New-Wave Arcade

“White Girls” by the Bureau:

After meeting with three-fourths of St. Louis dance-rock outfit the Bureau at its central command center, one thing immediately becomes clear: These guys picked the right name. Their practice space is lined from floor to ceiling with boxes of files, old computer monitors and office furniture. You’d think the band was running some kind of covert spy ring; in reality, the Bureau shares space with a law firm.

The dossier-laden surroundings fit, though, because the Bureau’s debut full-length, We Make Plans in Secret, summons noirlike images instantly to mind, enhanced by distant, reverb-drenched guitar lines (think Interpol). Languishing melodies frame lyrical motifs of isolation and longing that touch on broad social issues in the metaphorical context of personal relationships. The result is a collection of 12 diverse songs dominated by Mike Cracchiolo’s dark, endlessly catchy bass lines and supported by heavy synth lines, high-velocity drumbeats and string accents.

Sitting at a giant, rectangular, mahogany conference-room table, Cracchiolo talked about the past year, the new record and the Bureau’s unabashed love for Steely Dan.

The Pitch: You recorded We Make Plans in Secret with Carl Amburn (Riddle of Steel, Traindodge), right?

Mike Cracchiolo: We recorded basic tracks at the end of August last year, so it’s been almost a year since we started with Carl. We tracked bass and drums in the orchestra room at Forest Park College. Then we came to what is now [St. Louis venue] the Bluebird when it was just vacant space and did guitars, keyboards and vocals. I guess now every time a guy takes a piss at the Bluebird, he can be safe in the knowledge that I recorded the vocal tracks for our album in there.

What reaction do you get to playing dance music in St. Louis?

It’s funny, I just had a conversation with a sound guy last night who was like, “The first couple times I mixed you, I just didn’t get it at all. I didn’t know what you were trying to do. And then the last time, it just clicked.” That could be an indication of how naïve we were starting out, because we wanted to write songs that could be dancey or synth-heavy or darker. And it really was a reaction to St. Louis, initially. We thought it would be fun to do something different, stuff that sounds like the Cure or Joy Division or whatever.

There’s a pretty wide range of styles on the album. There are uptempo, danceable tracks but also some rockers and a couple of melancholy ballads.

Well, I write in phases, and I always try to write a crop of songs that’s different from the ones that came before. For me, the postpunk time is so apt because this really is just more complicated punk rock. If I hear a band and it’s straightforward and uptempo … I mean, I’m not talking about bratty, screamy, punk-rock shit. I’m talking about stuff that’s a little smarter and more mature than that. That’s the stuff that gets me really excited, but by no means is it all that I listen to. And it all finds its way into the writing at some point. I mean, Jamie [Toon, keyboardist-guitarist] loves Steely Dan. I love Steely Dan.

We’ve heard rumors of some impromptu Steely Dan sing-alongs when you guys get together.

The way Jamie and I joined the band was that we worked at a comic-book store together, and between the two of us and our manager at the time, the place was basically like a nonstop rock opera. It was ridiculous. Like, parody lyrics to Rush and Queen and the Doobie Brothers constantly.

Well, you can’t really get any better than Michael McDonald sing-alongs, can you?

No, you really can’t.