FEATURES:
NO DEPRESSION #75, MAY-JUNE 2008
THE RITE FLYERS - No Need to Throw Things at Them
AUSTIN, TEXAS-YOU WANT to talk first-rate pedigrees, the Rite Flyers have connections to some of Austin’s biggest and best bands of the past two decades. The group’s genealogical chart goes back all the way to key 1980s-era Austin acts including the Big Boys, Doctors’ Mob and Wild Seeds; to 90’s hit-makers Fastball; and most recently to modern-day hipsters Spoon.
But family trees don’t count for nearly as much as how the Rite Flyers sound themselves – which is really, really good. CD copies of their new independent EP Suffer Fools Gladly are printed up like old-style vinyl singles, with black grooves and a gold label; the music is similarly old-school, in the best possible way. Clocking in at a brisk 11:51, the four songs bear passing resemblance to ‘80’s-vintage psychedelic-pop bands such as Rain Parade or the Church, gliding along on catchy jingle-jangle hooks played on shimmering guitars.
At the same time, they’re not kidding about caustic undertones implied by the EP’s title. The songs contrast thorny, occasionally nasty emotions with pretty sounds. Still, that pretty pop gloriousness is what you’ll notice first and foremost. The Rite Flyers are so poppy, in fact, that they surprise people, like the guy in Austin who booked them for a radio show.
“I think he was expecting something more like Doctors’ Mob,” says guitarist Steve Collier with a laugh, referring to his old band (which had the infamous motto, “Show up drunk, show up late, or don’t show up at all”). “Doctors’ Mob always had the pop, but we played fast and loud so people wouldn’t throw things at us. This band is more about serving the song.”
The Rite Flyers grew out of Collier’s former band, the Sidehackers, in which John Clayton played bass. Clayton switched to guitar when he and Collier became co-leaders of Rite Flyers. They had a revolving-door rhythm section the first few years – Spoon frontman Britt Daniel was bassist at the Rite Flyers first-ever gig – and recorded their 2004 self-titled debut as “a duo masquerading as a band,” Clayton says. Eventually, the lineup solidified with a rhythm section of drummer Joey Shuffield (Fastball, Wild Seeds) and bassist Steven Thomas Hall, formerly of the mid-‘90’s psychedelic-pop band Sixteen Deluxe.
“We started this as a recording project to put out an album and then do a band later,” Clayton says. “Backwards, basically. But it finally feels like a real band now. We just need to work on the next album, and we’ve got plenty of songs. This EP is like a lead single, just something to get out there.”
Catchy as their songs are, it’s doubtful you’ll be hearing them on your local commercial station anytime soon, given the state of radio. But like a lot of good left-of-center bands nowadays, the Rite Flyers have picked up radio play of a sort, via hipster television. They placed two songs on the show “Veronica Mars”, a series created and produced by Rob Thomas, formerly of the Austin band Hey Zues.
“Rob’s an old friend we’ve known for a long time,” says Clayton. He asked if he could put a few songs we’d recorded in the show, and they’re on the radio in the background in a couple of scenes.”
“That’s probably helped more than anything else because people will track down every song from that show,” adds Collier. “We’ve gotten downloads from places like the Czechoslovakia and Brazil because of it.
Back at home, the Rite Flyers will continue plugging away. “It’s almost like a rebuilding process, since these guy’s had a long break before I joined,” says bassist Hall. “But we’re doing everything ourselves. As far as labels, we’re not going to get a deal and we’re not even trying – the ‘90’s are over. We’re excited to do it 100 percent ourselves.
- DAVID MENCONI
REVIEWS:
WWW.AMERICANA-UK.COM
The Rite Flyers
“Suffer Fools Gladly” (Independent 2008)
The right track
Until The Rite Flyers full length sophomore release is out we’ll have to make do
with this four tracker, which is a crying shame because on this evidence these
Austin Texas boys are on to something rather good. It’s a nigh on perfect
Americana/sunshine pop amalgam which will burrow its way into your brain quicker
than meningitis. And it won’t leave either – the title track has been bugging me
(in a good way) since I first played it – and I’ve played it lots believe me.
Acoustic strum-alongs, perfectly paced and with upper register vocals to die for
make these blokes the natural successors to The Jayhawks (indeed Gary Louris
would give his eye teeth to making anything as good as this nowadays). But only
a four track taster…what on earth are they gonna do with twelve tracks?? Should
be a whole load of fun finding out.
- Paul Villers, AmericanaUK.com 2008
POP CULTURE PRESS, ISSUE 66, SUMMER 2008
THE RITE FLYERS
Suffer Fools Gladly EP
Gorgeous, if entirely to brief missive from veteran Austin pop combo. Now essentially a supergroup, with Fastball drummer Joey Shuffield joining singer//guitarists Steve Collier (ex-Doctors’ Mob) and john Clayton (ex-Balloonatic), and bassist Steven Thomas Hall (Young Heart Attack, ex-Sixteen Delux) in the line-up, the Rite Flyers strike a perfect, winsome pop chord here. The titlesong, which leads off this edition of the Pop Culture Press sampler, a spiraling, melancholy ode to a woman of a particular crucial disposition, floats on melodically puffy clouds and picture precise-perfect backing harmonies, an unshakable song. Meanwhile, “Yours Truly”, borrowing the Byrds’ “Feel a Whole Lot Better” riff, is similarly catchy, sporting a devastating hook, while Collier’s passionate lead vocal and the group’s creamy harmonies on “Sally Please” come on like a great lost Badfinger, Big Star, Shoes (insert your favorite power pop combe here) track. Exemplary.
