Larelei rock without your permission

According to drummer Thad Kellstadt, Lorelei finds the old punk rock notion of stepping off a… According to drummer Thad Kellstadt, Lorelei finds the old punk rock notion of stepping off a pedestal to make music people can relate to appealing.

“Punk rock is for everyone,” Kellstadt said. “Seeing someone sitting on the floor playing a distortion box is about as punk rock as listening to birds sing.”

Kellstadt plays drums in local band Lorelei, who have just released their debut LP, Our Minds Have Been Electrified, and are recording another album at Plus-Minus Studios Downtown.

Kellstadt cited bands like Black Flag, Agent Orange, The Minutemen and Fugazi, to which Lorelei has earned comparisons, as bands with the same goal. Though each band’s approach was different, each wanted to make accessible music.

“There’s no band that any of us are trying to emulate,” Kellstadt said. “Influence is inevitable. I think just making loud music is accessible.”

“People are secretive about influences,” bassist and vocalist Susanna Mira said. “People compare us to a lot of bands we sound like and a lot that we don’t.”

In actuality, Lorelei produce untamed, hypnotizing rock. Their own individuality lies not only in their artsy – both visual and musical – backgrounds, but also because they lack a guitarist. The band contains only bassists and vocalists Mira and Dan Barone and drummer Kellstadt.

“I like to know what a song is about. I like simple, mechanical, literal beats,” Kellstadt said.

Not a single whiny riff can be heard in any of Lorelei’s music. “Lacks a guitar” is perhaps not accurate verbiage, since Lorelei fill this void with a wall of deep, fuzzy noise and steady drumming. Lorelei’s material doesn’t lack any essential element, but also doesn’t overdo any one component.

Barone came to Pittsburgh from upstate New York, Mira from Philadelphia and Kellstadt from Columbus, Ohio. With a background in photography, Mira designed the band’s dramatic album graphics. Kellstadt, a painter, came to Pittsburgh for college and hoped to start a band. He remembers watching bands play at Freakin’ Pizza, a Columbus half-pizza joint, half-club “before Green Day was popular.”

Lorelei officially formed in Pittsburgh in the fall of 2000, musically taking on the seductive quality of their mythological siren namesake.

“We needed to form a band because we love music.”

Mira and Barone got their start in Pittsburgh by providing the live soundtrack to eclectic performance art group Sarrogit, who “act as living sculptures in space,” during appearances at galleries and museums, according to Mira.

“There’s a good sense of community,” Kellstadt says of the Pittsburgh music scene, in comparison to other cities. “It’s a college town and [a] working class [city]. In Columbus, there was a transient atmosphere; the scene wasn’t as stable.”

Kellstadt cites Gooski’s bar in Polish Hill as one of the best places to play in Pittsburgh, for its mixture of sound and atmosphere and for hosting “some of the best bands in the city.”

In addition to touring the East Coast and Canada, Lorelei has released a split EP with the band Slim Moon in fall of 2000, and the track “My Assassin” unassumingly appeared on the spring 2002 Kill Rock Stars compilation Fields and Streams. When asked how their appearance on the prestigious West Coast indie label happened, Mira responded, “We just sent them a demo. We were pretty surprised.”

Our Minds Have Been Electrified is a solid debut that shakes off any pesky rock excess that has accumulated over the past few decades. At high volume, the opening track “Joan Jett” broods with enough force to knock the casual listener around. “Sirens,” an instrumental track, winds broodingly and drives forward with a vengeance. Mira’s and Barone’s half-spoken vocals and fuzzy bass playing dominate the rest of the tracks while layered over Kellstadt’s precise drum beats.

“As Long as It’s Pink” is on the higher end of Lorelei’s sound spectrum with its tense structure and vocals, the almost delicate song envelops the listener. The album as a whole is not polished or refined, yet not haphazardly crafted.

Lyrically, Lorelei is cleverly direct and minimal, much like the rest of their sound. They comment on aesthetic value in general on the album, particularly in “Joan Jett” with the lyric “there are no thinkers left/ now we have only singers.” At other times, the lyrics tend toward sensual motifs as with the line “you know how to make the siren/ sing bring your hands here/ put them on me” from “Red Boots.”

Lorelei’s familiar, accessible sound will emerge again later this year, when they release their album currently in the works. The band also plans to tour, including making a stop at Ladyfest in Philadelphia, in the near future.

Pittsburgh would be wise to catch them now – with their pared-down melodies and imposing stage presence, Lorelei will give listeners a no-nonsense aural treat.

Lorelei’s next show is Feb. 17 with the Gore Gore Girls at the Buddha Lounge in Detroit.