Published by Do615 on 5/11/22.
Chicago psychedelic/progressive rockers Post Animal are no strangers to Nashville. When the band began touring in 2017 in preparation of their debut album, they popped up in Music City four times in two years, each time playing to a larger room. Now three albums deep with the release of this month’s Love Gibberish, bassist/vocalist Dalton Allison and Nashville native drummer/vocalist Wesley Toledo still have fond memories of that time.
“We played a couple of really sick shows in Nashville, especially that last Mercy Lounge one. I literally think I remember the date; I think it was December 18, 2018. That show was awesome,” Toledo reminisces. “That was probably the most busy time for us as a band. Just constantly moving and doing what you always hoped to do when you’re in a band, which is tour and play a ton of shows. It was a very different time, obviously.”
“We never expected any of that. It was really cool to watch something grow,” Allison adds. “We were also working really hard to try and just put on a good show each time, so it was cool to see the same people come back and bring their friends to the next shows.”
Toledo being a native coupled with the band’s frequent tour stops allowed them to develop a list of local haunts essential to each Nashville trek. After giving quick name drops to restaurants like Taj Indian Restaurant and Mitchell’s Delicatessen, Toledo launches into his love for Turnip Truck.
“My spots are kind of weird because I don’t really drink that much anymore. I like Inglewood Lounge, but that’s sort of my past,” Toledo says. “Now I’m more like, ‘let’s go to Turnip Truck, let’s get a wheatgrass shot. Let’s have a wheatgrass-induced stomachache for like ten minutes, then you start to feel the blissful effects of all the nutrients [laughs].’”
The band’s first proper tour since the Covid-19 pandemic will bring them back to Nashville to perform at Exit/In on Monday, May 23. Seeing as the band recently parted ways with Polyvinyl Records in favor of self-releasing Love Gibberish, it’s only fitting they take the stage at one of Nashville’s longest running independent music venues.
“That decision for us to self-release is part of our growth. We tried to embrace the label, and it’s nothing against Polyvinyl; we would do it again. If you have the capability to self-release an album, it really makes sense to do that at this point in time,” Allison says. “We’re just trying to go back to the basics and have that sense of purity where we’re not worried about the money someone is going to front us. We’re going to try and make the best album we can make with what we already have.”
A return to simplicity is not necessarily indicated in the album’s fusing of modern hyperpop elements with classic psychedelic and progressive rock, but it was essential to the creation of Love Gibberish. Post Animal returned to guitarist/vocalist Jake Hirshland’s family farm, where the band first dawned its name, and stripped away elements that informed the recording of their second record, 2020’s Forward Motion Godyssey.
“We were just having fun together again. When we did Forward Motion Godyssey, we had some people helping us […] and I think it was the first time we had been on a label when we were going to record an album, so there was this extra sense of pressure and that we had something to prove,” Allison says. “I feel like with this one, we were just relaxed and confident that maybe you don’t like what we’re going to make, but we’re doing it the way we want to do it. It was just a better vibe all-around.”
Forging into new business and stylistic territory is not without its concerns. Allison admits to questioning whether they’ll make it on major Spotify playlists and if the mainstream press will give them coverage, but the band ultimately has faith that building a connection with their audience has a stronger payoff than chasing hit singles.
“The most helpful mindset is just to try to tune all that out and remember what it feels like to play a show and see people happy,” Allison says.
“You just have to not care, which is so hard. […] In order to do something that is very genuine and fresh, you have to tune that out,” Toledo adds. “We’ve really found our stride with that on Love Gibberish. I’m proud of it. We’re growing and refining our sound. It’s going to be a cool chapter for us.”
