PB&Jams: Local Natives

By Samantha Webster, The Dartmouth Staff | 4/27/15 7:00am

Ok, so maybe I found Local Natives while trolling Free People’s blog, but the part to focus on here is that it led me to a live performance of “You & I” that the group did for the company while at Firefly this summer. It was love at first listen.

The Los Angeles-based band put out their first album, “Gorilla Manor,” in 2009 and released their second, “Hummingbird,” in 2013. While I’m usually drawn to lyrics above all else, I’ve found that the enchanting melodies on these two albums are what lure me in. In August of last year they announced that they’ve been working on the third album, so fingers crossed we see that coming out in the near future.

If you’ve watched any of NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series, you know that they’re pretty much always killer. Local Natives’ set is no exception and is a good place to start if you want to check them out. While they play a handful of songs (“Wide Eyes,” “Cards and Quarters,” “Airplanes,”), my favorite thing about the video is probably seeing five band members plus instruments squished into a space that’s about the size of one of those 3fb cubbies.

What follows is a smattering of thoughts about some of my favorite tracks from both albums.

“Airplanes”

At first listen I definitely thought that “Airplanes” was a post-breakup song about wanting the girl back — probably because the lyrics involve the pretty pointed phrase, “I want you back,” repeated over and over again. As it turns out, the song is allegedly about vocalist Kelcey Ayer’s grandfather and the sentiments involved in not having had a lot of time to get to know him before he passed away.

The desk where you sit inside of a frame
Made of, made of, of wood
I keep those chopsticks you had from when you taught abroad
Taught abroad, in Japan
I love it all
So much I call
I want you back, back, back
I want you back

It sounds like
We would have had a great deal
To say, to say
To each other

I bet when
I leave my body for the sky
The wait, the wait
Will be worth it

“Breakers”

Sung like a choppy poem, “Breakers” is full of pauses that set the tone better than any lyrics could. The start of the song is driving and upbeat until the lyrics come in and slow down the tempo. This is the kind of song I like to listen to while home alone when it’s raining, when I can empathize with lyrics like “Cold cereal and TV before I go to sleep” — because who can’t relate to that, honestly?

Waiting for
My words to catch like I’m trying
To strike a match that’s soaking wet
See through skull
See through skin
Leave all the lights on
Can’t see out but they see in
Stare down my nose
Watching
The color drain from
My eyes
Cold cereal
And TV
Before I go
To sleep

Breathing out
Hoping to breathe in
I know nothing’s wrong
But I’m not convinced

I also love the realism of the line, “I know nothing’s wrong but I’m not convinced.” There’s something so true about the dichotomy between knowing that everything is ok but feeling overwhelmingly that the opposite is true.

“Heavy Feet”

“Heavy Feet” hits me like a fading summer romance. It starts off with the obvious falling in love with the I’m-a-mess-but-still-beautiful girl holding a cup between her teeth while overlooking a body of water and ending in the defeated, “Baby I know better than to read more than what’s written.” Ouch.

Fireworks at the water
You were holding
A Styrofoam cup held between your teeth
You’re telling me how you’re going to outlive your body

What you said I wrote it down,
It won’t say, it won’t speak the same
Baby I know better than
To read more
Than what’s written

To listen to incredible versions of a few of these and some of their other songs, check out the band’s Spotify Sessions EP.


Samantha Webster, The Dartmouth Staff