Blood On The Wall

Blood On The Wall is Kansas-born siblings Courtney (bass/vocals) and Brad Shanks (guitar/vocals) and 'Liferz' is the band's third LP. Earlier this year the band played several dates with Black Mountain, and has just now come off its own national tour.

In the age where a lot of bands are going back to classic LP-length recordings, 'Liferz' is a swift 28-minute wash of mangled guitars, garbled vocals and scattered drums and like it's name suggests, it's a life-affirming blast of American underground rock. Courtney Shanks spoke to dB Magazine while on tour in Baltimore, Maryland with her brother Brad by her side.

The shows so far have been good, she says, and people have been digging the new songs; 'Liferz' is coming into its own on the road. "People are OK with it, so that's good." Shanks is nonchalant, though she speaks with an energetic tone, reflecting the way she and Brad treat their live shows.

"We pretty much stick to the songs. We're not really, like, a jam band. Most of our songs are under three minutes and a lot of them are under two so we still do that live. It's pretty straight, but of course when you play live there are elements that happen that are out of your control, that are probably a little weird, y'know?" she laughs.

Formerly based in New York, Courtney now lives in L.A. and Brad has returned to his hometown of Lawrence, Kansas. Since its beginnings the band has recorded with renowned producer Nicolas Vernhes (Animal Collective, Fiery Furnaces, Black Dice) at his Rare Book Room Studio, essentially a two-storey building in Williamsburg, New York with a studio on the ground floor and Vernhes' loft-style living quarters upstairs. Shanks has only good things to say about Vernhes, whose laidback persona and open attitude to recording has made him a much sought-after producer. The Shanks family and Vernhes have been friends for years.

"It's actually kinda wild because I didn't even know he recorded bands when I became friends with him and he just kinda became one of my best friends in New York. I wasn't even in a band when we first started hanging out so when we started to do Blood On The Wall he just became the obvious choice to record us. And it just feels really comfortable because I've been hanging out and drinking beers with the guy for years, as a bro. All three of us are really close buddies with him."

Another important part of Blood On The Wall's rise is the band's US label, The Social Registry, which has put out records by Gang Gang Dance and Growing, as well as a host of underground American groups. "Oh they're awesome," says Shanks of label co-ordinators Rich Zerbo and Joe Gaer. "I think I've known Rich for six to eight years. He has now become one of my best friends too. When I moved from New York City I couldn't find someone to care for my cats so they made my cats office cats for a couple months until I got a stable place to breed 'em." That's right, I believe she said "breed 'em." Rampaging rocker and feline friend - when you hear her simultaneously slinky and scrappy vocal, you'll see it kinda makes sense. With its recent distribution deal on Popfrenzy Records, the band hopes to tour Australia soon.

It's a good sign when a band likes to shop for records on tour. (Brad Shanks works in a record store, too). "Pretty much every town we get in we go to the record store and we like to eat, so we come up with good things to eat. We've been trying to bowl. We were gonna try and make this the bowling tour but we've only bowled once," Shanks says she got her highest score though, a 118. Not bad. "Brad's best is 178," she reveals.

Shanks loves touring and making new friends on the road. This time it has been Eat Skull and Coconut Coolouts. She adds, "You gotta hear Thee Oh Sees!" the new band from The Coachwhips' John Dwyer. "It's awesome!" (Note: Blood On The Wall's second LP is titled 'Awesomer'). But has she heard the new Hospitals LP? Not yet but "Brad says it's awesome". 'Liferz' is pretty awesome too.

Lenin Simos

'Liferz' is out now through Popfrenzy Records.