For
its third full-length, On the Horizon, the band overcame geographical
boundaries to make a record from three separate states. Employment
led singer-guitarist Ete AhPing to Utah in the middle of production;
likewise, bassist Dan Dell relocated to New York for his job.
Lead guitarist Tom Ryan and drummer Pat Degan remained in South
Jersey, where The Atomic Square formed in 2008, assembling the
pieces and turning e-mailed WAV files into songs at Haddon Heights’
Gradwell House Recording.
The
resulting record is a thrilling, enthralling jet stream of optimism
amid uncertainty. “We all know what we had, and when you
love something like that, you can’t give up on it,”
Ryan says. “You’ve got to work for it. Ete kept saying
that this is a test. It’s not supposed to be easy –
if it was easy, everybody would be doing it.”
The
Atomic Square has never favored the easy path. The band as it
is today emerged from two parallel musical pursuits – Ryan’s
experimental, post-rock guitar instrumentals on early releases
like the Rise EP, and AhPing’s bright and introspective
pop-rock in the group Audizen. Both acts performed extensively
around the Delaware Valley scene, until they landed on a bill
together at Johnny Brenda’s in Philadelphia. Or, as the
group is fond of saying, “when Ete showed up.”
“That’s
literally what happened, he showed up onstage,” laughs Dell.
“We were playing a song, I turned around, and there’s
this guy singing. I shook his hand after, was like ‘hey
man, nice to meet you, we just performed together.’”
As
AhPing tells it, he checked out the Atomic Square ‘s music
when he found out they were sharing a bill, loved what he heard,
but couldn’t believe there were no vocals – especially
on the slow-builder “St. Aloysius.”
“I love instrumental music, but I felt like this song was
not an instrumental song,” he says. “It could and
should have words to it. So I recorded them, and sent it to Tom.”
The
brazen move paid off – Ryan was blown away, invited AhPing
onstage during the show, and then brought him in as a full-scale
member to collaborate on The Atomic Square’s 2010 release,
After It’s All Said and Done, a bridging of the divide between
thrilling, Explosions In The Sky-esque experimentation and direct,
exuberant Jimmy Eat World pop rock. The band sees it as a balancing
of personal songwriting styles.
“My
approach is just very natural,” AhPing explains. “I
love writing hooks and melodies. I like coming up with idea. But
I hate finishing songs, I don’t like developing the details.”
“And
I’m obsessive about details,” Ryan chimes in. “But
what I might have in mind for a song is one thing, and then Ete
comes back and totally blows it out of the water.”
“What
he did with ‘St. Aloysius,’ that’s consistent
with all the songs,” says Degan. “Once he gets his
vocals on it, you’re like, ‘I would have never seen
it go in that direction, but I love it.’”
The
album proved regionally successful, garnering support from Philly
media outlets like Radio 104.5 WRFF, 88.5 WXPN, 93.3 WMMR and
internet radio station Y-Not Radio. But with On the Horizon, The
Atomic Square tops even the best moments of its last outing, from
the thundering production by Steve Poponi to the AhPing’s
impassioned, inspiring vocals and soaring harmonies. It’s
their rising to the challenge of making an album while separated,
of pursuing separate lives while still chasing their common goal
– and doing so that in a way that will resonate with listeners
everywhere.
“If
you look into the lyrics, there’s a lot about experiencing
where you are now – the struggle and uncertainly,”
says AhPing.
It’s
something you hear in the desperate “Level Three”
– “The walls are caving in, your heart begins again.
What is the answer?”
“There’s
a lot of sadness in the album,” says AhPing. “But
there’s also a lot of looking forward – that’s
the hope.”
Like
the high-spirited refrain in “Take Me”: “I feel
light again, I feel light and energy, I never want it to end.”
“It’s like you’re lost, but pointed in the direction
of where you want to be,” sums up Degan. “That’s
what all of us in the past year have gone through in our personal
lives. Everything has been so chaotic trying to figure out the
next step. The album totally symbolizes that – a lost feeling,
but you know what you want and you’re going for it.”