For whatever reason—conflicting schedules or inopportune timing—I have not seen Akron/Family perform in probably five years. Though the band’s basic focus on folk influenced experimental music remains, the band has evolved into a much different group than the one I saw half a decade ago.
For one, their stylistic choices feel more deliberate and far reaching. The trio, comprised of Dana Janssen, Seth Olinsky, and Miles Seaton, borrow not only from folk, but also from metal, rap, and psychedelia to weave their tapestries of sound. The group easily and quickly moves from sparse and folky, vocal driven song sections to pulsing, raucous noise.
Moreover, Akron/Family is a band that has carefully developed their own distinct, desired approach to songcraft. This seems a silly point to make, but with the increasing popularity of indie-rock, many bands have drifted to a sort of middling sound that may be clearly identifiable as falling outside top 40 radio, but adheres just as faithfully to the boundaries drawn by college radio. Akron/Family eschews this tendency, honing in on creating a unique, artfully rendered aesthetic.
Maintaining audience attention for a full hour or more at a live show can be a trying task, even for well-liked bands. So that fact that Akron/Family not only engrossed the crowd for the duration, but also managed to heighten enthusiasm as the set went on speaks volumes to their ability as a band. Moreover, the set wasn’t comprised simply of songs interspersed with stage banter. Instead, the set provided a single, epic soundscape, sprawling without end for over an hour, representing a commendable degree of forethought and cohesion.
Occassionally, guitarist/bassist Miles Seaton would shout thanks over the ambient transitions, but not even when Seaton and Seth Olinsky departed from the stage to hand out waterguns and soak the crowd did the music cease. Seaton made use a small microphone and a synth to achieve some of the groups’s experimental sounds and utilized a small screwdriver on one occasssion, dragging the metal end across his guitar strings to elicit grinding and grating noises.
At the end of the evening, Seaton’s grin and sincere tone reflected the genuine thanks these guys feel to be able to play live music for their audience each night. Not being wholly familiar with every album from Akron/Family prevents me from claiming definitively, but I feel almost certain some new sounds could be heard mixed into their set. Fans should be on the lookout for impending news regarding future productivity from Akron/Family.
