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Cincy’s Pomegranates grasp a new concept
By JOHN BENSON
Jacob Merritt, Pomegranates drummer, admits he’s not quite sure what to expect from his Cincinnati-based band’s Youngstown debut Saturday at the Lemon Grove. In fact, he cites the city’s unfortunate high level of crime as the only thing he knows about the area.
“The one thing we’ve heard is there’s a lot of murders there,” Merritt said. “Just a lot of crime, but we’re really looking forward to it. It should be cool. It should be fun, and it seems like people are happy we’re coming, at least to a degree.”
Ostensibly, the southern Ohio quartet is hoping to kill — audiences, that is — with its self-coined art-pop style of music. Formed three years ago, the foursome has garnered comparisons ranging from the drone and dance-y sounds of the Talking Heads to the unpredictability of Modest Mouse. Up next for the band is its third CD release, which the outfit hopes to record next month.
“Our second full-length album, ‘Everybody Come Outside,’ came out in April 2009,” Merritt said. “I think with that CD, we had a little bit more of an idea of what we wanted to do. It was a concept album, and it’s probably a bit more ambient and more well-thought-out and more intentional than the first album. The concept basically involves someone getting abducted by a time traveler and going back in time.”
Wait, is a hot tub involved?
“No,” Merritt laughed.
OK, fine. Now back to what the band has planned for its next CD, which includes the Deerhoof-meets-LCD Soundsystem-esque “One of Us” and the rocking “Skull Cakin’.”
“I think this new CD, we definitely have a much-better idea of what we’re trying to do aesthetically and creatively,” Merritt said. “The last couple of albums were maybe a little on the easy side. They were more immediate and poppy. Whereas the new one is still accessible, but I think it’s a little bit more thoughtful and not easy. I think it’s the one that we feel the most excited about. When we wrote the last two albums, we were really pumped about it when we were finished writing, but this one we feel like, ‘OK, this is what we’re trying to do, and we finally figured out what we wanted to do.’”
Though Cincinnati may not be known as a hotbed of indie rock, the truth is the city has produced the likes of the Afghan Whigs, the Ass Ponys and Wolverton Brothers. Merritt feels the Queen City is the perfect epicenter for Pomegranates.
“Cincinnati has been awesome,” Merritt said. “We love it here. We’ve been touring for a few years, and it’s easily one of the top cities that we’ve seen for bands to be playing with positive crowds and good turnouts. Some cities that are bigger aren’t as supportive.”
In addition, Merritt also feels there’s an intangible amount of momentum behind his band, which strives to put the music — not the business or celebrity of making music — first.
“We just seem to be doing something that resonates with people that people can connect with on some level,” Merritt said. “I think a lot of people appreciate that we’re trying to make artist music that is honest, fun and enjoyable. We’re not trying to take ourselves too seriously. I feel like sometimes bands in our scene are borderline pretentious, and I think musicians in general sometimes take themselves really too seriously. And we just want to make really good music that means something to someone.”