Post Post

A local smarty-pop college band takes the plunge.

by Patrick Rapa

By: Neal Santos Clockwise from left: Kevin O'Halloran, Marisa Helgeson, Casey Sowa and Michelle Zauner

Every milestone is a hurdle for a young band — first show, first roster change, first money discussion — but philosophically there is only one question: Are you serious?

Post Post is serious. The four plucky juniors from Bryn Mawr and Haverford colleges, whose catchy pop at times recalls Velocity Girl or Tegan and Sara, have pooled their meager resources and bought a van. They've booked their first tour, a spring-break swing along the coast. And, as of last week, they've ditched Garage Band and started recording in a for-real studio. These are thrilling times, and stressful. When you're not serious, there's no risk.

"I'm 20 years old and come from a small city in Oregon, all of a sudden I'm playing shows in Philadelphia, in New York, and it all just seems so surreal," says singer-guitarist Michelle Zauner, who first turned heads as teen singer-songwriter Little Girl, Big Spoon.

"At the same time, though, there's this sort of constant feeling of desperation and anxiety of making this all come together just right, exactly the way we want it, to have the best shows and the best recordings, because we all feel so passionately about the music we're putting out that it's at the point in which, when things go wrong and sound off, it can be devastating."

If it sounds a little perilous, or precious, well, maybe it is. These four people — Zauner plus Marisa Helgeson (synths, vocals) of Los Angeles, Kevin O'Halloran (bass, vocals) of Connecticut and Casey Sowa (drums, vocals) of Maryland — feel lucky to have converged on the same classrooms in suburban Pennsylvania at the same time. Right now they're juggling the band with school and part-time jobs. They can't wait for the chance to make the band thing the only thing. "To all graduate at the same time and hit the ground running," as Zauner puts it.

Post Post's first EP, 2009's Meta Meta, is a brazen, bubbly piece of rock 'n' roll, five songs that dip and rise on perky pop melodies and Zauner's sweet, firecracker vocals. "Say When" is a superfun road trip number, "Sober" is a jangly, angsty out-of-love song. The youthful energy is balanced by a worldly wit. "You treat me like a goddess," goes "Bones," "and like God I'll abandon you."

With the new one, the yet-unnamed EP they're recording in a Fishtown studio, Post Post is looking for progress. Where Meta Meta was a little raw and sparse, they want some gloss, a lush sound, something really pro. And, lyrically, they're moving into more mature and mysterious territory. Keep an ear out for the jaunty, haunted "Architects" — it's got swooning synthesizers, nerve-wracking tempo shifts and unnerving lyrical imagery about sobbing pipes and sighing walls. "These songs really are a big step up," says Sowa. "We just want to knock it out. Do it justice."

It's going well, apparently. "It feels great to finally have a closer representation of what we want people to think we sound like," says Zauner. She wasn't always this resolute about music. She stumbled onto indie fame as Little Girl, Big Spoon back in Eugene, Ore., and effortlessly landed gigs opening for Kimya Dawson and Deerhoof. She looks back on the project now as earnest, but a little silly. She didn't practice, her lyrics were "childish" and it wasn't uncommon for her to lose her place midsong and laugh it off.

That's just not the way Post Post operates. "It's something very different. I take my lyrics and performance very seriously — partially because there are three other band members that are taking it seriously ... and depend on me to do the same. But also because for the first time I feel like I'm really proud of the music I'm putting out."

Post Post plays Thu., March 5, 8 p.m., $5-$10 donation, with McKenzie, Many Arms, Bees and Eddie Sids, Danger Danger Gallery, 5013 Baltimore Ave., myspace.com/dangerdangergallery.