P.S. (I love) Eliot
By Ryan Pangilinan

Without trying to drop too much hyperbole, Alabama-based P.S. Eliot’s “Introverted Romance in Our Troubled Minds” is one of my favorite debut records of all time. It definitely made the top of my best of 2009 list for Redefine. The band’s lo-fi EP, “The Bike Wreck Demo,” showed a lot of promise, but “Introverted Romance” is something that is indicative of the band’s sound: easily digestible powerpop with smart lyrics.

Lead by former Ackleys members Katie (vocals/guitar) and Alison (drums) Crutchfield, P.S. Eliot is rounded out with guitarist Will Granger and bassist Katherine Simonetti. Following their most recent tour with Football Etc, Katie Crutchfield was kind enough to answer some questions that has been burning in the minds of at least two of us here at Totally Crushed Out.

Totally Crushed Out: How did PS Eliot come together for its current line up?

Oh man, that’s kind of a really long story. Maybe I’ll just tell the beginning and the end. Basically Allison and my old band played a show with our buddies the So So Glos from New York at a time when that band was sort of on the fritz and they just sort of blindsided us with motivation, unknowingly. They were brothers and best friends and had no inhibitions about what they were doing. That sort of assurance about leaving stability and comfort behind to travel and play music is what we founded the band on, I’d say. They were in Birmingham for a week or something and when they left we were all like ”we need to be doing that!” So, we started P.S. Eliot with our friend Katie. We’ve since had like three other people play bass and added Will on second guitar. Musically, we’ve evolved a lot from the beginning to now. We’ve been a band for two-and-a-half years and in that time our individual tastes and initiatives, musically speaking, have progressed a lot.

The songs on the Bike Wreck Demo have a raw aesthetic to them and I’m guessing they were recorded straight to tape. Was there always that idea that the songs could have a cleaner sound for what would become the Introverted Romances LP?
 
Not really. I knew that I didn’t want it to sound as crunchy and raw as the demo but I was originally kind of put off by how it sounded. We actually didn’t put a ton of thought into how the LP would sound, partially out of naivete I’m sure. Our friend Matt Whitson in Birmingham has become the go-to guy for recording DIY bands so when we were ready to start recording he was our obvious choice to do it. I didn’t really think about how different it was going to sound. I don’t think I ever thought of us as this contrived, fuzzy-sounding band, which is probably what we were to most people, realistically, prior to the LP. When we listened to the initial takes during the session, I remember having a streak of panic in my mind like “is this how it’s going to sound? this doesn’t right!” I realized almost immediately that the LP recordings tapped into another realm of our tastes and interests, like it doesn’t have that fuzzy sounding goodness that the demo had but it does have this shiny Big Star clean sound that we also really like. It’s two different realms but we like them both, basically. It was purely accidental but I’m happy with how it turned out.

 
To me (so correct me if I’m slightly wrong), there’s a clear line of influence from a lot of the old K Rec/Kill Rock Stars bands like Bikini Kill and the earlier Built to Spill EPs, as well a smattering of some Lookout bands, which had more emphasis on releasing records of substance. What is it about contemporary indie rock/pop-punk that has put more merit on the band’s physical appearance versus what they’re offering as artists?

Oh yikes, I mean I’d like to hope that people don’t do that. I feel like we are really lucky to be among this community that doesn’t really do the whole superficial hipster appraisal thing. I just feel like most of the people that I know who play in bands right now try (maybe subconsciously) to really contrast with the shallow commercial punk thing and really try to focus on artistic integrity and writing good music that they like. I would really hate to reference Joe Perry here (yes, of Aerosmith) but I saw an interview he did for PUMP (rent it) and he basically said that if he was an artist he would be playing at coffeehouses in Cambridge for no money, but he isn’t an artist, he’s a performer. That sums it up pretty well, I think. I try as hard as I can to alienate myself from the politics of all of it. If I get too caught up in what people are saying about my band or even worse, my physical appearance, then it distracts me from doing what made me/my band a conversation piece to begin with.
 
I read your missive about the B9 Board. Obviously, the people at the label can’t control what people say without either a) shutting it down or b) becoming completely dictatorial. I agreed with a lot of sentiments myself, but I feel like hardcore and punk these days is stunted in a way. Kids from when I was in high school could say some regrettable things, grow up and realize that they were being dicks. Now, I feel like the people who are saying some of this stupid stuff are in their twenties and should just know better. What is it about this forum that has allowed people to stay in a perpetual Lost Boy-period, so to speak?
 
I honestly couldn’t say. I have no empathy. I never really affiliate myself with people who think like that, not to sound snobby or jaded. I just have no benevolence for a lot of the stuff that was said. I’d prefer to isolate myself from it than analyze it under a microscope.  

When I saw the band last summer in Seattle, you guys were touring in two cars. Was that as hellish as I have imagined?
 
No way. We were actually in a van and a car and we shared gear on that tour. On our most recent tour we took two small hatchbacks and shared gear with the other band as well. It’s a little squished but you save a lot on gas!

[photo by Jacki Sullivan]

Now that you have a full length and a 7” under your collective belts, when can we expect a new record?

Absolutely. We’re going to start recording out new full length, “Sadie,” in a week. It should be out on Salinas Records probably in the fall. We’re really excited!  

On a personal note, my six year old is a huge fan of the band, to the point where she has repeatedly asked me for a guitar for her birthday (I’m trying to steer her towards drums). What bands would you recommend for her that she might like?
 
Oh wow, well when I started playing guitar I was 13 and my favorite band was Hole. As a result I spent a lot of my early show-playing/high-school-attending days emulating Courtney Love. If you want to steer her from that (high school was rough) I’d say you can’t beat Bikini Kill as a good intro-to-starting-a-band band, for ladies. Positive message, aggressive music, not terribly difficult to learn to play. That would be my best suggestion.

PS Eliot’s album, “Introverted Romance in our Troubled Minds” is out now on Salinas Records, as well as their newest EP, “Living in Squalor,” which is on Freedom School Records. They also have a website where you can read all the latest news. Photos lifted from their myspace and Salinas Records.