Ring in Spring with One for the Team
By Sarah Cobarrubias in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 8, 2010 3:40PM
It’s hard not to adore One for the Team. The Minneapolis-based foursome have a knack for crafting catchy, feel-good indie pop, and they’ve been mainstays of the Midwest indie scene since 2006. The band’s lead duo gives them their upbeat, melodious sound - Ian Anderson on guitar and Grace Fiddler on keyboard both deliver vocals with a boy-girl harmony in the forefront. The band has been pretty bust lately; they not only have a new album coming out later this month, but they’re also currently touring the U.S. and will be making a stop at the Beat Kitchen this Wednesday.
We first got hooked on One for the Team back in 2008 with the release of their sophomore album, Build It Up, which earned them all sorts of praise from music authorities like SPIN and MTV. Though, the 2009 follow-up EP, Build a Garden, wasn’t nearly as remarkable. Anderson, who is also the founder of the band’s label, Afternoon Records, explains that the EP was much prettier than their usual sound, but served as a transition into their upcoming album, Ghosts, which is due out March 16. He says Ghosts is “much darker, lyrically, and has moved from being cute pop to something more intense, but still pretty.”
And the first single off the album, “Hard for You,” is a good example of this ‘darker’ feel -- it opens with, “You look so shallow. How’d you get so shallow,” delivered with harmonic vocals and accompanied by keyboard, distorted guitar and stark percussion. Though still exuberantly poppy and catchy as hell, it’s pretty clear their sound is maturing and becoming something all their own. They’ll be performing material from Ghosts at their show this Wednesday. Their sunny, happy sound might help shake off those winter blues and usher in spring. Also, One for the Team will be donating 10% of the tour’s proceeds to the Red Cross for earthquake damage aid in Haiti.
One for the Team plays Wednesday, March 10 at the Beat Kitchen, 2100 W Belmont, 9 pm, $10, 17+