“We could get a van!” exclaims songwriter, guitarist and vocalist Ezra Baptist of the Ithaca-based “osteological alt-rock” group Wise Bones, in sharing his excitement at the prospect of going on tour. I had a sit-down with Wise Bones on a rainy Sunday afternoon at the WVBR house, just off West Campus. While the band isn’t going on tour just yet, they recently reached another milestone by releasing their debut EP, ATTIWS, on March 13. Describing themselves as an “alt-rock band of Cornell and Ithaca College students and Ithaca locals,” Wise Bones has been a familiar face in the area for about a year, performing at various venues in and around Ithaca.
Wise Bones’ origin lies with drummer Austin Lamb and vocalist/songwriter Ezra Baptist, both Ithaca locals, who were looking to start a band as early as a year ago. The summer prior, Austin had met bassist-to-be Donovan Redd while volunteering at the Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival, and reached out to him to lay the groundwork. “We started jamming, the three of us, and then we kind of wanted to find another member to add some guitar,” Austin explained. Then enters guitarist John Cannizzo, a grad student. “We went to another level with John,” Lamb elaborated. “We played as a four-piece for several months, then played a Fourth of July show across the street at Stuart Little Co-Op.” There, they met Myles Stokowski, a data engineer in Cornell’s Ornithology Lab, playing violin on the porch. “We were covering ‘Jesus, Etc.’ by Wilco, which has a little violin part, and we invited him to play with us,” Lamb added. Describing the set as “whimsical,” they stayed friends with Stokowski until he formally joined Wise Bones after the group’s Halloween show, also at Stuart Little Co-Op. Toward the end of last year, Ithaca College senior Noelle Cook joined the group as a vocalist, and Ithaca local and Smith College senior Louisa Miller-Out entered the mix as a cellist.
After a productive summer of jamming and performing live, Wise Bones was ready to branch out beyond the stage and bring their sound to listeners’ headphones; they were ready to record. Lamb, at this point a senior and in his final semester at Syracuse University, became friends with Liam Pashley, an aspiring producer. “We were looking for an affordable, but high quality producer, and it just kind of worked out.” After the semester ended, Wise Bones drove up to Syracuse to record with Pashley as their producer. Recording in the Syracuse area for much of this year to date, they wrapped up towards the end of February.
With a finished product set for release in mid-March, Wise Bones hit the ground running in promoting ATTIWS. They reached out to Electric Buffalo Records and Fanclub Collective, and were able to organize an EP release show at the co-op at 660 Stewart on March 13.
ATTIWS, an initialism for the title track, “All The Things I Wanna Say,” is a four-song release that samples the group’s alternative rock tilt, but isn’t married to it. It’s refreshing; you hear echoes of their ’90s forebearers, especially in “Neptune,” which sounds like a forgotten gem on a Better Than Ezra album. “Shadow on the Wall” brings a consistent folksy twang that’ll have you bouncing along to its ebbs and flows, and “Sweet Thing” is the next best thing to a Cranberries reunion you’ll get in a world without Dolores O’Riordan. The soft guitar that opens that track, the final on the EP, sobers you up to the depth Wise Bones can reach with its sound. The group’s favorite track, however, is “All The Things I Wanna Say.” When asked about the special significance of the song, the group described it as the epitome of their sound, and the best demonstration of it.
“You know, I feel like it features everything you want in a Wise Bones song,” Baptist said, quickly followed up by Redd describing it as “the most osteological!”
Indeed, considering osteology is the study of bones and the skeletal structure, “All The Things I Wanna Say” is the most osteological of their recorded tracks. It illuminates the structure of the group, and plays to each of its members’ respective strengths. The percussive baseline, courtesy of Lamb and Cannizzo, follows through the entire track. It doesn’t let up during Stokowski’s violin solo, nor does it waver in complementing Baptist and Cook’s vocals. “When we play shows, I feel like that’s the one that the audience wants. They’ll ask for it,” Baptist explained. It’s not hard to imagine why.
When asked about the roadmap for Wise Bones going forward, the group replied with humility, like they know it won’t last forever.
“Assuming we don’t get drafted — big assumption — we’re working on an album,” Stokowski says through the group’s giggling.
Expanding on that, Baptist noted that the album is going to include the four songs on the EP, plus eight or ten more. They’ll be recording with Pashley in Syracuse, once again. Other than their upcoming album, there’s not exactly a five-year plan set in place.
“We haven’t necessarily all talked about this as a band before. I mean, I would love to eventually go on tour and do this for a long time.” Gesturing to his bandmates, Baptist concludes, “I love playing with you guys.”
Wise Bones comes between school and work and life in general, and its members are cognizant of that. The transience of such a dynamic lifts the pressure off, and allows the group to focus on itself and its music in the now.
Alexander Walters is a member of the Class of 2028 in the College of Arts and Sciences. He is a contributor for the Arts & Culture department and can be reached at apw65@cornell.edu.
