STR8 DUNKIN'

• Few of his favourite movies, “listed from beginning of life’:
• “Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Help, D2, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Big Lebowski, Once Upon A Time In The West, Marley and Me. So the current, and still champion, is definitely Marley and Me.”
• What to expect in his shows:
• “I would say you will find a high energy show playing 8/10 songs on the album by a band of extremely overqualified women (plus me) and the occasional anecdote (which seem to “land” with the audience approximately 33% of the time). I will be wearing blue or black jeans and either a blue, orange, red or grey textured crew neck sweatshirt.”
• The secret to folding sheets:
• “I actually think I am terrible at folding in general and fitted sheets in particular. I put in the description that I was good at it as a allegedly humorous aside because I was so bad at it.”
• His favourite song that he has written:
• “I think my fav (and also the hardest!) to write was Youngish Americans. I had ended up being the middle verse just sitting there for a while until 6 months later the 1st and 3rd verses appeared and the song completed itself. The way the pieces fit together unexpectedly made it v satisfying.”
• If we are going to see more of trombone CT in the future:
• “Hopefully! The last time I played trombone was with Mumford and Sons at Glastonbury who, bless their lovely hearts, thought, “hey, CT said he played trombone in middle school. let’s hand him a trombone and let him rip. I’m sure his embouchure has held up super well for the last 15 years. And I don’t think having a comically bushy beard will affect playing a brass instrument at all.” (btw Mumford + Sons group discussions take place in the first person). In all seriousness tho, I would like to thank Mumford + Sons for that opportunity. That was, no joke, one of the highlights of my touring life. And I would also like to thank the sound man who heard my first note and immediately muted my mic. You are an unsung hero.”
• (Mod’s note: CT was talking about the time they performed With A Little Help From My Friends with Mumford and Sons, The Vaccines, First Aid Kid and The Staves at Glastonbury in 2013).

Q&A: Vampire Weekend’s Chris Tomson Talks New Solo Project Dams Of The West

The drummer's side project is not supposed to be this good. Chris Tomson knows it, too — hence the neuroses he feels about becoming the fourth and final member of Vampire Weekend to release solo material. But Youngish American, Tomson's first album as Dams Of The West, presents him as a clever and insightful songwriter overflowing with ideas. He's the first to admit that songs about settling down into thirtysomething married life are nothing new, yet he approaches that subject matter with an incisive wit and whimsy that marks him as a worthy peer of Vampire Weekend bandmate Ezra Koenig, combining detail-heavy domestic anecdotes and thoughtful culture analysis into something extraordinary. Those observations are ensconced in moody, uptempo pop-rock with a heavy rhythmic undertow, produced by Patrick Carney of the Black Keys. The aesthetic is beautifully exemplified on new single "The Inerrancy Of You And Me," a song that applies centuries-old theological concepts to modern relational

www.stereogum.com

STEREOGUM: Did he put you in touch with Danger Mouse? I know they’ve worked together a lot.

TOMSON: Yeah, there was actually one time when we were in the studio in Nashville when [Carney] was on the phone with Brian [Burton, aka Danger Mouse], just sort of through the phone, Pat being the translator, was like, “Brian’s advice is ‘Don’t use your name.‘” This was before he was interested in working with me as a label. But I had finished it and it had been done for a while, and I think Brian had listened to it early, and Pat told him, “Hey I think you should listen to this again, I think it’s worthwhile.” And last fall he got in touch again, and here we are. February 24, 30th Century Records.