“We definitely needed to slow down,take some time away from the band and focus on our personal lives,” Seidelexplains. “We’re all getting older. We’ve been doing this for so long, andthere’s only so many days you can sleep on people’s floors and go out on longtours. So during our time off, we all grew up, and a lot of these songs areabout growing up and finding out what’s really important and what’s not.”
As a result, World Travels Fast, while maintaining Decibully’s usual beatific,kitchen-sink grandeur, conveys a less idealistic point of view than the Milwaukee indie-rockseptet’s more overtly romantic previous works.
“On the first couple records, we werereally excited to be in this band,” Seidel says. “We had this mentality thateverybody’s going to love us, and maybe we’ll even be able to quit our dayjobs. Then reality sets in. You see an opportunity on the horizon, where youcould be sleeping in a real bed with a beautiful woman every night, instead ofsleeping on the floor with stinky dudes, and you could have a real job and betotally insured, and not worry about skimming free meals from your friend whoworks at a restaurant.”
WorldTravels Fast is a conflicted album, torn between these opposing drivesfor creativity and domestic stability. Many songs play out like cautionarytales. “You got a job with benefits, a new set of friends and a couple kids/ alife that seems good but is completely wrong for you,” Seidel sings on “Don’tBelieve the Hype.”
Seidel, who himself recently married,says that in reality, though, Decibully’s members have found a happy balancebetween music and adult responsibilities.
“There’s always that yearning for thatthing you could never grab at, that feeling that we could all become stars,etcetera, but I realize that giving that up has made me happier,” he says. “Ihave everything I want in life, and I still have the band that I love. As aband, we’ve learned that everybody has to be happy in their own lives if we’regoing to have a fun, successful group.”
And after a long downtime, a falsestart (they tried recording this album in 2006 but didn’t care for the results)and a setback (their former label, Polyvinyl, declined to release the recordlast year), Decibully is eager to be playing again, ready to tour and promotethe new album.
The break with Polyvinyl introducedparticular opportunities for the group. Members Nick Sanborn and Andy Menchalformed their own record label, Listening Party Records, releasing World Travels Fast not only on CD andvinyl, but also as a pay-what-you-like download, a timely move that nicelyunderscores the album’s sub-themes about the rapid prevalence of newtechnology.
“Nick and Andy say it’s been a prettyinteresting social experiment, seeing how much people pay for it,” Seidel says.“A lot of people just grab it, but the average contribution is $5, with somepeople putting in $20. When you can get the album for free, the fact thatanybody would even pay a quarter for it is really pretty awesomethough we’reactually charged a PayPal transaction fee, so if you do want to pay a quarterfor it, it’s actually cooler if you just download it for free so we’re notcharged anything.”
Decibullyplays a 9 p.m. album release show at the Bay View Brew Haus on Friday, Dec. 18,with Invade Romeand Fable and the World Flat. World Travels Fast is available at listeningpartyrecords.com.
