For most bands, the rise from local recognition to national prominence is a sluggish process. Many groups never get that far, while those that do often find themselves logging several years on the District’s bar circuit first, playing to uninterested crowds while pining for their big break.
Le Loup is a happy exception to the rule, a band that signed a record deal after its third show and began touring the country shortly thereafter. The group emerged in early 2007, boasting a sprawling lineup of coed musicians and an orchestral, unchained approach to pop music. Bandleader Sam Simkoff had conceived the project in isolation, recording the band’s entire debut album in his bedroom several months earlier. In keeping with those humble origins, Le Loup made its name in concert — where the band would begin each song with a small handful of instruments. Layers gradually were added to the mix, and the songs ultimately finished as towering heaps of noise and harmony.
“Our first show was at the Velvet Lounge,” remembers guitarist Jim Thomson. “We had the advantage of having seven people in the band, all of whom had friends in the area, so we packed the place with people we knew.”
Several days later, the group visited the Iota Club and played to an audience that included Jonathan Poneman, the same man who signed Nirvana in the late 1980s. Le Loup was offered a record contract after the show, making it the second band to sign with Mr. Poneman’s newly created Hardly Art Records.
“It was very quick,” admits Mr. Thomson, “and I know we missed some of the typical hardships of being in a band. At that point, things were kind of nuts. The whole thing was moving faster than we’d expected. But during the first U.S. tour, which was a year and a half ago, we started getting into the groove of touring. We grew comfortable with the pace.”
Things have changed since Le Loup’s infancy. The group slimmed down its membership in 2008. One of those who left, May Tabol, now leads the celebrated local band Pree, and the new lineup recorded a new album earlier this year.
Lush, pastoral and eccentrically gorgeous, Le Loup’s latest album, “Family,” widens the band’s sound considerably, focusing as much on nuance as sheer bombast.
Mr. Thomson says the band’s performances have experienced similar growth.
“We’ve really tightened up our live show,” he explains. “When we first started playing, we focused on energy and passion. I think it sounded good, but we were basically throwing everything we had @ it without carefully considering every part. Now we’re much better at looking at each line and adding what’s needed.”
With the musicians scattered across the country — just two remain in the District, with the remaining three living in New Jersey and the Pacific Northwest — playing a D.C. show has assumed greater importance.
“It’s still our hometown,” Mr. Thomson says of Washington.
“This is where we started. It’s where we all rehearsed before the current tour. It’s where most of our friends live. Touring can be tiring, so there’s no substitute for the comforts of home. We can’t wait to play a nice hometown gig.”
• Catch Le Loup’s homecoming Friday, when the band performs at the Black Cat. Pree will open. Doors for the $12 show open at 9 p.m.
Anthem looks ahead
After touring for the better part of two years, the Low Anthem is looking forward to taking the winter off.
“We’ll have six weeks or so to arrange a new batch of songs,” singer Ben Knox Miller explains during a lunch break in Texas. “Then we’ll go back onto the road and give the material a test run before heading into the studio.”
For an outfit as adventuresome as the Low Anthem, heading into the studio is rarely a conventional process.
The trio recorded its last album, “Oh My God, Charlie Darwin,” on Block Island, a tourist destination located 13 miles off the Rhode Island coast.
“We were just trying to get away,” the singer explains. “Unless you have the right vibe in the studio — unless there’s a wild card thrown into the situation that forces you to be responsive — the results will be less immediate. Block Island served that role for us. We were in complete isolation in an abandoned tourist town over Christmas break.
“All those empty houses. … It jarred us. It took us out of our everyday routine.”
The band’s approach to folk music is as unique as the studio process. The three musicians harmonize their way through country, gospel and rock ’n’ roll on their debut album, using instruments including the Tibetan singing bowl and a refurbished pump organ.
“They break all the time,” Mr. Miller says of the vintage instruments, “so we travel with a repair kit. We’re not worried about preserving them as antiques as much as preserving the sound they’re meant to make. There’s a fascination with these instruments that are purely mechanical — there’s nothing digital about them, nothing electronic. It’s just proper sound, created by wind blowing and metal vibrating.”
Following a headlining tour in March 2010, the Low Anthem plans to travel to Amsterdam to record another album. “There’s something about that city that might add another layer to the songs,” Mr. Miller says.
“Amsterdam might be our next wild card.”
• The Low Anthem and Blind Pilot visit the Black Cat on Wednesday. The $15 show starts at 8 p.m.
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