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It’s a reunion tour, but please don’t call it a reunion tour. After going dormant for 20 years, violin-driven post-punk Pacific Northwest band The Intima will play shows this weekend in Olympia, Wash., and in Portland in advance of a Nov. 30 Los Angeles gig.
“Our approach is not to make a big ‘reunion’ deal out of it but just start playing again and see what happens,” says guitarist and vocalist Andrew Neerman.
What has already happened is that the Intima remixed and remastered their 2003 LP Peril and Panic and reissued it last month on L.A. label Post Present Medium. Neerman is pleasantly surprised by how politically prescient the album’s lyrics are, grappling with environmental issues and criticizing consumer culture and U.S. foreign policy. Sample eco-conscious lyrics from the song “From Exile:” “From exile we visit/a well-packaged attraction/air-conditioned detachment/the natural world/a package tour.”
“I felt far enough away from the music to be able to evaluate it,” Neerman says. “It’s kind of stood the test of time.”
The Intima started in Olympia in 1999. During their heyday, the band did two national tours and played with the likes of The Rapture and British punk band The Mekons. After two of the members moved to Portland, though, the Peril and Panic recording process was so challenging that it “sort of killed the band,” Neerman says.
These days, Neerman owns and operates the Portland record label Beacon Sound.
The Intima has welcomed a new violinist, Sam Klapper of the band Broken Crow.
“A year ago, we all got together and started jamming and it was so fun. Euphoric, in fact,” Neerman says. “And it was building since then.”
SEE IT: The Intima, with Collate and The Social Stomach, at Turn! Turn! Turn!, 8 NE Killingsworth St., 503-284-6019, turnturnturnpdx.com. 8 pm Saturday, Nov. 2. 21+.
