We Made The Bright Light Social Hour Fill Out Our OkCupid-cribbed Dating Questionnaire

The Bright Light Social Hour, left to right: Edward, Jack (sitting), Joseph, Curtis. Also pictured: Hair.

Is it me or do psychedelic pop wig-outs make you think of summer, and desert plains, and bonfires and lying prostrate staring at the stars, too? As I write this it’s a lamentably moist, grey, marrow-chilling day in New York, but The Bright Light Social Hour's second record, Space Is Still the Place—their first in five years—is trying its hardest to pull the listener out of the armpit of winter and into warmer climes. There's just something in the Austin quartet's stomp and tamborine jangle, echoed vocals and limber grooves that's very transportive. "Dreamlove" revels in an immersive motorik groove, while "Aperture" utilizes reverb in a such a way as to make you feel like you're floating off to a galaxy far, far away. A galaxy where everyone smells like patchouli.

From this picture I'm not completely convinced that the band don't contain cloned versions of Kim Thayil and Chris Cornell (circa 1992), but anyway, they were kind enough to answer our silly questions about life, love, and their favorite things, This Modern Love. Their answers are by turns droll, wry, and intriguing and if nothing else, a reminder that everyone should watch Sex and Lucia (again). The band are currently touring America, so if you like what you hear below, you can always use the knowledge they drop in this questionnaire as the basis for an engaging conversation with them after the show. There's a whole range of topics explored so you can come up with something a bit better than, "Woah, you guys were great."

Noisey: Always here to help.

Age/Sex/Location:
Jack: 29 / Male / Pensacola today.
Curtis: 31 / Male / Vaniel Day Lewis.
Joseph: 26 / Male / Austin.
Edward: 27 / Male / 30.2500 N, 97.7500 W.

My self-summary:
Jack: Lover / dreamer/ maker / booty.
Curtis: I seek future living, transformative art, empathy, the cosmos, democracy, beautiful sound, and a better three-point shot.
Joseph: I make sounds as a way of dealing with having to exist.
Edward: Love all. What I’m doing with my life:
Jack: Spreading love, finding truth, embracing suffering.
Curtis: I play guitar, sing, write songs, record, and tour in a rock band.
Joseph: Writing, recording and playing several minute long combinations of sounds with intent to survive through those actions. More immediately: responding to the question asked of creating a dating profile on a popular music site with a process of letting you know about this band and garnering affection through revealing personal traits existing as entertainment to ease the malaise of passing through time, getting page views which gives ad revenue to this site to keep their staff alive and paid enough to survive and keep doing the cool things they want to do with their lives. [How very meta – Ed.] Also Adventure Time.
Edward: Creating a sonic autobiography. I’m really good at:
Jack: Making tacos and coming up with movie ideas involving frogs on breasts in space.
Curtis: I’m really good at: driving in Vaniel Day Lewis, our tour van.
Joseph: Hitting wooden and metal circles mostly at the same time with a couple of limbs over and over, obsessing over whether being alive is ultimately awesome or only just OK.
Edward: High-fives, hugs, and listening. The first things people usually notice about me are:
Jack: Hair, warmth.
Curtis: Looking a bit like a stoner version of Euro-centric Jesus; beard, glasses
Joseph: Hair, a human form, appearing stoned and / or supremely deprived of serotonin regardless of actual internal reality, any of the other symbols of a nature being projected through external appearance / actions. Edward: Looks like Steve Aoki, Dave Grohl or Carl Cox. Favorite books:
Jack: Slaughterhouse Five, Cuestión de Amor Propio, Mexico Lonely Planet Guide.
Curtis: Dune, Cormac McCarthy, Kundera. García-Márquez, lots of political and economic non-fiction.
Joseph: Compulsive Beauty, Difference & Repetition, Adventure Time: Marceline & The Scream Queens.
Edward: Currently, Quantum Psychology and The Secret Teachings of All Ages.

