Tribe in Popshifter

[girlreporter]

Hey everyone! I recently wrote an essay about Tribe that went live on Popshifter.com today.

popshifter.com/2012-11-05/here-at-the-home-remembering-tribe/

This was originally intended as an essay for the Harvard Book Store's local essay compilation. Even though they pink-slipped me, I still loved this essay and wanted it to find an audience. Enjoy!

[Russ]

Very Nice.
The only problem I had was describing Tribe as "europeen sounding",
I bought Brett Milano's book a couple of years back thinking Tribe
deserved maybe a few pages if not a chapter. They got a few lines
describing Tribe as europeen sounding. I was disappointed with that.
Yeah, and now FNX is gone too.

[Chelsea]

At the time that Tribe was popular, though, the prevalent Boston sound trended towards garage-y rock -- like the Del Fuegos, the Dogmatics, and the Neighborhoods -- or towards hardcore. Bands like Tribe were drawing from a more EuropeAn influence. Listen to the keyboards and the dark lyrics and look at Janet's aesthetic.

By the way, did you mean "European"? Because "europeen" sounds kind of pornographic.

[Russ]

Ooops. Sorry, European of course.
Though the label just doesn't work
for me in this case.
Why Tribe reminds me of the Pixies
may just be my problem.
There was a lot of garage back then, and a
lot of other very good music as well.
But the Rat (the Channel, etc...) is gone and all
I all have left is to rant at Brett Milano's book.

[Jack]

I thought it was a pretty good essay!
As a long time follower of the band, and someone who's listened to those CDs over and over (and over...) again, I feel that I'm uniquely qualified to comment!
The European thing? I guess I can see what you mean, and maybe this term is just being used for lack of a better one. Tribe certainly didn't sound like many of their Boston area contemporaries, that's for sure. They eschewed the sloppy garage rock sound (which I also enjoy) for more song craft, and let's face it, their musicianship was better than a lot of other bands around them. There was a lot less guitar solo wankery, etc (not that Eric isn't an amazing guitarist--he certainly is), and traditional rock song approach. They had that gothy element, certainly, and keyboard sounds Terri came up with (along with Janet's voice) gave the music a "darker" vibe.
I'm probably in the minority in that I REALLy love "Sleeper". I don't really hear much filler in there, rather, I hear a band stretching and growing. Maybe Sleeper is less "rocking" than Abort? Sure. but it's a hugely underrated record. Also, on this very website, the demos for the potential 4th record--great ideas being worked on.
I definitely miss Tribe. It's odd, if they had managed to stick around a couple more years, they'd have probably enjoyed a renewed interest at a time when many female alt rock singers got big. Timing is, oftentimes, everything.

Oh, incidentally, the closing of your article missed out on the chance to sort of highlight the fact that many of the members are enjoying a bit of Boston rock scene activity. Eric is one of two guitarists in a really cool, unique band called "Eddie Japan". The other guitarist? None other than Greg's younger brother, Bart. LoPiccolo. I downloaded their new EP (they've been getting some airplay on Boston Emissions with Angelle Wood), and Terri even sings some backing vocals on it! Terri, by the way, is in a band called The Vivs, who play a sort of straight ahead pop.

Anyway, long live Tribe!