Wild Light: Burning Bright

Hometown: Amherst, N.H.
Members: Seth Pittman, Jordan Alexander, Seth Kasper, Tim Kyle
Album: Adult Nights 
For Fans Of: Arcade Fire, The Shins, The Clash

The same night their old chums in Arcade Fire are guesting at a party for President Obama’s staff in Washington, D.C., New Hampshire quartet Wild Light is playing at the decidedly cozier Doug Fir Lounge in Portland, Ore., and you’d be hard-pressed to guess from their sweaty performance that the stakes are any lower.

In the hands of producer Rob Schnapf (Beck, Elliott Smith), Wild Light’s debut LP, Adult Nights, smoothes out the group’s punky edges by infusing its indie rock with a summertime sheen, resulting in sugar-coated gems like the impossibly catchy “California On My Mind.” But the quartet’s live act is another thing altogether. Shaggy where the album is controlled, Wild Light’s set betrays more of a debt to early R.E.M. than to any noteworthy power-pop forebears. “Yeah, we’re definitely rawer and more energetic live,” agrees frontman/guitarist Jordan Alexander, mopping his brow post-show. “It’s a different kind of experience than what you hear on the record.”

The musicians have known each other since high school, with Alexander, multi-instrumentalist Tim Kyle, multi-instrumentalist Seth Pitman and drummer Seth Kasper all hailing from the environs surrounding the little colonial town of Amherst. Alexander went on to attend the exclusive Phillips Exeter Academy and, in the process, befriended future Arcade Fire founder Win Butler.

“Win and I were roommates,” he says. “We used to write songs in our bedroom and record them on these weird little tapes. The first show we played live together was as a band called the Rolling Stones and, later, Willy Wanker and the Chocolate Factories,” he laughs. “Win’s an old friend, a really good person, and we’ve kind of stuck together over the years.” So much so that, when Arcade Fire was seeking an opening act for a tour a few years ago, Butler reached out to Alexander—and Wild Light’s first set of significant shows were scheduled.
 
“[The bands] have a lot in common in terms of what we love, melodies we both find beautiful,” Alexander finishes. “We all grew up together, probably influenced each other. It goes back to the beginning of what we all share.” Which is to say, musical roots but not a template for success: Wild Light is clearly capable of shining on its own.

Listen to Wild Light's "California on My Mind" from Adult Nights: