[Ex]Band of the Week: Arrah and the Ferns

[2005-2008]
Arrah and the Ferns
Sounds Like: Indie-Pop / Folk
Drinking Buddies: Slow Club, The Boy Least Likely To, Math and Physics Club
Synopsis: Coy whispers between young lovers.
Makes You Want To...: Daydream; Smooch; Walk through the park
Evolved Into:

the bears of blue river
council, idaho
the native young
prayer breakfast
see orange
whoa bro awesome/sleeping bag
woodlands

[Myspace] / [Website] / [Last.fm]





This month is one of old and new.
Voilà! is featuring bands that have broken up.
This week, the featured artist is Arrah and the Ferns.



Tea. It's simple. Tea is simply tea. Coffee is complicated: it makes your entire body buzz from head to toe, if you drink it too fast you'll burn your mouth and tongue, and with contemporary coffee shops (which shall remain unmentioned), they have behemoth mutant coffees decorated with icing and ice, with all nameless sorts of names. Coffee is complex. There's not a lot to tea, really. Heat up some water, toss some leaves in it, let it steep for a bit. That's all there is to tea; you've got to love something that's just so pure, easy to understand, and simply made; no complications, just what you expect it to be. It's a comfort, tea is. And it's very personable, as there is no one way that people are required to drink tea. Have it hot with milk, have red tea straight and bitter, have white tea subtle and calming, have icy cold and extremely sweet black tea. Tea can be whatever you want it to be, and there's a taste for about everyone; it's because of tea's simplicity that it's so relateable.

Simple is calming, and simple is delightful, as are Arrah and the Ferns. It's soothing to listen to something so clear and easy to understand; so unpretentious and fun; so relaxed and jubilant. These cools cats Indiana are a gem rested gently in the midwest for four years, quietly making a huge musical difference for those ever-so lucky enough to be apart of their miniature movement.

Arrah and the Ferns made a lot of friends in their short creative musical group; this was a family of friends, all based on their own unique brand of friendships. And through these bonds, a quaint, unique brand of music was created. All that love for each other and music just flowed in the way streams are meant to, and streaming out the musical instruments were lighthearted, easygoing songs about love, and all the silly things that follow in its wake. Everything is light, from the guitars to the gentle keyboard, to the tap-tap rhythm on the drums.

It's hard, to sell some bands that break up, especially so soon in their musical career. Most bands have a long history, and well defined personalities, which makes for longwinded, thrilling essays that stretch for miles with the wasteful syntax of sentences strewn about careless defining their musical prowess. But Arrah and the Ferns really doesn't need that flowery language to define their sound, because their sound defines itself. It's earnestly one of a kind, drawing you in with the aforementioned simplicity and malleability. Arrah and the Ferns carry themselves as if they were your favourite band all along, and their album simply got lost amongst your record collection until you found it one day, rubbed all the dirt off, and became reacquainted with old friends. Old friends, good friends.

These friends in Arrah and the Ferns made their claim to fame with their debut album, Evan Is A Vegan. The album flows as a low-fi peace of genius, eclectic yet simple; easy to understand, yet it calls you back constantly to re-listen and re-indulge; it draws you back in eagerly to smile with each melody, with every witty lyric, with every bouncy note. Their sound is comfortable, and cool, and make you want to make friends with shy folks to see how thrillingly interesting they are once you get them talking. This is an album for friends, by friends. Lackaday, friends may stay friends, but some things change. During their work on their sophomore album, Bad in One Place, Arrah and the Ferns unfortunately went their separate ways. Now across the musical world, in many a number of different bands, Evan Is A Vegan and Arrah and the Ferns are a cute, memorable musical photo on the shelf, reminding us all how simply and fun music can be. Arrah and the Ferns are a nostalgic snapshot that reminds us to look for those hidden gems, because they are the most valuable.

Arrah and the Ferns still live on! They are featured in a song on Standard Records Christmas compilation, A Very Standard Christmas, with their song, "Merry Christmas Not X-Mas." And of course they have Evan Is A Vegan! If you want to catch a glimpse at the album, you're free to log on your Last.fm account, and visit Arrah and the Ferns' page, where you can hear the entire album for free. When the limited play count kicks in, you can rush straight over to iTunes or Standard Records' online store and buy your very own copy of Evan Is A Vegan, a diamond that no proper collection should be missing. Or, if you're just cheap, and want to see fond memories from better days, check out Arrah and the Ferns on their Myspace.