Speaking 'American English' with Idlewild

Chicago — Half a world away, Baghdad is being bombed, but I'm in the musty basement dressing room beneath Chicago's Double Door club, passing a half hour with Rod Jones, lead guitarist for Scottish rock band Idlewild. The five-piece band, which also includes singer Roddy Woomble, drummer Colin Newton, and two new members, Allan Stewart (guitar) and Gavin Fox (bass), is several weeks into a rather lengthy North American tour, and Jones already seems a bit road-weary, unshaven and with hair asunder here in the early evening. "Yeah, playing South by Southwest was a great time," he tells me in his quiet, Scottish-accented voice, replying to my icebreaker. "Too much fun, just so many bands."

Idlewild are on tour to promote the impending U.S. release of their third full-length album, The Remote Part (due out in the U.S. on Tuesday, March 25). Already well-received elsewhere in the world, the album has spawned British hits "You Held the World in Your Arms" and its follow-up, "American English." The Remote Part refines the band's sound, balancing the full-on punkish tunes that dominated Idlewild's earlier work with a quieter, more introspective approach.

Sitting on a couch, wearing blue jeans and a hooded sweatshirt, Jones talks about America. When I suggest to him that the U.S. seems overly homogenous due to the many franchises that dot the land, he offers a different perspective. "It's like 50 different countries," he begins, sipping from a bottle of water. "I think in places like L.A. and San Francisco and New York, people have great attitudes. But it's gotten scarier over the years [this is the group's third North American tour]. In certain places people ask you what you think about the war, and when you say you're against it, they seem genuinely surprised."

As we talk, opening act French Kicks (who have not, thankfully, rechristened themselves Freedom Kicks) are going through their sound check, their music seeping through the ceiling. They kick into a familiar tune: Idlewild's anthemic "American English" — but with the lyrics from U2's "With or Without You," making for an entertaining live mash-up. A few minutes later, the Kicks pull the same trick again, using the lyrics from Coldplay's "Yellow." Jones and I share a laugh; he seems amused and bemused at the same time, his eyes rolling. Perhaps he's wondering — as I am — how much of this is an homage and how much a piss-take.

A question that has long nagged at me, and tugged at my wallet: why is there such a long delay between the British and the American releases of Idlewild's albums? Both The Remote Part and its predecessor, 2001's 100 Broken Windows, took more than six months for Capitol Records to release in the U.S. "It's annoying, but kind of a good thing," the guitarist offers. "When we get over here people are getting a refined version of us playing the songs.... We can play the record properly."

I'm reminded of the time I saw them two years earlier, when they underwhelmed me despite my fondness for their records; I hope for a better show tonight. Jones elaborates on the difference between playing larger venues in Europe and clubs over here. "We've realized now with our current lineup that we can play a bigger place. We weren't as tight a band as we thought, and it became apparent when we started playing big venues. In a situation like tonight, in a small club full of enthusiastic people who came just to see you, you can be a little looser. But the softer songs actually work better in big venues than in a club."

Idlewild formed at Edinburgh University in 1995. When they released their first record, the mini-album Captain, in 1998, they drew comparisons to American "alternative" rock bands such as Nirvana and The Pixies; subsequent longplayers — 1999's Hope Is Important and 100 Broken Windows — found critics referring to them as "the next R.E.M." and "the new Radiohead." "Being called the next anything is certainly annoying, but being compared to bands like that is complimentary," Jones tells me, fidgeting with his hair. "We're big fans of those bands. Anything you listen to a lot, or that you're into, will influence the music you make. As long as people don't say you're a carbon copy of these bands, I think it's a good way for people to have an idea what you sound like."

Given that most great British guitar bands have been led by strong writing partners, from Lennon-McCartney and Jagger-Richards to Morrissey-Marr (The Smiths) and Butler-Anderson (London Suede), I inquire as to whether Idlewild's creative process is driven by the singer and guitarist. "Often I come up with a lick or a tune on my guitar, and Roddy has his lyrics and works out the vocal melodies," Jones says. "But other times I play a riff and everyone joins in." (For the record, the band's songwriting credits are attributed to the entire group.)

More interesting is the band's current approach to recording, which was strongly influenced by sessions they did with producer/Patti Smith guitarist Lenny Kaye. "A lot of times we would write a song a certain way and record it that same way. Like if we wrote a song on acoustic guitar, we would play it and record it that way. Then we went into the studio for a week with Lenny Kaye and he was like, 'Why are you doing that? This song could be this massive thing.'

"And so we took the approach of writing most of our songs acoustic and then taking them into the studio, and deciding then how we should do it," he continues. "And not being afraid to write a fast rock song on an acoustic guitar. Of course, when you've got a song like [Idlewild's first U.S. radio single, the hard-charging] 'A Modern Way of Letting Go' on an acoustic guitar, it sounds like someone playing a banjo on speed."

As for the direction they'll take on the next album, Jones is rather noncommittal. "They get better each time; otherwise, you should just give up," he says. Pressed for details, he shares more about the band's approach to assembling an album. "We've always just written a collection of songs and put together the ones that fit best. If you write 20 songs and the 10 that best fit together are all noisy, then it would be a really noisy record. Or if the 10 best ones are acoustic, with just one guitar, then that would be the record, and [drummer] Colin would have a boring tour. This time we're quite keen to just go into the studio for quite a long time and just really work on it from there, where you can try a song out different ways."

Given how many of their British contemporaries have all but forsaken the U.S. market after failing to achieve mass success here (e.g. Manic Street Preachers and London Suede), I ask how important it is for Idlewild to break big here. "That word break, you can just throw it out," Jones replies. Grinning, he adds, "It's like 'Do you want to break America,' it sounds like you're going to take people and punch them in the face to get them to listen to your record. I think it's a good record, and if a lot of people here like it, that's great."

Jones is trying to get in touch with Shellac bassist and former Idlewild producer Bob Weston, and I have friends to meet up with for some pre-show fun, so we part ways. Later in the evening Idlewild dazzle me with their performance — much improved, more confident, since the last time I saw them. They play songs from all four records, but it's the ones from their latest, still not yet released in this country, that elicit the loudest response from the packed house. I smile, grateful for the opportunity to have talked to Jones and to see such a big-sounding band in an intimate venue, suspecting that they'll soon be moving into larger places here to match the success they've already had elsewhere.

Following the current tour, Idlewild will open for Pearl Jam beginning in late May. See the band's Web site — Steve Gozdecki [Monday, March 24, 2003]