In the '80s and '90s, lots of people tried to tag the "Athens sound": the jangle, the grit, the Southern-ness. Lots of second- and third-tier bands tried to even replicate it. But it was what it was, and any effort to pin it down just made it seem that much more elusive. What, then, of the effort to identify the quintessentially Athenian band? A daunting proposition, sure, maybe pointless, too, but these things come to mind when you spend time with Venice Is Sinking. And Athens has spent time with Venice Is Sinking. 

An argument: most members play in other bands, and the lineup has shifted, and some of them used to play in other bands that some people remember, but, most people don't remember because they never knew; they took years to do something which could've probably been done quicker; they've been called overrated, over-exposed, as well as criminally ignored and overwhelmingly excellent at the same time; they mostly sound pretty, but sometimes sad and bittersweet, and optimistic sometimes, too; their hearts are in it, but much of the broader public eye hasn't turned their way; two bandmembers were lovers, then weren't, and have reconciled as friends. If that's not Athens to you, well, maybe you haven't been in town long enough. Maybe you've been in town too long.

A New Democracy

So, Venice Is Sinking, a five-piece, a band that plays gorgeous music that sounds like other music but sounds like its own thing (thanks especially to Karolyn Troupe's coo and her viola swoon, paired nicely with Daniel Lawson's breezy voice) has its new album AZAR ready for public consumption. Three years in the making, AZAR, whose release the band celebrates with a 40 Watt show this weekend, is lush, lush, lush, full to the brim and packed to the corners with the cinematic sweep that has characterized the group for the past five-and-a-half years. But it's more nuanced than the band's 2006 debut album Sorry About the Flowers and sure sounds terrific on headphones, recorded in full-stereo effect. A lot of the detail work, says the band, is due to North Carolina producer Scott Solter's input, but it also comes from time spent gelling, coming together, coming apart, and finding its collective path together again in new ways.

"We really hadn't been a band for very long when we went into the studio and started recording our first album," says guitarist/singer Lawson. "In hindsight, we probably should have waited a little bit longer before going into the studio to make that record. Several of the songs that made it onto Sorry About the Flowers were songs that I had written before we'd even met each other."

On AZAR, though, Lawson relinquished control and let the songwriting be more of a collective thing. 

"By the time we made AZAR, that sense of ownership started to disappear and everything just naturally became more democratic. I can remember one practice in particular where [drummer] Lucas (Jensen), Karolyn and I came up with two or three of the songs that made it onto AZAR in one night," he says. "There was just a lot more interaction between everybody throughout the songwriting process, and I think we made a much better record as a result of that collaboration."

Venice Is Sinking wants people to know it's changed as a band: the group still does pretty and wistful and melancholy (check the AZAR tracks "Young Master Sunshine" or "Charm City"), but it also does driving and emphatic and forceful, too, ("Sun Belt") or peppy and rocking ("Okay," a track which sounds a lot, and not unpleasantly, like an Elf Power tune). 

Keyboard player James Sewell came up with the album's theme melody, a track that repeats itself several times throughout AZAR's running time. "I think it's really changed the sound of the band for the better," says Jensen, "because we push each other into places that we might not have gone." 

A Punch in the Face

Getting AZAR onto tape was taxing, with the band driving five hours up to Solter's studio in North Carolina nearly every weekend for eight months. "We barely kept it together," says Jensen. "That was not the most fun period for us."

The band chose to record with Solter due to his meticulous work with bands like Pattern Is Movement and John Vanderslice. 

"The recording process was extremely difficult," says Troupe.  "Scott demands strong performances from the people he works with , and I learned a lot from him throughout the sessions.  He's got an ear for perfect pitch, and being a  fretless string player, this is a huge challenge.  I had to go home and practice for hours with a tuner to almost re-learn how to play my instrument."  

Says Lawson, "The studio itself is attached to Scott's home, and while you are working you stay in this separate wing of the house with your own bathroom, kitchen and bedroom. Sometimes we'd sleep on the floor of the studio, though that wasn't as comfortable or warm as the rest of the house. Anyway, it was a pretty ideal set-up and exactly what we needed at the time. When we first started thinking about making AZAR, we all knew that we wanted to work with someone outside of Athens. It had nothing to do with the quality of engineers or studios here in town - we just knew that we had to get away from distractions or we'd never be able to finish the thing.  Scott's place was perfect for that… [but] at several points I think he seriously considered punching me in the face. I'm sure I deserved it on more than one occasion. He was able to get a lot more out of us then I thought we had in us, I guess."

AZAR was recorded with Venice Is Sinking's former bassist Stephen Miller, who left the band last year. Jeremy Sellers, formerly of mystical country-folk band Astra, joined up in the middle of a residency the band played at Flicker last year and just before a live session was recorded here in town with David Barbe. "I think I'm fitting into the band pretty well," says Sellers. "I kind of had a trial by fire there at the beginning when we recorded the record at the Georgia Theatre in May. I had only been in the band for a month or so." That recorded-live album should be out maybe later this summer, maybe later this fall. Eyes peeled, ears tuned.

Free CD with Admission

When Venice Is Sinking released Sorry About the Flowers back in '06, the band was eager to get people to hear the album, understandably proud of what they'd put together. They gave a free copy of the disc to everyone who attended the CD-release show. That's the deal again for this weekend's show. 

"I think a lot of people in Athens support the local music scene by going to shows on a regular basis, but they might be a little reluctant to plop down 10 bucks for a 'local' album," says Lawson. "I don't know… I could be wrong about that. Does anyone pay for music anymore?"

So, the same thing's up again: entry to the 40 Watt this weekend gets access to the live performance as well as a copy of AZAR. Adds Jensen: "We thought it would be great to get the CD out and about in town, and, for a while at least, it helped out with our draw. It's basically like playing a free show and selling the CD to 200 people or however many come to the show. I heard a few people gripe last time about the seven-dollar admission, and I've really got nothing to say to them. It's like paying five bucks for a show and then buying a CD for two bucks." 

So, Venice Is Sinking is trying something few other local bands are doing, and again, that's sort of an Athensy thing to do, y'know, to eventually get around to having a good idea, maybe a silly idea, and putting it into practice just to see what'll happen. The band played the public library on a Superbowl Sunday. That went well. It set up a month-long residency at Flicker. That went well, too. They finally got around to their new record, and the hard work wasn't just all big talk. They are what they are, and there's a core that's always gonna be the same, and that's Athens, too; it'll grow and move and add and subtract. Their sound is now what it is now, and that's AZAR, and it's worth hearing, and that sound'll evolve, too, eventually, but for now, for now, for now…

Chris Hassiotis

WHO	Venice Is Sinking, Tin Cup Prophette
WHERE	40 Watt Club
WHEN	Friday, Feb. 20
HOW MUCH	$8 (includes free CD)