Forever is Not So Long

Little pop giants The Bigger Lovers reunite to set the record straight.

by M.J. Fine

	print	email	reply

Published: Mar 2, 2011

Neal Santos

CHANGE YOUR MIND: Patrick Berkery, Charlie Hall, Ed Hogarty, Scott Jefferson and Bret Tobias.

[ the comeback ]

At the turn of the millennium, few local bands got more love from City Paper than The Bigger Lovers. Their debut, How I Learned to Stop Worrying, garnered a 1,071-word feature, and it landed on a few key critics' Top 15 lists at the end of 2001. Their shows might not have been packed, but most of CP's editorial staff would be in attendance.

Four years and two albums later, the foursome packed it in with what singer-bassist Scott Jefferson recalls as "only the best show ever."

After the breakup, Jefferson moved on to Missing Palmer West; singer-guitarist Bret Tobias played drums in B.C. Camplight for a bit; guitarist Ed Hogarty kept going with Audible; and drummer Patrick Berkery worked with The Pernice Brothers, Danielson and about a million other bands.

Now they're relearning their old songs for a blowout at Johnny Brenda's to celebrate the remastered How I Learned to Stop Worrying and the release of the Little Giant maxi single, which gathers four long-lost songs and a remix.

"We were always really proud of Worrying, but the original version was pretty shoddy," Tobias says. "It was mastered badly and was out of circulation within weeks of its release. We wanted to give it the treatment it never received."

To that end, they've made it easier to find than it was the first time around — listen on Bandcamp at your leisure. (For those who view scarcity as an asset, the 180-gram vinyl release, on the band's own Miles Above imprint, is limited to 500 copies.)

"All the label drama — which was significant and expensive — went down before its original release, so we were free and clear to reissue it without any hassles," Tobias says.

Good thing, because power-pop nuggets like "Forever Is Not So Long" and "Threadbare" deserve more than obscurity. Tobias agrees. "They stand up pretty well, though I have to chuckle about how ridiculously negative some of the songs are," he says. "Not sure what my problem was."

Little Giant only adds to the band's reputation. The title track is crisp and sardonic, while "It's All About Regret" is among the most bittersweet entries in a discography filled with them.

When The Bigger Lovers started recording the songs with Tony Goddess of Papas Fritas in May 2005, six months before their farewell show, they couldn't have predicted it would serve as their capstone six years later.

"I think we just wanted an excuse to finish up what we started with Tony," says Jefferson. "Over the last five years, I've probably listened to those unfinished tracks more than the CDs."

When the band revisited the tracks in Berkery's basement last October, they were in good shape. "All they really needed were vocals and a few tambourine hits, and it all fell together pretty easily," says Tobias. "I'm as proud of those tracks as anything we recorded. The fact that 'Little Giant' hasn't gotten any sort of traction is tough to swallow."

Though he's more dad than rocker these days, Tobias admits that The Bigger Lovers still hold a claim on his heart. But don't hold your breath for a full-fledged reunion. The guys missed each other and the supportive scene, but they have no nostalgia for sleeping on floors, long nights of driving and wrecked vans.

"We've agreed to do things if they're either (1) highly profitable or (2) shitloads of fun," Tobias says. "So, no, there's probably no future for us."

(m_fine@citypaper.net)

The Bigger Lovers play Sat., March 12, 9 p.m., $10-$12, with Dennis Diken with Bell Sound, Johnny Brenda's, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 877-435-9849, johnnybrendas.com.

For a Limited Time Only
La Sera
Dum Dum Girls
Sic Alps
Critical Error
The Covers
The Critics
Carolina Chocolate Drops