Just east of Dusseldorf in Germany sits Wuppertal – a city mostly known for its invention of aspirin tablets and the operation of one of only two suspended monorail’s in the world: the Schwebebahn. The monorail floats above the city centre, weaving through roads and rivers and…cars full of power pop stars from Berlin’s DIY underground. It’s mid May and Jonathan, Ian and Juan – alongside a few amps and guitars – are crammed into a blue Volkswagen Caddy with the Schwebebahn overhead (and thirteen hours to go until they reach their destination). The journey itself, which takes a little over seventeen hours either way, consists mostly of South American mate and a master-list of records rattling through the radio: Teenage Fanclub, The Clean, Yo La Tengo. Adventure Team are going to make a record so good that all of the nights spent in roadside motels will be nothing but a distant memory.
Recorded over the course of three days in a remote farmhouse just north of Bordeaux, In Giraffe feels sort of like a souvenir. Here’s a band, initially brought together amidst Berlin’s bustling – yet perhaps tight knit – underground DIY scene, tucked away in the middle of French countryside, recording a perfect package of intricate power pop fuzz that’s simple in all the good ways. “There is one song that was written as a blatant Dinosaur Jr. rip-off…“Sucker from Outer Space”…as a reaction to getting constantly compared to them!” Jonathan tells me. There’s no denying that the trio call back to the bands who inspired them in the first place – because, really, what’s the point of writing music if you don’t love it, too?
Alongside their longtime friend Jaike (whose family actually discovered the house whilst on holiday in the mid 80s), the trio spread out across four rooms and hit record. The 11 tracks build and build and simmer thoughtfully: delicate drums turn to the thundering main focus at times. It’s jangly and catchy, intricate and loud…not a single moment wasted. In Giraffe is a group of friends making music they love, in the middle of nowhere in France, basking in the glow of total creative freedom and collaboration.
Jonathan wishes we all spoke in giraffe. In fact, the title, which is taken from the track Indigo, is a direct reference to Marshall Rosenberg’s theory that giraffes speak the language of empathetic connection. “A friend turned me on to Marshall around the time I was writing the record. It’s a plea for overcoming our differences with each other.” And I suppose, when you strip the record down to its very bare bones; turn the amps down to zero and just listen…that’s what Adventure Team really is: a manifesto for community, for peace, for embracing queer identity. For love.
And if one person could hear In Giraffe? “Janet Weiss,” beams Ian, “how’s my floor tom sounding?”
