Interview: The Rallies
Discussing Their New Album 'No Better Time'
The Rallies’ excellent new album is sure to hit the sweet spot for fans of ‘60s-tinged jangle pop.
Produced by Johnny Sangster—who has worked with Mudhoney, Young Fresh Fellows, and the The Posies, to name a few notable collaborations—the 11-song collection deftly blends big hooks with sunshine-y melodies.
“The album title No Better Time came about from a line in the song ‘This Time.’ The phrase can be used to refer to the past or to the present, which we thought was interesting. Is it a fond memory of days gone by, or an encouraging message in this day and age? Either one works, so we’ll leave that up to the listener to decide,” Steve Davis told me for the interview below.
No Better Time expands the Seattle quartet’s musical approach, while staying true to their core influences.
“We’ve really tried to expand our sound each time we make a record. When we were recording No Better Time, we pushed ourselves to find an expanded variety of song styles, and ended up with everything from the widescreen open road sound of ‘This Time’ and keyboard-heavy ‘You Never Knew’ to the bouncy ‘Comes and Goes’ and delicate acoustic ‘Open Your Mind,’” bassist Ben Heege said.
I caught up with Davis and Heege by email to discuss the writing and recording of No Better Time, explore a few of the standout tracks, and find out how the new songs are going over in their live sets.
Steve Davis and Ben Heege Interview
The new album sounds great! Can you tell me a little about how it was written and recorded?
Steve Davis: So as far as writing, I have my stockpile of recorded demos that I share with the bandmates. They’re mostly cellphone recordings of song ideas that I’ve come up with, just my vocals and acoustic guitar. Look for them someday included on The Rallies Anthology compilation.
So anyway, the ones that get the best band feedback we’ll try out together and decide if we want to pursue recording. The song selection is mostly a democratic approach, and that was pretty much the case for this entire album. There was just one exception, “You Never Knew,” that I had to lobby extra hard to get on the album and I’m glad I did!
Ben Heege: As far as recording, we’ve been working with producer Johnny Sangster, he runs his own studio and is very hands-on, engineering at the mixing board and working with us to flesh out arrangements and the sound palette on his huge selection of vintage gear. We’ll usually grab a solid rhythm track with drums and bass and basic guitar, then start filling in the landscape with some tasty overdubs and harmony vocals...sometimes it’s hard to stop adding new ideas! Steve usually records his guitar and vocals in the same take, and you can hear the immediacy and emotion coming from that approach.
Given that history with Johnny Sangster, did your sound or approach change at all between the last album and the new one?
Ben Heege: Johnny (who can play pretty much any instrument) encouraged us to find the right dynamic blend to best serve each track we recorded. Rallies fans are going to find familiar voices and rocking guitars, but also a few surprises, sometimes all in the same song.
Was “time” a running theme on this new collection?
Steve Davis: There wasn’t really a conscious effort to have “time” as a theme for our album. But in retrospect it’s easy to see how one might feel time kind of weaving its way through these songs.
Ben Heege: There are a few running themes going on in the record, one that comes to mind is searching: for connection, for love, for understanding and justice. The lyrics may not talk about it explicitly, but we feel like a lot of people do—that we’re living in some turbulent times and many things are headed in the wrong direction...we did talk about whether the title No Better Time feels a little ironic given the state of things, or maybe it’s a reminder that there’s no better time than now to lean into caring, and love, and being true to yourself. We think listeners will pick up on that.
One song on the record, “I Believe,” even sneaks in a reference to Nick Lowe’s “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding,” which is a sentiment the whole band agrees with.
“I Believe” is a bit more driving than the opening track. I can really imagine that one sounding great live. Is it part of the current set list? How is it going over with crowds?
Ben Heege: “I Believe” and other new tracks like “Love” have been going over great at our shows. Because we play regularly around Seattle, we see a lot of the same faces from show to show, and we try to mix it up a little so the longtime fans can hear the material they’re already familiar with while getting a touch of newer stuff as well. As the No Better Time album comes out, we’ll pull in more of that new material and we think people are going to like how they sound on stage.
“Comes And Goes” is a great slice of ‘60s pop. What is it about ‘60s music that speaks to you?
Steve Davis: Regarding influences, I have always been a fan of ‘60s Brit pop, and so a fan of any band that was part of the UK invasion. And since The Beatles led that invasion, they’re on the top of my list!
I grew up in the ‘70s listening to AM radio and absorbing all that wonderful pop music coming through the airwaves. It was also a time when even more singer-songwriters were getting airplay, and that too became a big influence on me. Overall, I dig pretty much any group or artist that writes melody driven music, power pop rock.
“Love” is a real standout track. What was the inspiration for that one?
Steve Davis: The melody for “Love” had been in my head and in my demos stockpile for quite a while. And I had gone back to it several times over the years trying out different arrangements and lyrics, but never quite felt like it reached the sentiment I wanted. It wasn’t until a couple years ago when my mother had a serious life-threatening health issue that it became apparent to me what I wanted this song to say.
The album ends with the more contemplative “If Only.” Why was that the right note to end on?
Steve Davis: Coming up with the song order on this album did take quite a bit of time. And part of that song order involved tempo variation and where to put slower songs. I believe that was a big part in “If Only” ending up as the album ending song. In response to whether it’s “the right note to end on,” one takeaway for me is throughout the song the lyrics keep delivering a yearning message to relive a moment, “If only from this feeling, that’ll be alright.” So, in that sense of leaving the listener longing, maybe “If Only” is the perfect song to end with, a reason to hit the repeat button.
Ben Heege: That song is a great representation of the whole band putting a song together. We had been playing with the idea of using a co-lead vocal on one of the new songs, and singer Steve and lead guitarist Brian worked out the core of the verses on two acoustic guitars. Then Ben had a bass line melody idea to support the quieter intro verses, and drummer Lee filled out the rest of the song by bringing drums in at just the right moment to hit maximum drama. It’s definitely styled like a classic rock ballad, so if you own a cigarette lighter, here’s your chance to wave it in the air!
If I got in the tour van with The Rallies, what would I be listening to on the stereo?
Ben Heege: Hard to know where to start answering this question since we do appreciate a spectrum from 50+ years of rock and roll. Our sound is definitely influenced by classic harmony rock like Badfinger and Raspberries and also ‘90s-and-beyond groups like long-timers The Jayhawks and Fountains of Wayne. For more recent stuff, there’s so much great local Seattle music being made around, our friends The Riffbrokers, Planets in the Ocean, and The Tripwires have all released excellent records in the last year or so.
S.W. Lauden On The ‘Born Too Late’ Podcast
I Kinda Love That They Post The Podcast On Bandcamp
I had a fun chat with Josh and Jay over on the Born Too Late podcast. I think it was supposed to be an interview (and they did ask some great questions), but it quickly turned into a music writer roundtable. We discuss negative reviews, keeping up with new music, and—of course!—power pop. Listen on Apple.
I'm way too late coming to this, but I've been enjoying The Rallies' new album and appreciated the insights into its creation here.