FULL BAND, NICE SONGS

The five — Michael, Gabe, Charlie, Dave and Jonn — agreed to play as a band. Having already graduated from college, Dave and Michael began meeting at Dave's soon after for evening sessions, so as to help prepare for the first practice with the other three in March.

There was a necessary irony in those get-togethers, five years after an electronic and otherworldly start: "It was an encyclopedia entry for 'back to the basics.' Here we were, Dave and myself, sitting on stools with guitars in our arms, improvising."