New York – Quarterbacks are based in New Paltz, New York, a cute little college town an hour and a half north of New York City. It’s even smaller than comparable college towns with lively music scenes like Olympia, Washington or Northampton, Massachusetts, but has still managed to support two independent record stores for more than twenty years. Quarterbacks’ guitarist and songwriter Dean Engle worked at Rhino Records, a vinyl emporium that’s hosted in-store performances from acts including Yo La Tengo and the Mountain Goats. Listening to the album with that context, it makes sense that it was made by a small-town record store clerk. It’s an album that knows its history and influences, and is about specific people in a specific place.
Quarterbacks pull from 80s twee pop, mid-90s emo, and early-00s pop punk. If this album had come out in 1988, it would have been on indie label K Records; in 1995 it would have been on Jade Tree. It’s too unpolished to have fit on Drive-Thru in 2000, but Engle clearly understands how New Found Glory songs work. But this is 2015, and it’s being released by Team Love, the New Paltz-based label co-founded (and left) by Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst that’s done more for Hudson Valley indie music than any other entity by putting out the first Felice Brothers album and promoting local acts like Shana Falana and, of course, Quarterbacks.
The ramshackle songs often sound like they’re on the verge of falling apart. Engle sings in a nasal, off-key whine. Those words would usually indicate unpleasantness, but Engle comes off as charming. He seems to know that he’s not technically a good singer, but also knows that precisely how he sounds is less important than the fact that he’s singing at all. He’s both winking and sincere. He sounds like a kid who needs to express himself and found that this is the way that works. His vocals and guitar work bring to mind a less-intense version of Cap’n Jazz. Drummer Max Restaino also does excellent work, playing classic “doo-da-doodoo-da” punk beats with infectious enthusiasm.
Engle’s lyrics, which are exclusively about relationships, are littered with proper nouns and specific details. They’re about people you would meet if you went to New Paltz. They feel like they’re lifted from Engle’s journal, but not in a poetic, Blake Schwarzenbach-ish way. It’s more like he’s reporting what he did that day, who he was with, whether he had fun or felt sad. When he figures out how to sum up what he’s trying to say, like “my heart was broken and I barely noticed” on “Not In Luv” or “One time I showed you a song, you only thought that it was kind of good, I never played it again, it wasn’t even about you” on “Pool,” the songs end. The longest song clocks in at 1:35. Quarterbacks blazes through 19 tracks in just 22 minutes.
Andy Greenwald, in his seminal book on emo, Nothing Feels Good, categorized the genre as “boy-driven, glasses-wearing, overly sensitive, overly brainy, chiming-guitar-driven college music,” which describes Quarterbacks perfectly. That they fit in the present emo revival is probably a nice bonus for them, but they would have been making this music even if it wasn’t fashionable, because it’s just who they are.
Stream Quarterbacks via NPR First Listen. They have just a handful of NY-NJ dates as of right now, but check their page at Team Love’s website for updates.
Photo of Quarterbacks By David Grimaldi
Liam Mathews
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