Though only 15 at the time, singer Alex Kandel knew she wanted to join guitarist Tony Smith’s garage-pop band Sleeper Agent the minute she saw the Bowling Green, Kentucky band play live. So she pestered the heck out of the guy, and two years later when he scratched his original line-up and was looking for a new singer, he knew Kandel was his go-to gal.

The band immediately started writing new songs and then recruited Jay Joyce (Cage the Elephant, the Whigs) to produce its thrilling debut, Celebracion, which comes out next month. After commencing with the snappy single “Get It Daddy,” a song that makes the group sound like a Southern-fried White Stripes, the album doesn’t have a dull moment on it. Its raw energy is seductive, especially when Kandel and Smith take to harmonizing over the thrashy garage pop melodies. After high profile tours with Cage the Elephant and Manchester Orchestra, the band is ready to hit the road hard in the fall in support of Celebracion. We talked to Kandel and Smith via cell phone from Bowling Green and they filled us in on the details of the upcoming release.

How did this band come together?

Tony: We had a different line up in 2008. It was just me and Justin the drummer in that line-up and after that dissolved, we were going to be a two-piece. I’ll let Alex pick up from here.
Alex: I pestered them. My first band opened up for them when I was 15, and I was about 17 when I begged Tony to let me play with them.

What do you have in common?

Tony: Alex is just a kid, and I’m a big kid in a 24-year-old’s body. I think we have similar natures in common.

What is the Bowling Green scene like and do you fit in?

Tony: I wouldn’t say we fit into too well. We haven’t been able to play here in a long time. The premiere spot is a bar and since Alex is so young, we haven’t had a chance to play there. The music scene is like Where’s Waldo? You keep looking for it. It’s predominantly house shows. We’ve had all-ages venues in the past, but they shut down after about six months. The kids don’t buy drinks and they don’t like paying to get into a local show.
Alex: I think there definitely is one. But it’s not like when you go to Austin or Nashville where there are good shows going on every single night. It’s an event when there’s a big show here, and it’s an even bigger event when it’s a good all-ages show. The fact that it is a struggle to get a following here makes it more of a challenge but at the same time, there are kids in high school that rise to the challenge.

How did you and Cage the Elephant become musical soulmates?

Tony: When I was a teenager, I had a different band and our band houses were right next to each other. We’d play each other demos and they’d ask us to open for them before they got their big record deal and before they even started touring very much. We kept in touch and just tried to one up each other’s songwriting.

What was the recording process. Given that this was your debut, how comfortable were you in the studio?

Alex: The first day in the studio, we were super nervous but after that, everything went awesome. Our producer Jay Joyce (Cage the Elephant, the Whigs) is like family to us now.
Tony: We knew we didn’t have much time. We were allotted 10 days and we worked out asses off and cranked them out. It came to 14 songs.

How did Jay help you get the sound you wanted?

Alex: He records everything live and isn’t too concerned about everything being overly perfect. If it feels good, you leave it. have gotten the chance to see other bands work in the studio and I can’t imagine working like that. It doesn’t feel as natural and as real and that’s why Jay was really good about making sure our songs have that feeling you get when you hear them live.
Tony: We did every song three or four songs and would just pick the best take. We’d have an overdub here or there, but it was all organic and natural. With the old line-up there was much more pressure to be bad ass or write about dark material. Once she joined, it was anything goes.

I see that the music has been described as southern fried soul punk. Talk about your backgrounds and influences.

Tony: It’s like when you’re from Kentucky, it comes naturally. As much as you try to cover it up, you’re just surrounded by this culture of Southern rock. Most of our influences come from lo-fi punk rockers like Jay Reatard and the Black Lips and goes as far back as ’50s pop music. Our bassist and our keyboardists are into really obscure, whiny folk music.
Alex: I think we all have different backgrounds. I have younger parents and I was raised to hate classic rock. I can remember my dad listening to Nirvana and Stone Temple Pilots and things like that. And mom was into pop music like the Ronnettes. Everyone else is into different things, as well. It all kind of mixes into whatever we do.

I like how a song like “Get It Daddy” is pretty noisy but still has a great melody. Talk about that balance.

Tony: We write these dark verses that are heavy and then go into a poppy, catchy chord. It seems to be working. I just think melody will never die.
Alex: I think we like contradictions, too.

I like the vocal melodies, too.

Tony: Our ranges are about the same, so I do most of the yelps and screams. A lot of times, I can’t hit the higher notes.
Alex: None of the vocal thing is planned. It’s just based on what I can actually do. I feel like when we’re in the studio, I come out 100 times better than when I walked in.

I take it the live show is really important. Talk about playing live and touring and how significant that is.

Alex: I love performing live. It’s the point where someone can really get it and see how we interact on stage and how fun it is. At the beginning, I was 17, and there were three of us. I was still living to perform and now I feel comfortable with stage presence. I try to push myself with it. I look up to [Cage the Elephant’s] Matt [Schultz] and how entertaining he is. Tony and I have this great opportunity to sing back and forth and interact with each other on stage.
Tony: You know how when you’re about to pass out and it gets dark around your eyes, if it gets to that point with me and I don’t pass out, I know it was a good show. It’s so non-stop, you never get a chance to breath. We feel antsy to get it all out. We’ve been toruing nationally since February but we didn’t really tour before that. This is the first real year of touring but we love being on the road.

Tour Dates

7/19 Toronto, ON Horseshoe
7/20 Montreal, QB Sala Rossa
7/22 Providence, RI Waterplace Park
7/23 Lancaster, PA Lizard Lounge
7/25 New York, NY Studio at Webster Hall
7/27 Asbury Park, NJ The Saint
7/28 Philadelphia, PA North Star Bar
7/29 Buffalo, NY Ninth Ward
7/30 Saratoga Springs, NY Putnam Den
7/31 Rochester, NY Scion’s Bonzai

-Jeff Niesel

Tags: Sleeper Agent