They sound like a stripped-down version of The Fratellis with blunt vocals and pop riffs vaguely reminiscent of Yellowcard and a spaciness to the guitars that flirts with the line between a purposeful disorganization and a stark descent into chaos.
In the two years since Bradley Thomas & Friends was formed, the band has gone from playing house parties to being regulars at Doc's Music Hall and Be Here Now. After releasing an EP, they completely overhauled the style and lineup of the band, released their first full-length CD, and toured locally and regionally.
For frontman and guitarist Bradley Thomas, the past two years have been about discovering who he is as an artist and what kind of band he wants to be a part of.
In the beginning, Bradley Thomas & Friends was more of a pop group, focusing on catchy vocal melodies. The style demanded a lot of singing from Thomas, who ultimately felt he would rather base the band's sound around the instruments.
"I kind of really wanted to show people that I was a better guitarist than I was showing at the that time," Thomas said. "Every now and then, I'd have a cool guitar part but it was kind of boring."
In January, Thomas replaced the drummer with current band member Ryan Minton and got rid of the keyboardist and second guitarist altogether.
"They weren't changing with the rest of us and we were changing a lot as a band at that time," Thomas said.
The changes included a more balanced amount of singing and instrumentation in each song, and a more organic approach to songwriting. Practices became about improvising together. Minton would start a beat on the drums and Thomas, along with bass player Shawn Ayala and hand percussionist Seth Scales would build upon it with their instruments. They would then pick out the parts they liked best and turn them into songs.
This method is how Bradley Thomas & Friends wrote their debut album "Zeta Reticuli." Moving from one extreme to the other, Thomas focused almost exclusively on the guitar. When the time came to record "Zeta Reticuli" in May, Thomas had never actually sung three of the songs on the album.
"I was pretty confident in the way the music sounded," Thomas said. "I just kind of looked at the sheet for a second and sang it in my head, and usually I would have the producer play it ... And the next take I did it, that's usually the take we kept."
"Zeta Reticuli" was released on July 5 and has sold over 150 copies, including 60 from Amazon.com and iTunes sales.
The band will be back in the studio in November to record their second album, which Thomas said will be a throwback to the group's original pop style.
"I kind of feel like we made a huge jump from the old band to how we sound now on [‘Zeta Reticuli']," Thomas said. "The idea is to go back and make an album that is supposed to be kind of in between that album and our old EP."
The second album will also include more instrumentation than the first. While "Zeta Reticuli" was lightly-produced in order to create a sound in keeping with live performances, this new effort will have a lot more instrumental layering to create a fuller, more developed sound.
"Last time it was about making an album that was fun to play live," Thomas said. "This time we're making an album that's ... a good album. The focus is to make a really big, epic, awesome album, regardless of whether it's doable live."
The band plans to use violins, string basses and cellos in addition to a piano and the possible addition of a second guitar line.
Thomas said the band intends to take their time recording and releasing the second album, unlike the first, which was recorded in four days and released less than three months later. They plan to record 20 songs, twice as many as their first album, then spend a few months perfecting them and paring the playlist down to around 12 songs. The remaining unused songs will likely be released online as an EP.
Because of the time involved in writing and recording such a lengthy album, Bradley Thomas & Friends have scaled back on their live performances. Until July, they were playing nearly once a week. According to their Facebook page, Bradley Thomas & Friends have three shows scheduled for the rest of the year: Stik Nite Fest on October 14-16, Nov. 4 at Doc's Music Hall and Nov. 11 at the Earth House in Indianapolis.
Local performances will likely continue to be limited in the future as Bradley Thomas & Friends focus on growing fan bases in other cities and consider a possible move.
"I kind of feel like that's the next step, to get out of the Midwest," Thomas said. "[We want to] do exactly what we did here, just slowly take over, get people to know who we are and spread out in a circle in the surrounding areas until everyone knows who you are."
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