- Luke Torn, Pop Culture Press 2008
THE BIG TAKEOVER, #54
The Rite Flyers (PAISLEY POP)
Some might recall ‘80s Austin, TX bands Doctors’ Mob and Balloonatic. Last decade Steve Collier, who led the former, and John Clayton of the latter, joined forces in Sidehackers. Now the pair comprise The Rite Flyers. Last year Spoon covered the pair’s “Me and the Bean” on Girl’s Can’t Tell, and in addition to the royalties, Spoon’s Jim Eno produces and drums on six of these sixteen tracks. So what’s the result? Half the LP sounds like a sweet-tempered update on the 1984 R.E.M. of “Harborcoat” and “Seven Chinese Brothers” (with, on “It Makes No Difference”, a little Dave Edmunds, and on “Liar’s Club Cathedral”, some Johnny Cash). It’s that point where many different Americana influences merge, with just a pinch of country, and a third element of submerged spirituality that’s hard to define. See the winsome chorus of “Skyscraper,” which lyrically and melodically recalls the Psychedelic Furs’ “Sister Europe.” It’s not wimpy, either; the hard waltz of “The Hardest Part of Flying,” with its hard acoustics and little slide guitar flourishes, is vitalizing. And on the much different other half they let the electrics prowl, more in line with their older days. Although there’s still a tinge of Texas twang in the vocals, songs such as the aggressive “Jill Stood Still” and “Politics of Misery” and “I Want To Tell You How I Feel” show a band more in line with where a garagey Guided By Voices meets the early Who and Beatles. With such an alternating dichotomy, The Rite Flyers is well beyond the humble home studio project I expected. -Jack Rabid
POP CULTURE PRESS, ISSUE 58
THE RITE FLYERS -The Rite Flyers
PAISLEY POP
Led by John Clayton and Steve Collier, long-time luminaries of the Austin music scene, The Rite Flyers’ debut is a shimmering set of breezy pop. Collier, of course, led Doctors’ Mob, perhaps Austin’s most combustible band of the 80s, while Clayton was a principal figure in unheralded and under-recorded psych/pop outfit Balloonatic. For their first CD, they’ve recruited Spoon drummer Jim Eno, who handles percussion and production duties on a half-dozen tracks here. From the first cut, “Skyscraper,” a fab roller coaster melody that ebbs and flows with Clayton’s fine singing, it’s clear the band’s been sharpening their songwriting acumen. The two bring a natural chemistry to these songs, trading off vocals and songwriting duties, pitching in on harmonies. “Easily Amused,” a hypnotic rocker with a bit of Beatles touch in its sinewy guitars and winding melody, is another highlight, while Collier’s “Ex-Wife Birthday Card,” a good-hearted, if trenchant, look at romance gone and the chugging, acoustic “I’m In a Way” both zero in on borderline melancholy, but stave it off with melodic grace. – Luke Torn
AUSTIN CHRONICLE, February 6, 2004 -Texas Platters
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The Rite Flyers
(Paisley Pop) Anyone reduced to crying in his PBR over Guided by Voices' recent cancellation would do well to seek out the Rite Flyers the next time they take the stage at a local pub. Like Bob Pollard's Ohio-based song combine, Austin's Flyers practice several styles all loosely orbiting the same power-pop nucleus: snappy electric rockers, plaintive acoustic odes, fuzz-clouded squalls, songs that don't even break the one-minute mark. Though they've since expanded to a full band, The Rite Flyers is the work of Steve Collier and John Clayton, whose combined résumés include long-gone local favorites like Doctors’ Mob, Balloonatic, and the Sidehackers. Throw in Spoon drummer Jim Eno brightening the corners as producer (and helping out on drums now and again), and the disc positively vibrates with the sort of chipper melodic energy that suggests the duo could crank out a hummable tune or three before their second cup of morning coffee. As a matter of fact, a few tracks, chiefly the 53-second psychedelic wash "The Cricket Invasion," sound a little too tossed-off, but on a 16-song disc, that's bound to happen sooner or later. Besides, enough do hit the mark – handclap-inflected "Ex-Wife Birthday Card," wittily nursery-rhyme-like "Jill Stood Still," ironically upbeat "It Makes No Difference," Uncle Tupeloish "Liars' Club Cathedral" – that as a whole, The Rite Flyers radiates a most pleasant buzz. Best be looking over your shoulder, Bob.
AMPLIFIER Magazine, Issue 40, Jan-Feb 2004
The Critical List
The Rite Flyers
The Rite Flyers
Paisley Pop (paisleypop.com)
The Rite Flyers, a two-man band from Austin, don’t write easy, engaging pop melodies that make an immediate impression; their music depends as much on ambiance as on ready hooks. And titles like “Ex-Wife Birthday Card,” “Elephant Parade,” “Liar’s Club Cathdral” and “The Hardest Part of Flying” give the impression of being intentionally obtuse, keeping listeners at arm’s distance. Still, this self-titled debut offers a handful of gems in the rough: “Easily Amused,” is a cosmic love letter with classic rock references; “The Trouble With angels,” is a lilting acoustic serenade; and the plainspoken “I Want to Tell You How I Feel” features an elastic riff and surging refrains. Like Guided By Voices and latter-day Wilco, two bands with which they share certain similarities, navigating just left of center lifts the Rite Flyers to a higher altitude.
-LEE ZIMMERMAN