The title of the new Jews and Catholics' album shows a band brimming with confidence -- even if the title doesn't exactly make sense. The album was named after the fourth song: "Who Are? We Think We Are!"
"It somehow just captured this feeling I was trying to get with that song -- about progress and achievements being man-made vs. being predetermined, how much is in the stars and how much is due to physical and mental ingenuity -- a reckless sort of enthusiasm," said Eddie Garcia, 31, who sings, plays guitar and mans the drum machine for the Winston-Salem duo.
Alanna Meltzer, 27, the upright bass player and Jew to Garcia's Catholic, chimes in: "It makes sense, even though it was nonsensical."
The title also reflects the audacity of a young band working with acclaimed guitarist, singer and producer Mitch Easter, who produced several early R.E.M. albums and has worked in years since with artists from Suzanne Vega to Pavement.
"There was also some element of 'Who do we think we are recording with Mitch Easter?' " Garcia said. But he also acknowledges that the title also is improper English.
"That's what's so great about it!" Meltzer said.
According to Easter, Jews and Catholics have earned the recognition they have received since playing their first show five years ago. They have toured across half of the country, performing in New York, New Orleans and Chicago, and recently signed with 307 Knox Records in Durham after self-releasing their first two CDs.
"I told them they were really great the first time I talked to them," Easter said. "I just said, 'I think you should be totally famous,' and I meant it."
Despite having just two members, the band makes a lot of noise. Jews and Catholics play hard-driving rock that reflects such shared influences as the Pixies and Built to Spill.
Garcia and Meltzer came together in fall 2004 when they met while working at Edward McKay Used Books & More in Winston-Salem.
They landed in the Triad via circuitous routes: Garcia was born in New York but raised in Gastonia. His mother took him to a lot of shows when he was growing up, starting with Bon Jovi in the fourth grade.
Meltzer grew up in southeastern Idaho and got used to driving long distances any time she wanted to hear live music.
"Sometimes you'd get lucky and there'd be something like an hour away, but usually we were driving three or four hours," she said.
When she wasn't going to see Weezer and Violent Femmes, Meltzer honed her skills as a formal musician.
"I played in a lot of different symphonies and orchestras and chamber ensembles growing up," she said. "So I was classically trained, and I never really played in a band. I played bass guitar for a very brief time in a band in high school."
The pair eventually followed friends to the Triad, and Jews and Catholics was born.
The band recorded its first album in the basement of Krankies, a coffeehouse in downtown Winston-Salem. A second album came together at GTCC while Garcia was studying sound engineering. He now works at 88.5 FM (WFDD), the National Public Radio station in Winston-Salem, while Meltzer continues to work at Edward McKay while studying religion at Salem College. Eventually, she plans to earn a master's degree in library science.
"At this rate, it will be awhile," she said. "Maybe we'll get famous first."
With financial backing from their new record company, Jews and Catholics stepped up to Mitch Easter's Fidelitorium in Kernersville for "Who Are? We Think We Are!"
Cheetie Kumar, guitarist for Birds of Avalon, worked on the album with Easter. Over six days of recording, the four of them worked to capture the energy of the band's live shows in the studio for the first time.
"It's not the most mannered music," Easter said. "It's got this wildness about it, and I think that comes through."
The result is an amped-up, crunchy record that reflects some of Garcia's youthful enthusiasm for metal.
"Our good friend Michael told us that we were brutal after a show he saw the other night," Meltzer said. "I kind of like that."
Contact Eddie Huffman at ehuffman@triad.rr.com
