Animal Talk

Sometimes, bands struggle to find a voice and an audience for their music. Other times, it happens almost by accident. That was the case for Animal Talk, the indie rock outfit that’s been named one of Boston’s “Best New Bands.”

Animal Talk’s energetic, danceable sound and their irresistibly cool vibe will have you wishing you could have them at your next house party. They’re the kind of band you want to listen to, but also want to hang out with. But unfortunately for you and your party, Animal Talk is busy with shows all over the country. They’re making their way out of Boston and into a music scene near you.

The best part? Animal Talk is offering Crushable readers a free download of their Animal Talk EP! Read on for our interview with Ben Bourgeois, the band’s guitar player, to find out more about how they got their start and why he says they’re the slowest songwriting band ever. Then click the link for your free download!

Crushable: How did Animal Talk come to be?

Ben Bourgeois: It was a couple years ago, and we all knew each other in the Boston music scene from other projects and other bands that we’d been in. We’d all played shows together. And we didn’t have anything to do. We wanted to keep playing, and stay connected to the scene. And it was kind of just an excuse to write some songs, and play shows, and just get together with each other and with all of our friends. To play music and drink beer. That was the only intention we had going into it. We recorded some demos and a little EP to help us book shows, and before we knew it the radio stations here were spinning songs off of the EP. We were getting bigger shows, and we’d book up. It would be more than just our friends in the audience. That was kind of cool. It was a neat thing to watch happen, just because we weren’t trying too hard. And before we knew it we had to have a Facebook page, and a web page, and stuff like that. We weren’t totally prepared for anything. So it was a scramble in the beginning to get business-ready.

Where did the name “Animal Talk” come from?

We don’t know. It was one of those typical band stories where everybody comes in with a list of things that they like. It’s a combination of words that we thought were interesting or fun, and at the time I think Animal Talk sounded to us the most like the music that we were making. You should have seen some of the names on that list. They were pretty awful. It was just like everything we do. We picked it and said, hey, that one’s good. Let’s run with that.

What do you like about the Boston music scene?

It’s a tough scene to break into. But once you’re in it’s like a family. It’s really, really close, really tightly knit, and it’s not contentious. When I say it’s tough, I don’t mean it’s competitive or that there’s a lot of backstabbing going on. It’s actually the opposite. There are a lot of bands that really will help each other along, and there’s some really, really great music and some really talented people here. The radio stations here have really been dedicated to local music, and we get a lot of help from publications here. It feels like a family. Sometimes a weird family, but it’s still a family. And you don’t find that in very many places, at least in my experience.

How does your songwriting process work as a band?

A lot of the time Steve, our singer, might come in with an idea for different parts of a song, and sometimes they all work perfectly and he comes in and it’s a perfect song. And we play that exactly that way. Other times somebody else will come in with a fragment of a song, or just an idea, and we’ll flesh it out and see where it goes. Regardless of how the song comes, we take forever. We’re the slowest songwriting band in the world. We will sit there and practice a verse over, and over, and over, a million times until it’s exactly what we want to stick with. And then we get into the studio and sometimes it changes completely. But it’s a long process for us. I think we care about the details and we like working on things like harmony, and changing chords just to see what might sound the best. Steve writes all the lyrics. I think he’s a great songwriter and lyricist. And sometimes he writes guitar parts that, I just hear them and I say, well, I’m not going to write anything better than that, so that’s exactly what I’m going to play. I like that we can all do that. There’s no real need for anybody to step on the song too much, or have a 10 minute guitar solo, or drum solo, or a bass solo.

What has been your most memorable live show experience?

There’s a lot of stuff I remember that I would like to forget. But the best I’d have to say was when Young the Giant came to Boston, and it was really early for us in our career. They asked us to open for them, and like I said it was really early. I think it was our fourth or fifth show. We had been playing for our friends and a handful of other people that had heard about us randomly. But whe - Crushable.com

Boston’s young bands tend to orbit one of two sounds — straight rock ’n’ roll or dance electropop. Animal Talk rockets a figure eight around both.

The local quartet flies circles around planet rock with stabbing electric guitars and thumping drums; then the band crashes delightfully into groovy modern disco. At their best, the guys in Animal Talk — who play the Middle East on Saturday — touch down on both sounds in a single song. (Listen to: “Can’t Dance With It.”)

The band says the blend comes naturally. It’s when they try to reject the hybrid and zero in on one sound that things go awry.

