Rassle Up a Buzz Band

Google “THE RASSLE” and you might get the wrong idea. More than one website says the band sounds like the Big Star revivalists Free Energy; or that its danceable rock makes the band post punk. If you toggle over to an image search and look at the pictures of these four young, handsome guys—who’ve managed to record a series of J. Crew promotional videos before recording a full album—you might assume The Rassle is an indie boyband, fresh-faced and well-connected, that will succeed whether you like it or not. The Rassle’s own Mark Solomich describes that phenomenon as “groups you’ll see in all kinds of magazines over and over that just never catch on with any kind of wide audience,” bands that “can play the game; they can lobby; they can email; they know the right people—but if you don’t have songs that people respond to, then it’s all kind of for naught, you know?” So, does The Rassle have songs people like or are these inveterate industry insiders here to test our patience?

The answers to those questions are connected. The Rassle is a quartet of longtime friends: Blair Van Nort (vocals), Reed Van Nort (guitar), Erik Ratensperger (drums) and Mark Solomich (bass). The members had all been in their own bands (including The Virgins and Young Lords), which had all broken up. They were at loose ends, getting older and with no immediate excuse for not filling out those grad school applications. “Do we be mature adults and get nine-to-fives and lose that ambition we had to be musicians and give up,” Blair opines, “or do we keep going? I think all of us [felt]... this is all we really wanted to do. It was kind of a no-brainer.”

Still, starting a new band isn’t easy.

“Once you’ve done a band, doing another one is an undertaking,” explains Solomich. “You’re not just playing every Friday with your buddies at a bar—we have more ambition than that. We’ve taken on a lot more than that. We’ve quit our jobs. It takes over your life, so you weigh that decision more carefully.”

Still, the guys committed themselves to the grind all over again. This time, though, they promised themselves it would be different. They’d work with people who shared their ideas (as Solomich puts it, “It’s not like Erik comes in with a rap-rock song, and is like, ‘Yo, check this out’”). The guys wouldn’t limit themselves to one sound or another: “We want those midtempo songs,” says Blair Van Nort. “We want the bangers. We all have so many different influences that we bring to each song that we’re like, let’s try this or that. I think that helps.” One can’t help but hear veiled indictments in those words. The Virgins never strayed from the sorta-edgy synth rock, coining the phrase “cocaine brunch” (an actual lyric!). The Young Lords, too, were unable to play a song that didn’t sound like The Animals had met The Strokes.

The Rassle sounds more like its members have taken a deep breath, relaxed and (mostly) stopped trying to prove how cool they are. The band’s music is infectious and easygoing, a relaxed and confident take on big-sound rock. A foursong debut EP, titled Introducing (available for free on the band’s website), mixes xylophone, searching keyboard notes, crashing cymbals, thundering horse hoof percussion and guitar chords that shoot out and reverberate until they don’t. These sonic genies materialize and await your command for a sound somewhere between vintage MGMT and big-time-era Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

And things have started happening.

Like that J. Crew gig. As Reed Van Nort explains it, “The photographer who was on the job asked his agent if they knew of anyone who might be good for this project. His agent mentioned us and shortly after, the casting director wrote us a message, and then the ball rolled from there.” Now, various industry types are lining up to get a piece of these guys before they make it, whatever that means.

The Rassle is quickly shaping up to be one of those bands you see everywhere— from secret shows with notable headliners to coy mentions in Page Six—but never actually hear. And that’s a mistake. Take a listen, because whether you’re a show promoter, gossip editor, alt-weekly writer (ahem) or any other industry type, The Rassle is a sure bet.

>> THE RASSLE Dec. 17, Mercury Lounge, 217 E. Houston St. (betw. Essex & Ludlow Sts.), 212- 260-4700; 8, $10.