Radical Dads

Proving indie rock is alive and well and living in an apartment building in Brooklyn, Radical Dads is a three-piece outfit whose wiry, angular melodies and muscular performances recall the glory days of '90s alternative rock, but with the canny perspective of musicians who lived through the era and never tired of the music. Musicians Lindsay Baker (vocals and guitar), Chris Diken (guitar), and Robbie Guertin (drums and vocals) met one another when they were attending college on the East Coast in the '90s, and discovered they shared similar tastes in music, lionizing bands like Yo La Tengo, the Pixies, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., and Pavement. Baker and Diken played with a variety of bands, while Guertin became an indie star as a member of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. In time, Guertin landed a side gig playing with the nine-piece ensemble Uninhabitable Mansions, which also featured Baker and Diken, and the three decided they wanted to make music in a smaller and simpler format. (It didn't hurt that Baker and Diken were married, and had an apartment in the same building where Guertin was living.) By 2008, the three had formed Radical Dads, and in 2010, they released their first 7" single, "Recklessness" b/w "I Am the Father of Myself." 2011 brought the group's first full-length album, Mega Rama, as well as another single, "Skateboard Bulldog" b/w "Know It All." In 2012, Guertin announced he'd left Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and Radical Dads became his primary musical project. 2013 saw new recording activity from the band as they issued their third 7", "Creature Out" b/w "Slammer," and their second album, Rapid Reality. Radical Dads embraced their commitment to the technology of the '90s by releasing a limited-edition EP on cassette, Cassette Brain; the title track also popped up on the band's fourth album, 2015's Universal Coolers.