Though based in Buenos Aires, Weeper is an international affair. Lead Mary Craig (vocals, guitar) hails from Washington DC, while Agustina Perrotta (bass), Pali Guarnieri (drums) and José Sánchez (guitars) hail from various parts of Argentina including Zapala and Santa Fe. However, bonding over a mutual appreciation of the likes of Neil Young and Jaime Torres, the group soon formed a tight knit outfit. The self-titled Weeper album, out now via Ghost Mountain Records, shows off the fertile ground of such a relationship, offering a bilingual collection of songs that range from intimate folk to energetic, cathartic rock.
We introduced the record back in October with ‘De Algo Hay Que Morirse‘, a song about Craig’s habit of dreaming of accidently driving people to their doom which captures this spirit. “I used to drive people off of cliffs, bridges, etc to our deaths and wake up,” she describes. “When I dreamt the dream with my Argentine partner, he responded, ‘You have to die of something–De algo hay que morirse.'” As the song built from its gentle beginnings, it overcame the sense of loss and guilt. “I’m alive and I can’t believe my luck,” as Craig sings around the halfway mark, finding “a carefree joy in accepting her own mortality.”
‘Of Least Resistance’ follows a similar pattern. A song delivered half in English, half in Spanish where Weeper probe at the possibility of a freedom achieved via radical acceptance. The sense that a certain degree of surrender might encourage rather than limit agency. Allow one to shake free of the stifling attempt at control.
Working through such questions is central to the Weeper project. As though the camaraderie of the band members helps them extend a similar fondness and kindness to their selves. “I can’t seem to stop singing about being a friend to myself,” as Craig explains. “I have always been interested in what friendship is made of. As a band, Weeper has gotten to know itself through making this album—and like many bands, at the heart of what we do is a deep friendship.” The result is a tangible sense of trust and confidence which allows Weeper to push into difficult spaces—often within themselves. As highlighted on opener ‘Vipassana’, which confronts situations in which words perhaps fail, though music perhaps conveys what needs to be said.
[bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=1133866726 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small track=1185403641]
All of this is aided by Weeper’s willingness to move with such fluidity. Be that between folk and rock styles, upbeat and melancholic moods, or indeed English and Spanish lyrics. “Weeper is down to move and be moved,” as their bio puts it, capturing the diversity of their aims. If the goal of their songs is to explore what friendship is made of, then the answer seems to be a little bit of everything. The fun moments, the dark, the times they show up for you and you them, and even those occasions where things are less than perfect. “Friends aren’t good or bad,” Craig as sings on the reflective pop of ‘Hard Friend’, “you show them what you have / and you give the benefit / of your doubt when you can.”
[bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=1133866726 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small track=1391804417]
Weeper is out now via Ghost Mountain Records and available from Bandcamp.
