halfknot

From an interview with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah:

Pitchfork: I wanted to ask you about the great influences question everybody brings up. In general, it seems like you tend to deny or play down any similarities between yourselves and the bands that people compare you to.

Alec: Sure, I mean, you know, as far as influences are concerned. In the Thelonious Monk documentary Straight, No Chaser, a journalist asks him what he listens to and sort of what his background is, and he says he listens to everything. And the journalist finds-- he seems to find that incredible and asks him again. And he said to other guy in the room: "This guy hear me? I said I listen to everything." So that's the idea. I mean like, the idea of shaping a particular type of song, or you know-- it has everything to do with the individual and the group that he's working with.

They also talk about how their "album" was pretty much spawned from a demo CD and thus only an album de facto. So I'll be less harsh on the hype... I was disappointed about only liking 3 songs on it... then again, one of those songs I've been listening to very loudly about every other night... my roommates can attest.

But ya gotta love Monk.