Thailand

Tapping Into L.A.’s Dark Undercurrent

By Julia Cooper

Photo by Jessica Watkins

“Change” may be the political buzzword of 2008, but it has always been a mantra for L.A. new wave/post-punk trio Thailand. Figuring out what works – and what doesn’t – took core members Marc Linquist (vocals, beats, guitar) and Staci Roark (synths, vocals) on an edifying journey through lineup additions and subtractions, new locales, fresh approaches to songwriting and a challenging transition from bedroom band to a live rock act that fearlessly uses a drum machine to create music on its own terms.

On the heels of its summer release, The Remote Controller Absorbs the Place EP, Thailand has discovered that change pays off. As a follow-up to 2007’s Motorcade, the band’s full-length debut, Remote ups the ante for synth-based pop by evoking emotionally resonant melodies and intelligent, politically adept lyrics that rival the best of folk classics.

Though not much changed technically in recording the albums – both were produced in a home studio and mastered by Dave Cooley (Silversun Pickups, Danger Mouse) – Remote’s new artistic approach and refined drum programming stripped away the mechanical effects and plastic sheen that looms over others in electronic genres. “It has a more cohesive sound,” Roark says, with many songs developed from barebones bass and vocal lines. The result is tighter structures, cleaner hooks and, overall, a more affecting feel than the band’s previous work.

Tendering poignancy on a drum machine backbeat – especially onstage – might dare any band to tinker with its lineup. After Motorcade and feeling pressured to get the typical “rock band” cast of characters, Linquist and Roark recruited a rhythm section but soon found it strayed from their musical vision. “I said, ‘This isn’t really sounding like I think it should,’” explains Linquist. As it turned out, putting a little more polish and effort into programming proved a more natural fit (though Linquist says a live drummer remains a future possibility).

Linquist inherited his fondness for do-it-all-yourself music-making from his father, a one-man lounge act who left keyboards and other gear strewn about their Florida living room. A love for Duran Duran paved the way to membership in bands such as Louisville power-pop quartet Monorail before Linquist connected with Roark, a classically-trained, rock ‘n’ roll-raised pianist from Oklahoma. The couple soon married and began collaborating musically.

It took a few relocations as far as the U.K. before Linquist and Roark gravitated to L.A. and its endless possibilities. With environment impacting their music as much as programming and politics, Thailand began to take shape in a music scene that sprawls as expansively as its geography. The couple holed up in a home studio and found isolation, albeit amid an explosion of people and places. “I really think the sound evolved from that – moving out here and not knowing people and starting over with just two of us,” Roark says.

Feeling out of sorts among perennial sunshine, palm trees and proclivity for sunny twee-pop harmonies further fueled Thailand’s blacker shade of pop. “For all its sun, L.A. still sees a little bit of that dark undercurrent, just because it can be a kind of weird, lonely, menacing place,” Linquist asserts.

Things really started clicking when Jonah Flicker (Hello Fever, Prayers), a guitarist friend of Roark’s, joined the band prior to recording Remote and the three fused their collective love for Wire, New Order and David Bowie to forge a unique sound. Though garnering friendships with other SoCal bands and notice from bloggers and press, the trio happily revels in its semi-outsider scene status. “I feel like there’s just a bunch of bands floating around out there and not necessarily intrinsically linked to any particular scene,” Flicker says, noting L.A. scenester hubs in Silver Lake or at The Smell. “I feel like that’s where we fit.”

Finding a groove while still sticking to its principles has led Thailand to set its sights on new ventures, including a “dream” club tour of Europe, label exploration and recording its next full length. Considering its metamorphosis, Thailand proffers a compelling argument for change as a mandatory step toward artistic realization.

www.myspace.com/welcometothailand