (Disclosure: This writer and Kehoe hold non-staff positions at the same company.)

"Jim's the kind of guy that you can call him up and he comes over and he listens to the song and he's like, "How's this?' And it's great," says Kennedy.

But when Kennedy and Kehoe joined hard-touring band Matt Pond PA in 2001, Audible's presence noticeably decreased. Only little bits of Audible activity occured: the occasional recording session in Kennedy's home; a neighborhood show here and there; a split EP release or two. Plus, Kennedy was still adjusting to being out from behind the drum kit for the first time in his musical life. "Our shows used to be six months apart," he explains. "And initially we were all sitting down in a circle, huddled around," as if for protection.

Adds Kehoe, "We would practice intensively for months for a show, and then have a show that we all felt good about. And then we wouldn't practice again for months."

It wasn't till 2003 when the two left Matt Pond PA that they were able to pick things back up. Kennedy's bandmate in Lefty's Deceiver and current girlfriend Kris Muller joined on bass. Once they left Matt Pond PA, "it seemed the natural thing would be, let's do this now. Let's make [Audible] the main thing," Kennedy says.

They recorded their album at Manayunk's Miner Street Studios — plus some overdub sessions using Kennedy's home ProTools set-up — with veteran local skinsman Sean Byrne . The Miner Street team of Brian McTear and Amy Morrissey was invaluable to realizing the album, Kennedy says. They adorned the songs with graceful harmonies, swathes of guitars and keyboards and a subtle sense of dynamics. It's a warm, engaging record, from the thrilling, slow-building title track to the effortless pop of "Sunday Bell" to the loping "Motorcycle."

Still, there was one more missing piece. Ironically, this band led by a drummer still needed a full-time stickman. In Philly, "I know, since everyone calls me every couple of weeks, there's not a whole lot of drummers," says Kennedy. So they put a carefully worded ad on Craigslist ("no drum cages"), which nevertheless managed to garner some ill-suited respondents.

So they composed a more carefully worded ad and Steve Cawley was one of the first to e-mail them back. "One of the clinchers was that the practice spot was a block from my house. I can't turn it down!" he jokes.

At the audition, Cawley says, "After the third song, Mike looked at me. "The gig's yours if you want it.'"

With their debut now out, the fully formed Audible is already eager to tour and move forward. The band has already toyed with their songwriting practices.

"We're trying to be more open, to write songs more like other bands," says Muller. "Where everybody gets together in the same room."

"We've actually been jamming," Kehoe notes with some trepidation.

Kennedy clarifies: "Directed jamming."

Audible's CD release show, Sat., Jan. 29, 9 p.m., $8, with The Fontaine Toups, Garden State and Joey Sweeney, North Star Bar, 2639 Poplar St., 215-684-0808.