Where the Sun Don't Shine

Tanlines, a duo from Brooklyn, make music that sounds like the future and the primitive decided to do some heavy petting at a rave. Pure rhythm, in densely produced drums that evolve into tribal, tropical and Euro dance floor frenzies, anchors the group’s infectious dance pop formula on its new EP, Settings. Its two members, Eric Emm (formerly of Don Caballero) and Jesse Cohen (formerly of Professor Murder), have spent the last year charting an exciting course from remix production duo to a band that might encourage us to start taking ecstasy again.

Sitting down with Tanlines before a recent show at Brooklyn Bowl, we get to talking about origins, progressions and how technology is bringing back the importance of the song.

“Eric has a studio, so that’s maybe the most important part of how we began and continue to work,” says Cohen. “When you have that at your fingertips, you can make music whenever you want to. It’s a real luxury. Sometimes it’s a real burden, but for the most part it’s a luxury.”

Emm chimes in, “The first thing we did wasn’t intended as a remix. It was ‘Hey, let’s do a song,’ and it only became a remix when we realized we needed vocals. I did that song ‘Chrome’s On It’ with Telepathe.We made the Tanlines song and I had a feeling the vocal from that would work on it, so we tried that and it did.”

One of the more innovative ways that Tanlines nurtured its original fan base was through a rapid-fire release technique that involved focusing two or three days on a track before posting it to the Internet with a unique video. Just watch the band’s clip for “Bejan,” which repurposes footage from Funky Monks—an unintentionally hilarious Red Hot Chili Pepper’s documentary from 1991.Tanlines understand that YouTube is where people are consuming music nowadays, and that it’s increasingly important for new groups to have a novel presence on the site.

“If you think of YouTube as a music site, it’s by far the most dynamic and diverse music site imaginable,” theorizes Cohen. “You can pick any song, especially popular songs, call it up and you’ll get the original version, a live version, a cover or even a video explaining how the beat was made or people dancing in their bedrooms to it.”

For Tanlines, this new era refocuses the public’s consumption on the song in its pure form rather than a single mix.The group’s work on Settings continually hits this nail on its head.There’s no overarching concept besides strong jams rooted in island grooves that you’ll want to endlessly repeat in all possible configurations.You get the feeling that a whole slew of remixes and crazy viral videos could be on the way.

“It’s actually a very traditional idea of music,” continues Cohen. “Before the album, the song was the thing and everyone played it differently.You know, you’d buy a song sheet. The individual would perform.That was the first way music was commoditized.There was a famous version of a song.The Nat King Cole version is the most famous version of ‘Nature Boy,’ but many people sang it. In a way,YouTube brings these different versions back and it places emphasis on the song itself rather than a particular recording.”

Tanlines also takes this song-as-guide concept to heart in the live interpretations of its source material. On the new record, a track like “Real Life” is bubbly, breezy and succinct, yet on stage the drums take sharper focus as they both sway the crowd and provide choice pockets for rhythmic improvisation. For an act with such forward-thinking production, this also highlights the importance of primitive jamming to the group’s success. It’s this let-itfly-then-meticulously-edit scenario that really makes these songs pop.

“In the studio, we’ll both play a ton of instruments into the computer and then pick out the best parts of that and create loops of it,” says Cohen. “Then Eric will record guitar forever and we’ll pick the sections that work.”

Emm clarifies, “Having said that, the editing is never done without purpose.There’s an idea in mind. For us, we jam, record it and then figure out how or if it’s a song. A lot of those jams haven’t been figured out yet. I don’t want people to think because we talk about editing that the songs are thrown together.We embrace technology as a tool. We’re certainly not about old ideas about how things are done.”

Tanlines plans to take its stacked rhythms, blissful guitar, Caribbean-tinged synths and Eno-wail vocals on the road to Austin and Monterrey, Mexico—for South By Southwest and Todd P’s MtyMx festival, respectively—in March.The duo is also chipping away at tons of unreleased material for possible inclusion on its first full-length and a potential mix tape to drop later this year. Fortunately, with Settings, the guys have given us six definitive tracks to dance around to at rooftop barbecues when the sun finally comes out.

-- Tanlines Mar. 5, Monster Island Basement, 128 River St. (at Metropolitan Ave.), Brooklyn, no phone; 8, $8.