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Simple’s the planTyvek’s debt to British post-punk
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If Tyvek’s self-titled new record is any indication, these Michigan miscreants seem to have sprung directly from the loins of the U.K. DIY scene of the early ’80s. Bands like the Swell Maps, Alternative TV, the Mekons, the Raincoats and the fathers of it all, the Fall, exploded in the U.K. underground at the time, all sharing a musical kinship that veered far from pyrotechnic noodling and based their common sound on repetition, while letting their naiveté and raw passion steer things. “I guess I was getting into those bands, and other punk bands, when I was 17,” says Tyvek guitarist/singer Kevin Boyer. “We share similarities with those bands, I guess, because some people in this band had never played an instrument before we started. We were just friends and I had to convince them how easy it was to just do it. I think that not being able to play very well was the best thing going for us, so we can really push the limits of simplicity.” If the early-’80s U.K. DIY scene is an undeniable marker, Tyvek also remain a product of their direct environs and time, as a band from Detroit. The former murder capital has always been known for its contribution to garage rock, from the Stooges and MC5 to the Gories, its house music of the ’80s and ’90s, the current crop of noiseniks like Hair Police and Wolf Eyes and the bent neo-garage of the Terrible Twos and the Frustrations. “People have always been really supportive of local bands in Detroit and most shows will have four completely different bands that are all coming from different places, so there is a lot of cross-pollination going on. There is this real feeling of people in Detroit wanting to be independent, from tape and record labels to the bands themselves. It’s kind of a small town and even though the bands all sound different and come from different places, we’re unified by the need to hear something new and exciting.” WITH BLACK FEELINGS, GRAND TRINE |
