The curators at the American Museum of Natural History in New
York City would be proud of a local band naming itself in honor of
the city’s popular tourist attraction. But as The Natural
History frontman Max Tepper revealed, the band’s moniker is
not paying homage to its Big Apple roots.
“There’s some museum in the city, but (the name has)
got nothing to do with that at all,” Tepper said. “The
two words just sound nice together, and it represents some kind of
natural progression.”
Naturally, Tepper (guitar and vocals), his bass-playing brother
Julian, and drummer Derek Vockins have progressed quickly thanks to
the current craze for all things garage and indie. The trio is one
MTV Buzzworthy video away from stardom. The Natural History will
join fellow New Yorkers and label-mates The French Kicks in a
showcase at the Cooperage tonight at 7.
The Natural History began in 2001 A.D., when Max and
Vockins’s experimentation with math rock and post-math rock
ended with no solution. Math rock has more to do with extreme
avant-garde and less to do with Schoolhouse Rock’s
“Three is a Magic Number.” Their fascination with kooky
time signatures died as they ventured toward melodic song
structures and pop elements.
“Derek and I used to play math rock stuff, which is sort
of like progressive, really complicated, and odd time
signatures,” Max said. “Then we just wanted to play
more pop music. As for post-math rock, I don’t even know what
that is.”
In trying something new, Max and Vockins looked to the past.
They drew inspiration from the music of post-punk heroes Elvis
Costello, Wire, Gang of Four, and XTC. Max then recruited his old
lip-synch partner Julian, who was less than a week out of college,
to join the group. Two weeks later, The Natural History emerged
from the studio with its self-titled EP.
“I’m close with my brother, and it’s great
spending a lot of time working on creative stuff with him,”
Max said. “I mean we’ll fight, but it’s just like
everyone else.”
It is safe to say that Max and Julian will not be challenging
Oasis’s Gallagher brothers for the title of “most
sadistic siblings” any time soon. They are too preoccupied
with crafting songs that satisfy all their various criteria.
“The whole kit and caboodle really,” Max said.
“We want it to be to the point, catchy, dynamic, and invoke
some sort of emotion out of us as well as the listeners.”
The Natural History has built a steady fan following after
almost two years of constant touring with indie acts such as Enon
and Spoon.
“I mean it’s great,” Max said. “You want
to be accepted of course. You want to reach out to
people.”
Naysayers are quick to point out that The Natural History is
just another product of the Strokes-led “garage
revival” ““ another New York hipster outfit with
“The” in front of its name plundering from the late
’70s. However, Max could care less whether being a band from
New York is a curse or a blessing.
“It doesn’t really affect us at all,” Max
said. “(Critics) can write what they want. I don’t
care. I love being in New York. I was born and raised there.
It’s where I’m from.”
The Natural History performs with the French Kicks today at the
Cooperage. The show starts at 7 p.m.