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The Pass
This is how quickly a buzz band develops in the super-connected new millennium.
Last spring, Will Roberts and Kyle Peters carried out a long-discussed plan to form a dance-rock band. They recruited Brian Healey to play synthesizer and Neil Lucas for drums, wrote a few songs and recorded them in a spare bedroom of the house Roberts and Peters shared.
Now they have a deal with Louisville-based SonaBLAST! Records and even interest from major labels.
“We just threw it together,” said Roberts, still bewildered at the chain of events. “We just wanted music on our MySpace page. We wanted people at our shows, and we knew they wouldn't come out if they couldn't hear us. It was basically just a demo.”
Pleased with the results, The Pass self-released the songs as the EP “Colors” to sell at shows and to distribute to local music writers and radio stations. Suddenly, The Pass' thoroughly sweet and danceable song “Crosswalk Stereo” entered the rotation on WFPK-FM. There were also rave reviews from blogs — in Louisville and as far away as the Los Angeles-based Pretty Much Amazing — and local print publications, including this one.
“Mark my words when I say these guys are the next, next, next big thing,” wrote Pretty Much Amazing's Luis Tovar in January.
The Pass had played only a couple of shows but the buzz already led impresario Gill Holland to sign the band to SonaBLAST! for a full-length album slated for release this summer. SonaBLAST! last month re-released “Colors,” too.
“It kind of just blew up,” said Roberts, who moved to Louisville from New Jersey to attend the University of Louisville's music school.
The band is finishing recording this month. Drums were recorded at DSL Recording Studio in Jeffersontown and the other parts are being recorded at the band's home studio. When they're finished, the album will be shipped to New York City to be mixed by Alex Aldi, who has engineered or mixed records for Passion Pit, The Walkmen and Les Savy Fav.
The songs on “Colors” team up-tempo dance beats, stirring funk-inspired electronic grooves and Peters' melodramatic vocals. They've drawn comparisons to Louisville's VHS or Beta and French popsters Phoenix. Roberts said the new album won't diverge too far from the EP.
“We're trying to keep a lot of the same elements, but we're trying to go bigger,” he said.
The success of “Colors” has put The Pass in an odd position. The EP was an accidental debut, recorded quickly and simply and designed for a small audience. Now, The Pass is in the odd position of making its first true record while also battling the expectations games that come with a sophomore release.
“It's funny, because it shouldn't count,” he said, laughing.