Favorite movies:
Jack: Sex and Lucia, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, dark foreign comedies about forbidden love and sexual awakening featuring a strong female lead, according to Netflix.
Curtis: Alien, 2001, Holy Mountain, Jodorowsky’s Dune, comedies.
Joseph: Breathless, The Dance of Reality, Jodorowski's Dune, Rushmore, The Science of Sleep.
Edward: Nolan, Anderson, Bong Joon-Ho. Or anything that pulls you out of your head and into the universe you're watching.

Favorite music:
Jack: “Halleluwah” by Can.
Curtis: Marvin Gaye, Kanye West, D’Angelo, Kendrick Lamar, The Beatles, J Dilla, The Flaming Lips.
Joseph: Holydrug Couple, Leon Vynehall, the entire Night Slugs record label crew, Tame Impala, Trikk, Kink, Silk Rhodes, Broadcast, Coltrane, Melody's Echo Chamber, Ghost Culture.
Edward: Bach, Beatles, Battlestar Galactica. Favorite TV shows:
Jack: Sanford & Son.
Curtis: Broad City, Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones.
Joseph: Adventure Time, Black Mirror, Bee and Puppycat, Broad City, Review, Tatami Galaxy.
Edward: Currently, The Sopranos, Danger 5, Broad City, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, GOT, The Wire, Archer.

Favorite Food:
Jack: HAMBURGERS.
Curtis: Anything prepared with consideration, love, or insight.eternal love for the tacos and barbecue of my birthright.
Joseph: Nigiri or tacos. Chocolate croissant.
Edward: Any home cooked meal.

Six things I could never do without:
Jack: Jalapeños, rhythm, friendship, swimmable bodies of water, the moon, booty-emancipating, mind-bending, heart-swelling music.
Curtis: Telecaster, vegetables, sparkling water, nearly-impossible dreams, time to myself, singing.
Joseph: Saturation, rhythm, Deleuze's writing, recording studios, leftists that actually get bills passed, Princess Bubblegum's sense of ethics.
Edward: Family, friends, showers, my toothbrush, writing, and alone time to recharge my social batteries. The most private thing I’m willing to admit is:
Jack: I’m not not pooping right now.
Curtis: I live with my parents right now.
Joseph: Existence is terrifying.
Edward: I'm not Steve Aoki.

On a typical Friday night I am:
Jack: hugging an Uber driver goodbye.
Curtis: not at my parents’ house.
Joseph: In the studio feeling that making music is preferable to being outside.
Edward: Stackin ‘millions. You should message me if:
Jack: You like it slow.
Curtis: You’re not my parents.
Joseph: Consciousness is weird, real life is boring, ego death is cool, sincerity is the new irony, you would destroy me, and making things is all that matters. Or you're literally BMO.
Edward: You are Curt's parents.

Spring Tour Dates:

4/10 Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right

4/11 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East (Upstairs)

4/12 Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground Showcase Lounge

4/14 Montreal, QC @ Quai Des Brumes

4/15 Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern

4/16 Grand Rapids, MI @ Founders Brewing Co

4/17 Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle

4/18 Cincinnati, OH @ The Woodward Theatre

4/19 St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway Nightclub

4/21 Nashville, TN @ The Stone Fox

4/22 Little Rock, AR @ Revolution Music Room

4/23 Tulsa, OK @ Vanguard

4/28 El Paso, TX @ Lowbrow Palace

4/29 Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar

4/30 San Diego, CA @ The Hideout

5/1 Los Angeles, CA @ Bootleg HIFI

5/2 Costa Mesa, CA @ The Wayfarer

5/3 San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel

5/5 Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios

5/6 Vancouver, BC @ Media Club

5/8 Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern

5/9 Spokane, WA @ The Bartlett

5/10 Boise, ID @ Neurolux

5/12 Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court

5/13 Denver, CO @ Bluebird

5/15 Dallas, TX @ The Kessler Theater

5/16 San Antonio, TX @ Jack’s Patio Bar

6/6-7 Houston, TX @ Free Press Summer Festival

Space Is Still the Place is out now on French Kiss Records.

Kim Taylor Bennett is waiting for the sun. She's on Twitter.