GETTING IT DONE. Do It Yourself Daisy features Nick Arnold on guitar, Trevor Kupfer on drums, and a band name telling the Daisys of the world to man up.

Like the diminutive mutant in Dario Argento’s Phenomena, his cleft and maggot flecked visage snapping at the air as he runs a length of pier with a spear set to skewer, Do It Yourself Daisy’s debut drops some serious dis-ease on listeners. I should have seen it coming: an album cover depicting a daisy on fire, the unnerving head of a bee staring squarely at me as I popped in the disc, and opener Something’s Goin’ On Here deceptively moving from susurration to storm without even a sardonic wink. Good thing the album entire is a whole lot of hell rockin’ fun, too.

Nick Arnold (lead vocals/guitar) and Trevor Kupfer (drums/vocals) exchange conspiratorial grins following my reaction. “That was our intention: something sweet, something menacing,” says Nick.

The album’s construction hearkens back to the days of vinyl, where sides A and B built up tension before release and resetting again. Each song is distinct from its predecessor, yet startlingly cohesive.

It is that vision of the world which makes for some entertainingly idiosyncratic rock. With 10 tracks in 25 unrelenting minutes, the duo moves from the Sub Pop sludge of The Carpenter to the pop melancholia (a la Frank Black) of Nothing is Left to the swampy Ry Cooder-like slide of Box of Light, the album’s construction hearkening back to the days of vinyl, where sides A and B built up tension before release and resetting again. Each song is distinct from its predecessor, yet startlingly cohesive, and short. “2:22 is the perfect song length: verse, chorus, bridge, done,” argues Nick.

“Each song has its own energy. Live, we have to intersperse covers or our arms would fall off,” smiles Trevor.

An endearing quality of DIY Daisy is the decidedly iconoclastic attitude with which they approach all aspects of their craft. Lyrics are often random, “nonsensical.” Track 4, Magnets, was “written using fridge poetry.” Throughout the album, recorded by the ubiquitous Jaime Hansen, you can hear the duo candidly talking as feedback shivers to a halt, reminding this writer of Finnish fiends Vordr. “We wanted a live feel, like the Pixie’s Come On Pilgrim,” explains Nick.

 

Nick Arnold, singing and playing the
guitar. Simultaneously.

“It was a natural reaction to so many of today’s overproduced albums,” adds Trevor.

In further defiance of propriety, DIY Daisy has consciously placed itself on eclectic bills, often engendering an initial head scratch from a bemused audience. Their inaugural gig saw them share the stage with crossover metal bastards Defenestrator. “The support from metal fans has been phenomenal,” says Nick.

“We appeal to many genres. But I think our dark/dirty sound, in particular, is appealing to the metal crowd and they continue to show up and support us,” offers Trevor.

They have also played alongside Farms, Gentle Guest, and Dead Dogs. “We are very much contrarians,” relishes Nick.

“There is no other band quite like us. If there was, we wouldn’t exist,” agrees Trevor.

Which brings me, finally, to that most nagging of questions, why Do It Yourself Daisy? “With a name like ours, you just have to check it out,” says Trevor.

“We definitely embody the ideals of DIY, but the name is also ambiguous,” adds Nick.

And that ambiguity is what makes DIY Daisy a dangerous band (as all good rock ’n roll should be), like the hobo behind the chain link fence who watched us play during recess on the Catholic school playground before the nuns shooed him away. The mysterious and the minacious co-mingle. In the end, though, it’s probably harmless. Probably.

Do It Yourself Daisy CD Release + The Heart Pills • March 26, 2011 • The Mousetrap, 311 S Barstow St., Eau Claire • 10pm • FREE (CDs $8) • ages 21+