Dead Trees at Small’s

The…The Dead Trees The Honorary Title with special guests The Teeth, The Dead Trees and Capital Road Mr. Small’s 400 Lincoln Ave. Millvale, PA 15209 412-821-4447 Tonight, 7 p.m. Tickets: $12

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The Dead Trees’ current tour feels more like a family road trip than a luxury-padded, fame-filled jaunt across the country.

Members of the close-as-kin group take turns driving the van which transports them from city to city. They pay for gas themselves – Portland and Chicago have been the priciest so far. They listen to the latest feature on NPR and play a Swiss gambling card game in the backseat. In fact, if you ignore the fact that they stop to rock out every night, it would be just another regular family vacation.

Good thing it isn’t.

Matthew Borg, Noah Rubin, Tad Dahlhoff and Michael Ian Cummings are currently on the road supporting their debut EP Fort Music, and they’ll be stopping by Mr. Small’s on Monday, March 3 opening for headliner The Honorary Title.

And for a band that didn’t technically exist until Fort Music’s conception about a year and a half ago, touring has been one part adventure, two parts process of discovery.

“We’re just trying to always look for ways to make things more interesting to us,” said frontman and lyricist Michael Ian Cummings.

“Touring makes us tighter,” he added. “We’re slowly caring less and less about our perception, and I think it’s making [us] better.”

The friends, all age 22 or 23, originally hail from the Boston area where they played together informally for a while before recording their EP. Then, in December 2006, they spent two weeks in a basement in Allston, Mass., and knocked out Fort Music.

The disc – a six-track, 20-minute first effort – sounds sufficiently original as to escape any direct comparison to current indie rock bands, and yet, it maintains a distinct throwback sound. With uncomplicated drum beats, notable bass, strong, clear guitar leads and Cummings’ ever-so-slightly hoarse voice, the songs seem anchored in simplistic elegance without ever turning sloppy or boring.

It’s a truly indie CD from a band that earns the title in every respect, especially the literal: The group is still yet to be signed by a label. So far, Fort Music has only been released on Rough Trade records in Japan.

That’s not to say the group hasn’t been receiving attention from industry brass around the country. After circulating their CD, The Dead Trees scored a supporting role in touring nationally with Albert Hammond, Jr., of The Strokes.

The group also played shows at The House of Blues and Spaceland in LA and Webster Hall and Mercury Lounge in NYC. But the boys don’t see what all the hullabaloo is about.

“It’s just weird. No one wants to play those shows [in front of industry execs],” Cummings explained. “We’ve played so many shows where they tell you ‘this is going to be The One.’ I remember we played a show where we scared away a whole bunch of important people.”

“It doesn’t really matter to us,” he added. “We’re not trying to be the biggest band in the world. We’re doing this because this is what we want to be doing right now.”

So the band, now anchored in Portland, Ore., simply continues to play shows, tour and write new stuff. “It’s fair to say we’re a young band,” Cummings said. “I hope we’re not solid as far as musical stylings – that would be pretty detrimental. I hope things change from album to album for years to come.”

As far as progressing albums go, the band recently finished recording a full-length that they hope to release sometime this year. “We just booked like nine days in a studio and did the entire thing,” Cummings said. “All we have to do to finish it is a little mixing, but it’s on page with how we record: as efficiently as possible – and cheap.”

For a band with such a mordant moniker, this year is shaping up to hold plenty of promise for room to grow. But between finding a label, releasing a record and more or less ‘making it big,’ it’s that last mark of success the band is least worried about. Instead, The Dead Trees have their sights set on an even more excellent mark of success.

“I just want a driver,” Cummings said, referring back to the group’s low-fi transportation. “Once we can employ a driver, we’ll be OK.”