.“Sometime we try not to meet in the middle and it doesn’t work,” guitarist Ben Bourgeois said.

“It sounds forced,” added­ bassist Rob Johanson. “Every­one needs to play the part that they’re comfortable with, and it’s there that we find our sound. ... It’s this straddling of the line between rock and pop that lets us play with so many different bands.”

Since its arrival on the scene in 2011 with its epony­mous EP, Animal Talk has played on bills with Lowell electro sensation Bearstronaut and the hard and heavy Mellow Bravo.

Dance-meets-rock isn’t groundbreaking — bands from New Order to the Killers have pushed guitars plus synthesizers. What separates Animal Talk from most, and what makes them perfect partners for Bearstronaut and Mellow Bravo, is service with a smile.

Most bands comfortable in discotheques and rock clubs perform with a smoldering intensity that’s cool and arty but too serious. (I’m looking at you, Brendon Flowers.) Animal Talk is a party band that just happens to be cool and arty.

“When (singer) Steven (Kilgore) and I were working on the EP, we were listening to really fun music,” Bourgeois said. “Stuff like the Talking Heads and Prince because we want to be as much fun as possible.”

That comes through.

With the exception of the pretty little ballad “Obvious,” the debut disc beams with playful pop. Currently recording the follow-up at Grammy-winning Ducky Carlisle’s Ice Station Zebra Studio in Medford, Animal Talk promises brighter beams of sunshine.

“Ducky gets what we’re trying to do,” Bourgeois said of the producer who has worked with equally joyous local artists Bang Camaro­ and Bleu. Then, with a laugh, Bourgeois added, “Not everybody does.”

Carlisle proved he gets the band with late 2012 single “Mama Was a Teenage Rocker.” A huge step forward for a young band already pretty far along, the anthem was one of the best rock songs out of Boston last year. It was also one of the best dance songs. And one of the best dance-rock songs. And — well, you get it. - The Boston Herald

Animals don’t really talk, but then again they don’t form post-dance rock groups with the world at their feet. Invigorating Boston based electro-pop. - NXNE

Animals don’t really talk, but then again they don’t form post-dance rock groups with the world at their feet. Invigorating Boston based electro-pop. - NXNE

Now that Boston is churning out some high-gloss pop acts (see: Gentlemen Hall, Karmin, and Young London), it’s high time that our indie-rock bands add a slick coat of polish to their sound. Rising post-dance-rock quartet Animal Talk fit the bill. Though really, they can fit any bill, having shared the stage with Wolf Gang and Young the Giant and gigged both way north (Toronto’s NXNE) and way south (Austin’s SXSW). They teased new track “Teenage Rocker” at a recent WFNX Alternatour show, and the cruising pop joyride should go over well when they join Deftones and Bad Rabbits at August’s KahBang festival in Maine. To prove they don’t take themselves too seriously, they’ve been peppering their live sets with smiling covers of Phil Collins and Billy Ocean songs. Animal Talk, we see roaring mainstream success in your future. - Stuff Magazine

Now that Boston is churning out some high-gloss pop acts (see: Gentlemen Hall, Karmin, and Young London), it’s high time that our indie-rock bands add a slick coat of polish to their sound. Rising post-dance-rock quartet Animal Talk fit the bill. Though really, they can fit any bill, having shared the stage with Wolf Gang and Young the Giant and gigged both way north (Toronto’s NXNE) and way south (Austin’s SXSW). They teased new track “Teenage Rocker” at a recent WFNX Alternatour show, and the cruising pop joyride should go over well when they join Deftones and Bad Rabbits at August’s KahBang festival in Maine. To prove they don’t take themselves too seriously, they’ve been peppering their live sets with smiling covers of Phil Collins and Billy Ocean songs. Animal Talk, we see roaring mainstream success in your future. - Stuff Magazine

Please don’t go see Animal Talk if you’re not going to dance. Assertive percussion and slightly rough vocals round out pop-y synths and indie rock guitars, all of which come together for a high-energy live show that defies the audience a chance to stand still, let alone sit down. Need proof? Check out the lyrics and attitude from their track “Can’t Dance With It.” - Boston.com

