Wes Kaplan formed Lane in Boston in 2019, quickly attracting members of Palehound and Guerilla Toss, eventually congealing into its present trio rounded out by Jolee Gordon (vocals, also of Houndsteeth) and Julian Fader (drums, vocals, production, also of Ava Luna). Expanding on their 2020 debut Copse, Receiver serves up twice the hooks in half the time, with show-stopping mini-chorales, classical song forms, and a fresh lyrical approach with riffs on everyone from Wallace Stevens to Joey Ramone.

I love the name of your band. It has a solid feel—kind of like Pavement—and also has that one-syllable finality of names like Cake or Pulp. It also calls to mind the idea of staying in your lane, though musically you don’t seem opposed to a little bit of swerving every now and then. What does the name mean to you?

Taken as a word it has a certain kind of blandness, which I think stands out on a show flier. It’s as close as you can get to calling yourself “The Band” without being totally meta. But taken as a first name, it’s kind of preppy, which I guess makes it into a kind of a non sequitur.

Your press kit describes Lane as “light on heroics, heavy on interplay—pyrotechnics without the FX.” Can you spell that out a little more?

To spell it out—the guitar parts are clever without being super technical.

I know the band includes members of other bands. Your bio mentions that Jolee Gordon is also in Houndsteeth and that drummer Julian Fader is also in Ava Luna. What kind of cross-pollination has that arrangement yielded? 

Jolee is a very versatile singer. I thought I had the vocal parts pretty well arranged but her improvisations have a tendency to improve the songs. Julian is a good sport when it comes to drum parts composed for him by non-drummers, although shit got fucked up for Genius of Love (long story) and he had to make up his own part for that, which I think ended up being the standout performance on the record. Lesson learned, I’m gonna try to get out of his way more. 

The band formed in 2019. How has your sound evolved since then?

Less repetition, more thematic cohesion, shorter tunes, more “intuitive” song forms. 

The lyrics of your forthcoming single “Everybody’s Finding Out” evoke images of COVID and social distancing. What do you find compelling—lyric-wise, anyway—about that time? 

At least in terms of the chorus, it seemed like the one time I could speak authoritatively on behalf of the rest of humanity.

I’m struck by the idea in the refrain that everybody’s finding out what they can live without. Do you think those lessons stuck? 

That line is more about the sound. It feels like a rhyme, but it’s not.

Also, since we’re on the topic, did COVID have an effect on Lane’s evolution?

Probably not—our song writing process is pretty solitary.

It’s also a pretty jazzy tune—not jazz, per se, of course, but I hear some jazzy chords in there. And scrolling through your Instagram feed, I saw a Wayne Shorter album. Is there a jazz influence working on your music? 

Yea it’s got the Oye Coma Va thing. I learned a little jazz when I was starting out and I think the modal approach to counterpoint stuck with me—if you’re in the right mode, every note is a chord tone, and if you have enough motion, you can work purely in terms of melody and not worry about chords. There are a million styles of music that work this way, but not a ton of rock for whatever reason.

And, of course, I’m looking at your track “Judy and Jackie” from the forthcoming album Receiver and noticing a Ramones influence as well. What draws you to their music?

They’re incredibly strange in spite of themselves. Supposedly 100% devoted to rock n roll just like you remember it, but with all this MAD magazine edginess. Also those chords are not as predictable as some would have you think.

And Wallace Stevens? 

Ask me another question about the Ramones. 

Meanwhile the tracks “Surfer Girl” and “Wonderful” aren’t covers, but they share titles with classic songs by the Beach Boys. What’s the story there?

Take a closer look at the lyrics. Who knows where the impulse for wordplay comes from, but one of things it’s good for is bringing clichés back to life.

What’s on the horizon?

We just started tracking the next record. If you live in Boston, you can hear the new tunes at the Receiver release show on May 11th at the Lily Pad.