MIAM July 2009 : Page 54

THE RADAR | MUSIC Sealed and Delivered Ft. Lauderdale duo Life of Seals puts a distinctive, addictive twist on amostly British sound. Let the hype begin | ByKyleMunzenrieder | Photography byDavidHarris | Asmusical subgenres go, thedreamy ifnoisy electronic/ pop mix often referred to as shoegazing has limited geographical boundaries—usually ending around the British Isles. But where My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive and other bands you’ve probably never heard of have become more influential in Western Europe and the United States in recent years, inspiring cult bands like the French M83 and Germans on the MorrMusic label, South Florida is about as far from a shoegazer source as you could imagine. Until now. It may be premature to start the hype on Ft. Lauderdale’s Life of Seals, but then we rarely see a band with such a different sound in this area, and one that has so much promise, as well as a bit of intrigue. As for that sound, this duo’s melodic meanderings and hypnotic rhythms are certainly not of South Florida, and sometimes don’t even sound of this world. It’s an incredible feat for a band that consists of only twomusicians. AdamSantucci andMatthewGossman are lifelong friends fromFt. Lauderdale who started the band in 2007 with a third member, who provided the enigmatic name.Te remaining twomembers claimnot to know its origin, but it’s a fitting moniker for a band that brings a gentle, warm-blooded spirit to a sound that relies heavily on the coldness of a computers. During what few live performances they’ve had, Santucci plays guitars and vocals, Gossman plays drums, and the waves and washes of the other sounds come courtesy of the program Ableton. “I do consider the computer almost a third member of the band, because it’s just the two of us live and we can only do so much,” Santucci says. While it’s generally preferable to a shady bass player working through some personal problems, the CPU set-up comes with its own potential pitfalls. Like when the band opened for L.A. rockers Gliss recently at the Vagabond, in one of its first live shows. “We had a huge worst case scenario,” Santucci recalls. “Tere was a moment where the computer just kind of dropped out.”Te twomen and their computer persevered, however, and now are poised to turn Life of Seals into one of Florida’s most intriguing acts. Ah yes, intrigue. Te biggest mystery is how Gossman so easily slides between genres. He and Santucci approximated the college/indie-rock sound so beloved by bloggers with the band Freemartin before transitioning to Life of Seals, and Gossman could probably make a very decent living drumming with the project he launched in 2002, Into the Moat.Tatband’s sludgy, abrasive sounds runs completely counter to Life of Seals, and belongs to the surprisingly popular subgenre of death metal. Into the Moat continues to record for esteemed Metal Blade Records, and the 2009 album, Te Campaign, has received generally ’GAZERS From Left: Life of Seals’ Matthew Gossman and Nick Santucci. favorable reviews—one blog called it a “top notch album that’s going to blow up your car stereo.” So will this distract Gossman from taking the unsigned Life of Seals to the next level, to make the duo the most unlikely electronic-pop act to emerge fromSouth Florida, um, ever? Perhaps. But first, he has some business to attend to. “I toured with my other band, so I know the ins and out of it,”Gossman says of themusic business. “I’m just waiting to finish school.Once I do that, this will be my main focus.”Te music world awaits him. M Listen to songs byLife of Seals and check for live performances at myspace.com/lifeofseals. 54 | | July/August 2009

The Radar Music

Kyle Munzenrieder

Sealed and Delivered Ft. Lauderdale duo Life of Seals puts a distinctive, addictive twist on a mostly British sound. Let the hype begin Asmusical subgenres go, the dreamy if noisy electronic/ pop mix often referred to as shoegazing has limited geographical boundaries—usually ending around the British Isles. But where My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive and other bands you’ve probably never heard of have become more influential in Western Europe and the United States in recent years, inspiring cult bands like the French M83 and Germans on the Morr Music label, South Florida is about as far from a shoegazer source as you could imagine. Until now. It may be premature to start the hype on Ft. Lauderdale’s Life of Seals, but then we rarely see a band with such a different sound in this area, and one that has so much promise, as well as a bit of intrigue. As for that sound, this duo’s melodic meanderings and hypnotic rhythms are certainly not of South Florida, and sometimes don’t even sound of this world. It’s an incredible feat for a band that consists of only two musicians. Adam Santucci and Matthew Gossman are lifelong friends from Ft. Lauderdale who started the band in 2007 with a third member, who provided the enigmatic name. The remaining two members claim not to know its origin, but it’s a fitting moniker for a band that brings a gentle, warm-blooded spirit to a sound that relies heavily on the coldness of a computers. During what few live performances they’ve had, Santucci plays guitars and vocals, Gossman plays drums, and the waves and washes of the other sounds come courtesy of the program Ableton. “I do consider the computer almost a third member of the band, because it’s just the two of us live and we can only do so much,” Santucci says. While it’s generally preferable to a shady bass player working through some personal problems, the CPU set-up comes with its own potential pitfalls. Like when the band opened for L.A. rockers Gliss recently at the Vagabond, in one of its first live shows. “We had a huge worst case scenario,” Santucci recalls. “There was a moment where the computer just kind of dropped out.” The two men and their computer persevered, however, and now are poised to turn Life of Seals into one of Florida’s most intriguing acts. Ah yes, intrigue. The biggest mystery is how Gossman so easily slides between genres. He and Santucci approximated the college/indie-rock sound so beloved by bloggers with the band Freemartin before transitioning to Life of Seals, and Gossman could probably make a very decent living drumming with the project he launched in 2002, Into the Moat. That band’s sludgy, abrasive sounds runs completely counter to Life of Seals, and belongs to the surprisingly popular subgenre of death metal. Into the Moat continues to record for esteemed Metal Blade Records, and the 2009 album, ..e Campaign, has received generally favorable reviews—one blog called it a “top notch album that’s going to blow up your car stereo.” So will this distract Gossman from taking the unsigned Life of Seals to the next level, to make the duo the most unlikely electronic-pop act to emerge from South Florida, um, ever? Perhaps. But first, he has some business to attend to. “I toured with my other band, so I know the ins and out of it,” Gossman says of the music business. “I’m just waiting to finish school. Once I do that, this will be my main focus.”The music world awaits him. M Listen to songs by Life of Seals and check for live performances at myspace.com/lifeofseals.

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