Welks Mice — the duo comprised of Max Weiss on vocals and Andre Welks-Fabretti on vibraphone — first dropped their debut LP, ‘Songs in C,’ which introduced the world to the band’s very unique sound, back in 2018.
It’s taken six years for the band to follow up that effort. But in promoting their sophomore album “Blub Blub” during a recent show at Milkie’s as part of the Lavender Room’s Muppet Chosen Family Holiday Party, Welks Mice proved the wait was well worth it.
The songs on “Blub Blub” take a step away from the anxiety and angst heard on “Songs in C.” Noting the influence of DIY songwriters who Weiss said have “saved my life at a really crucial time,” he said the new songs take on a positive and hopeful tone.
He noted, too, the music is much more “stream of consciousness … and more cohesive” as well, as the songs were constructed collaboratively rather than with him writing every part himself.
The origins of Welks Mice reach back many years.
Weiss and Welks-Fabretti — who spoke with 1120 Press at Milkie’s where they were joined for their performance by Katie Weissman on cello — met at the University of Vermont where a lo-fi pop scene was springing up. After a long, convoluted journey, the two ended up in Buffalo.
“Max was a few years behind me,” Welks-Fabretti said. “He and a bunch of his friends started a basement venue, and I was in a band that was a regular act. We played every show they had.”
When Weiss moved back to Buffalo, he would tell other musicians about how the city was the perfect place to stop on their way to the Midwest. Andre, a Vermont native, not only stopped in the Queen City as Weiss suggested, he decided to relocate here.
Though they lived together, they did not collaborate right away. Then one day, Welks-Fabretti offered to play keyboards on a song — an offer that eventually led to the use of a vibraphone instead.
“I had never been in a band with anybody who was classically trained,” Weiss said, referring to Andre’s background. “Every band I had ever been in made music seem so fucking hard. Nobody had muscle memory or any of that.”
On “Blub Blub,” the band pushes its music to heights of technical brilliance and
diversity. They even have a “guitar” song on which Weiss maps out the feeling of living in Nashville where he was working on being a songwriter full time.
Not that the band is looking to go country.
“I think there’s been a big revolution in the last 20 years of songwriting… where songwriting is more long-form, (with) less structure and more groove oriented,” Weiss said. “I feel like we react to that. We kind of roll with it.”
Said Welks-Fabretti: “It’s a very niche thing,”
You can follow Welks Mice on their socials HERE as well as at their Bandcamp page and Spotify.
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