SHUSH! Magazine

Meet Bear Hands.

I was introduced to Bear Hands almost by accident. An old friend called me up a year and a half ago telling me he had his first New York show during the week, did I want to come? I told him I was working. Honestly, I was quite relieved. I don’t need another friend who is “in a band”, I thought to myself. And there I am, a few days later, working and his band walks in – they were playing at the venue I worked at.

Loyalty to a good friend convinced me to check out one song. I was astonished when I couldn’t break away from the set. I watched the entire show and have been an avid fan since. Not to mention, the four guys who make up Bear Hands in their derelict chic attire are cute enough to sway the entire world into thinking anything is a good idea – that every track is only perfection. It’s hard to deny their earnest stage performances, their candid humor and spontaneity for life on and off stage.

Bear Hands is made up of four guys who met while living in Connecticut. They now all live in New York City, Brooklyn being the home of their practice space. Within the past year they have played almost every venue in New York City and many venues on the East Coast. They spent a week at South by Southwest and recently headlined their first show at the lower east side’s Mercury Lounge. They’ve played with other notable bands such as Ra Ra Riot, Mahjongg, Ambulance Ltd., The Teenagers, MGMT, Die! Die Die!, Vampire Weekend, Cursive, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, and are joining Ghostland Observatory during July in Prospect Park.

With love being the main theme broadcasted on every college radio station in the country - Dylan Rau with his frivolous red fro (and a few emerging dreads), his adorning way of decorating himself with bandanas, religious medallions, and cut up t-shirts, offers the perfect image as a front man and a colloquial, sardonic, worldly approach to lyrics that most indie bands are incomparably far removed from.

Bear Hand’s bass lines and brilliant percussion “chime ins” - provided by Val Loper - offer a Liars’ “Drums Not Dead” feel – but with more vehemence, more cadency, and a sharp intelligence most college seniors are still aspiring for. He might be the most optimistic person I have ever met in my life, edifying a zeal for life on stage that most of Brooklyn’s depressed junkie faces can’t even comprehend.

Ted Feldman’s guitar skills are hard to match by anyone, meaning his skills can only be described by the title of Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel, “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.” It’s hard to watch anyone but Feldman, he is no less than captivating. While Loper proves to be overly positive, Feldman might be one of the nicest, down to earth people on the planet. Reliable and needless to say, the star of the band – more than worthy of the guitar solos he’ll give you throughout a set.

With his blonde sculptured haircut and a “get things done” demeanor, TJ Orschman, with a background of playing in hardcore bands, reinforces the unique intelligence of the guitars and lyrics. His drumming is anything but just “tight.” Rhythmically he couldn’t be more on point, his snare couldn’t ring any clearer, his kick drum almost beaten into the souls of concert-goers whether they are paying attention or not …post punk might be the word, or what about just “rad as hell.”

Although the four prove to be immensely talented, so are most bands hailing from Brooklyn that are raved about on Brooklyn Vegan, Deli Magazine, Daytrotter, and whatnot. What makes Bear Hands worth listening to – what separates them from every other good looking, young, rock band from Brooklyn is their character traits. Charismatic, logical, and witty – unrestrained and a way of looking at things from an opportunist’s view, without being complete elitists…their interaction with each other makes them likable as people, always a plus when it comes to putting them on your “favorites” list, seeing as all of this translates into their live sets.

“What’s the other suggestion that you came up with that was terrible?” Loper asks Rau over lunch before their set at a SXSW show this past March – concerning songs Bear Hands should (obviously) cover.

“I Wanna Be A Stripper,” Rau replies.

“Yeah, that’s awful.” Loper replies more crassly than a Russian model upset over being pushed and shoved around during a day of work.

Only to be humorlessly matched with an even bigger problem than tracks worth covering, the age old issue of the set list and should a song be cut or not. “Couldn’t wait for the song to be over.” Loper curtly tells the band, regarding the show the afternoon before. And it’s this, this punchy, no feelings marked “discreet” attitude, that keeps Bear Hands rising and will no doubt place them on the map of ubiquitous bands.

Their EP "Golden" is out and for sale and although I do recommend downloading it to your Itunes and listening to it on your headphones loudly - I highly recommend seeing them play live. When talking to Loper about live performances he said, “Playing live is the best part of being in a band. It’s the payoff of playing countless hours in a hot cramped practice space. Playing a great show and connecting with the crowd totally validates all the bullshit that you have to put up with the other 99% of the time you aren’t on stage.” And yes, this comes through with their more than ambitious, “impact the world” stage presence.

I will readily admit that I am a “super fan” of the band. The one thing I can’t figure out is why the rest of the world doesn’t agree with me. However, this all might be changing soon. The band (although sarcastic and carrying the “weight” of the modern artist on their oh-so-skinny shoulders) maintains an incredibly idealistic look on the future. Loper tells me their goals for the summer include: “Signing a record deal, recording a full length, and touring as much as possible.”

It’s quite obvious Bear Hands is in one word, “solid.” Don’t miss them while you can still get tickets for their shows without using Ebay as the source.