Animal Talk, a relatively new band out of Boston, recently released their self-titled EP and is quickly gaining recognition within the New England area. A band that has played gigs with Young the Giant, it is only fitting that the two groups share a similar sound. Think Young the Giant meets Lenny Kravitz, and there you have the distinct sound that is Animal Talk.
The EP’s opener, “Into The Sun,” is a track that features fast-paced drum beats along with instrumental hooks that will leave anyone dancing for days. “Enough is Enough” follows the upbeat track with a somewhat angry feel, which is understood since the song is about the end of a relationship. “Obvious” is a track that is also about relationships and is saturated with an intense bass line from Rob Johanson. A standout track, “Can’t Dance With It,” features smooth guitar riffs along with a touch of electronic beats. The track also showcases the impressive vocal range of lead singer Steven Kilgore. Wailing in the best way possible, Kilgore’s voice seems to serve as an extra guitar riff on this track. The album ends with another upbeat, full-sounding number in “Monster.”
Animal Talk’s self-titled EP signifies the promise of a local band and leaves listeners wanting more. - Performer Magazine

The past few months have been a rocket ride for the post-dance rock attack of Animal Talk. Two days after their frenetic debut EP dropped in September, they found themselves on a bill with Young the Giant at a packed BU Central. They got there on the strength of a record produced by Grammy-winning Ducky Carlisle at his Ice Station Zebra studio in Medford that skillfully combines elements of electronics and rock without one fully giving in to the other. "Can't Dance With It" is a bubbling synth number that's destined for alt-rock radio, while "Into the Sun" is confident modern pop shuffle with an edge. Animal Talk hit the road in the spring before showing off the goods at SXSW in March. - The Boston Phoenix

The past few months have been a rocket ride for the post-dance rock attack of Animal Talk. Two days after their frenetic debut EP dropped in September, they found themselves on a bill with Young the Giant at a packed BU Central. They got there on the strength of a record produced by Grammy-winning Ducky Carlisle at his Ice Station Zebra studio in Medford that skillfully combines elements of electronics and rock without one fully giving in to the other. "Can't Dance With It" is a bubbling synth number that's destined for alt-rock radio, while "Into the Sun" is confident modern pop shuffle with an edge. Animal Talk hit the road in the spring before showing off the goods at SXSW in March. - The Boston Phoenix

Last Thursday night in Cambridge, the common act of covering Joy Division suddenly went from timeless to timely. Three songs into Animal Talk's rousing set at T. T. the Bear's Place, their take on the 1979 classic Factory Records cut "Transmission" concluded with stage banter reflecting the bizarre times in which we live. "So, Joy Division is selling a Mickey Mouse shirt?" asked guitarist Ben Bourgeois. "Is Disney selling that?"
Yes, but not anymore. After reports circulated last week that the House of Mouse was selling a shirt with the post-punk band's iconic Unknown Pleasures sleeve silhouetted into the shape of Mickey's recognizable head and ears, the corporation pulled the shirt off Magic Kingdom shelves and its online store. Now it will cost you a few hundo off eBay.

Normally when a band covers Joy Division, it's a set closer. But Animal Talk's willingness to bust it out early on speaks volumes about the young rock band's already impressive collection of songs, and you need no one else's compositions when you can conclude with the brazen synth strut of "Can't Dance with It" and the indie riff cannon "Into the Sun." Last September's homonymous debut EP, produced by Grammy-winning Ducky Carlisle at Ice Station Zebra studio in Medford, features five single-worthy selections. And since Animal Talk recorded those back in May, a handful of new songs will be released via a follow-up in the spring, once the affable quartet hurdles SXSW.

"We were just a bunch of dudes playing in other bands, and said, 'Fuck it let's just all play together,' " Bourgeois tells me post-show, standing by their merch table, signing their EP's liner notes for fans. "Now we have shit to do."

With previous gigs in local pop stalwarts like Violet Nine and Shadwell, the members of Animal Talk quickly came together after vocalist Steven Kilgore relocated to Boston from Atlanta just last year. Bourgeois hails from Louisiana, and drummer Greg Faucher and bassist Rob Johanson are native Bay Staters — but their chemistry was instant. "For us it's all about the dynamic of our personalities," Bourgeois says. "We are all best friends, and we all trust each other." - The Boston Phoenix

Local post-dance rock outfit Animal Talk hit SXSW this spring to show the world what we already know they’ve got — namely, a dexterous grasp on the balance between electronics and rock that so many electro-rock bands of the day can’t quite strike. - The Boston Phoenix

"A visceral trip for the ear, and it is an exciting and rewarding one." - Boston Band Crush

"A visceral trip for the ear, and it is an exciting and rewarding one." - Boston Band Crush