With Orbits, Toby Reif (the Sidekicks) and Maxwell Stern (Signals Midwest, Timeshares, Meridian) expand upon the music they explored with their previous bands. And yet, Orbits’ densely layered vocals, down-tuned guitars, synthesizers, and odd timings position the record as “a unique vessel for exploring ideas well outside the realm of their past output,” as it’s put in a press release.
Drummers Adam Beck (Into It. Over It., Sincere Engineer) and Eric Slick (Dr. Dog, Waxahatchee) share percussion duties with Reif, who handled programming.
The remote aspect of writing and recording for Orbits was a natural fit for Reif and Stern considering that the two first met on a music forum in 2006, sharing tracks from their high school bands via Mediafire links and burned CDs. Their music careers began in parallel, with Reif booking shows from his dorm room in Bellingham, WA, and Stern touring from his native Cleveland.
It wasn’t until two years ago, with Stern living in Philadelphia and Reif finding
himself in Cleveland, that the two began writing together. They released their first music as Orbits, the Rising Tide in the Spirit Room EP, on New Year’s Day 2021.
“The songs on Fever Museum are the culmination of a year and a half of musical what-if’s and why-not’s,” reads a press release. “Orbits’s inception as a vessel for misfit and leftover ideas from other projects allows for moments such as the Cars-inspired chorus of ‘Veil’ or the ‘what if the Tokens sang backing vocals for Chavez?’ bridge of ‘Back from the Lake’ to shine with equal footing.”
Reif and Stern would like to book some live dates, but no shows are currently planned.
This article appears in Jul 27 – Aug 9, 2022.
