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We love this mellow Berkeley guitar band. They drew early comparisons to the Shins, but established themselves in their own right in 2008, which turned out to be a breakout year for the four-piece. For one thing, iTunes hailed their debut, Talking Through Tin Cans, as indie album of the year; they also scored tour slots opening for the Kooks, Death Cab For Cutie and Ra Ra Riot. Just for kicks, they also recorded an entire album of acoustic covers—and gave it away for free via their website. Don’t let their beautifully chill sound fool you about their work ethic—their next album is already on the way this spring. We chatted with frontman Chris Chu.
PLAYBOY: When did you know you wanted to be in a band?
CHU: I guess that would be my freshman year of high school. I was home sick and I was listening to music, and decided I needed to learn guitar. I went over to my friend’s house, his mom let me in because he was at school, and I took his guitar. The first song I tried to learn was “Say It Ain’t So” by Weezer.
PLAYBOY: What do you guys do to prepare for a show?
CHU: We like to warm up with a little a cappella “Self-Esteem” by the Offspring.
PLAYBOY: What’s the best driving album?
CHU: Lesser Matters by the Radio Dept.
PLAYBOY: And bedroom album?
CHU: Side B of The Genius of Ray Charles.
PLAYBOY: It’s so cheap and easy to record these days. How has that affected you?
CHU: It’s given us the privilege to record at home. We wouldn’t have been able to do a free album of covers without that technology, and we wouldn’t have been able to give it to everyone as easily as we did.
PLAYBOY: How did you come up with that Rock the Rabbit design?
CHU: We wanted to add the Playboy magazine as a part of the landscape in our world, as an object present in all our music and art.
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