Sporting t-shirts and jeans and short haircuts, it might be easy to confuse We Barbarians with New Order- era Euro arena rock, but they are indeed Long Beach, NY natives. Living in Brooklyn now, they’ve been hard at it. In the past five years, they’ve released four records and have opened for big indie bands from Ra Ra Riot to Tokyo Police Club. Their latest self- released EP Headspace contains a much more direct and close-mic’ed sound than their previous EP’s, which were much more dronier and awash in reverb by comparison.
Standout “Chambray” yields that classic righteous warrior sound we’ve been hearing from bands like U2 for years now, but David has the voice capable of delivering a range to easily rival Bono’s, and the three-piece locks it in for anyone missing singers like Jeff Buckley singing to the rafters.
Arguably, the standout is their cover of David Byrne’s “Strange Overtones”. We Barbarians’ treatment of this classic marries Byrne’s world music dance vibe to Quon’s penchant for anthems. It’s a unique idea, and I give them credit for owning up to the challenge.
After so many EP’s released in such short succession, I can only imagine a full-length is on the docket. But right now the band is getting ready for a tour, so I’m hoping they announce new dates soon! – Mike Levine (@goldnuggets)
