As the Plain White T’s learned over the last two years, there’s something unreal about success. One minute you’re sweating your ass off on stage in some dive. The next, your song is #1 and your CD has sold more than a million albums worldwide. One minute you’re listening to “Rubber Soul” on your iPod; the next you’re a Song of the Year nominee at the Grammys and Ringo Starr is saying hi to you. Unreal. Yet staying real is precisely what the Plain White T’s are all about. So on their new Hollywood/Fearless CD, Big Bad World, they passed on the digital bells or whistles. Instead, producer Johnny K pressed the ‘record’ button and the band simply played its heart out.
And there’s plenty of heart on Big Bad World. Says singer/songwriter Tom Higgenson, “We tried to be really ambitious and not worry about people’s expectations for this record. Â Our vision was to do it in a classic way.” To that end, the band only used gear or instruments made before 1970: vintage guitars, old Vox amps and Leslie speakers, a Ludwig drum set circa 1966. They even recorded without a click track (equivalent to walking a high-wire without a net). Because they recorded it live, you might hear imperfections. But in the case of “Big Bad World,” those imperfections worked perfectly.
Follow the band and hear the music at: myspace.com/plainwhitets
