I came home after a long day of protesting the “war” in Vietnam, exhausted.
I came home after a long day of protesting the “war” in Vietnam, exhausted. I sat down in my den, lit some incense, and pulled out the debut album by Droopies.
I took the record out of the sleeve, dropped it on the phonograph, and placed the needle. As the first track played, everything else disappeared. I was no longer at home, I was spinning through a technicolor web of sound, the double-track harmonies of Chris Harmon and Zack Albeitawi’s voices guiding me on my journey. By the second track, “Below,” I could no longer tell if I were hearing The Beatles, Droopies, or maybe some new psychedelic sound. Where was I? When was I? Truth be told, I couldn’t tell you, but I didn’t want to leave.
Was I really in the sixties? Of course not, but the band’s new album really does transport the listener. Sometimes in music, it seems like groups are a dime a dozen. That’s where Droopies is different. Their eponymous debut album is a neat juxtaposition of old and new.
Harmon and Albeitawi, born and raised in Richmond, self-produced and mixed their debut album at home and listening to the tracks evokes memories of 1967 and a hint of old-school psychedelia, with just a touch of punk. Listener’s could probably pinpoint several other genres in the album. Jazz, rhythm and blues even. Ask Harmon what their aim is soundwise and he demures.
“For us, it’s just about the music,” Harmon said. For Harmon and Albeitawi, that really rings true.
The guys have known each other since high school and were both separately involved in various projects, “We weren’t taking things so seriously back then, so nothing really stuck,” said Harmon. Years later, around March 2013, a mutual friend told Harmon that Albeitawi was looking to start a band. “Once the opportunity came, I jumped on it,” said Harmon. A three-piece band when they started, things changed after the first year. Harmon noted “I remember it started out really well, but our third member just gave up on us,” leaving the band in a tough situation.
Exactly a year later, Harmon and Albeitawi reformed as Droopies and wrote and recorded their first song on he album. For Harmon’s part, he couldn’t ask for more. “It’s the most creatively fulfilling project I’ve ever been apart of.”
As far as their musical influences, Harmon cited The Jesus and Mary Chain, a Scottish alternative rock band, (Jay Reatard), The Toms, and Wire and Spratley Japs.
“Pony”(Spratleys Japs)is one that really hit me, I think it shows a lot in my writing,” he said.
Harmon noted those are just a few of the bands that impact the band’s sound.
“I remember I had Pull My Hair Back(Jessy Lanza) on heavy rotation, I know it doesn’t show transparently in our music, but I found Pull My Hair Back very inspiring because you listen to her record and it has this remarkable undeniable vibe because she really achieved the goal of making the kind of record that she wanted to make,” he said. “It seems so simple to do something like that but it takes a dedication, if you’re not careful you can end up doing something less than that and you have to live with it.”
At the moment, the guys are simply working on their craft, and Harmon said they plan to start doing shows in early 2016.
And once the album starts generating some buzz, Harmon said they’l start work on planning a tour.
“We’re looking to put together something really special to promote the album,” he said.
Download your digitial copy of Droopies’ new album for free here.
