Once a fabled “lost land” between the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the imaginary continent of Lemuria existed mainly in the imaginations of Victorian and Edwardian authors, leading to it being name-checked by artists as varied as H.P. Lovecraft and Sun Ra. Now, though, Lemuria might be best known as an indie rock band out of Buffalo, New York, one that will be treating Birmingham’s new all-ages venue the Forge to perhaps its biggest show yet on July 11.
Lemuria are touring in support of their stunningly good The Distance is So Big, an LP which was released in June by Bridge 9 Records. Despite their origins as a punk rock band, Lemuria is at its best these days when it evokes the wonder and possibility of its eponymous continent. In sonic terms, that means echoing the rippling textures of Death Cab for Cutie’s best work, evoking the charming harmonies of early Rilo Kiley, and employing complex, brainy shifts in song structure all their own to keep things intriguing.
Although hardly any traces of Lemuria’s punk background remain in their current incarnation, they’ve still got that punk sense of economy in their songs. Every note, every chord change, every shift in tempo seems to be deeply considered, and in an album with such complex lyrical ideas and rhythms at play, The Distance is So Big’s economical attitude is crucial to keeping everything flowing smoothly.
The real star of the show, though, is those lyrics, whose intelligent references call to mind D.C. indie legends the Dismemberment Plan and their winning lyricist, Travis Morrison. The Distance is So Big references both James Joyce’s unreadable stream-of-consciousness epic Finnegan’s Wake and cyclopean glass sculptor Dale Chihuly, and not frivolously; instead of being show-offy, these references all serve to advance important themes throughout the record.
Those themes are, according to songwriter and (profoundly good) drummer Alex Kerns, directly related to his personal life. “I just ended a four-year relationship a few months before going into the studio to write this album, and I was very, very inspired by that,” Kerns told Weld in an interview. “But it was a good breakup in the sense that it made me feel like I had a lot to look forward to, and I think that’s why the album sounds very optimistic.”
When asked about how a breakup could be make him more optimistic, Kerns explained that, after this particular breakup, “everything’s more vibrant, your outlook on everything is more colorful.”
That sense of vibrancy leads to a deeply Romantic record, one that couldn’t be more different from such famous breakup records past as Blood on the Tracks. On a basic level, that means celebrating one’s individuality after a long period of defining yourself in relation to someone else’s expectations. For a perennially shy introvert like Kerns, self-identifying with Shakespearean also-rans like Spear Carrier Number Two and immediately claiming that “It’s never too late to be what you might have” turns into a potent rallying cry.
The Romantic theme continues into an apparent distrust of overly intellectualizing things, an apparent contradiction in terms for such a brainy band. But when guitarist/vocalist Sheena Ozzella sings about looking at things with a “scienceless eye,” or when she gives a forecast of “interior weather: Aurora Borealis,” it rings blissfully true. Even opaque statements like “the Painted Desert is still dry” seem to take on an added resonance amid such breathless enthusiasm.
Whatever the ideas at play, Lemuria’s recent output sounds like a crystalline example of what indie pop can sound like with some thought behind it. Their sound is catchy as hell, not to mention immediately engaging, and the cleverness of their lyrics make for a band with appeal beyond the first few listens. This might not be the biggest show yet for the Forge, but it may be the best.
The Forge is located at 5505 1st Avenue N. in Woodlawn. Lemuria will be playing at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 11. Tickets are $10. For more information, check out the Forge on Facebook.