Noah Levine

The U.S. countryside is starting to look pretty familiar to the guys from Fujiya & Miyagi. "I’ve come to the States more than I’ve visited my mum," jokes singer/guitarist David Best. But he and bandmates Steve Lewis and Matt Hainsby are making their fourth trip to the States in the last seven months.

The incongruously named British Krautrock revivalists are riding the wave of attention they earned in the last year since the release of their debut disc "Transparent Things." They’ve been on the road with few breaks since quitting their jobs in February, but the Brighton band’s been around since 2000, and Best says they’re all amazed at the places they’ve visited recently.

The crowds getting down to F&M’s mix of glossy synths, rubbery basslines and clever lyrics have grown this year and the band just wrapped up a summer playing the festival circuit on both sides of the Atlantic. While he likes the relaxed atmosphere of playing outdoors in the daytime, Best is ready to return to the dark confines of playing clubs.

"Inside you can’t see people walk out," Best says, again with a laugh.

F&M’s tour schedule keeps them busy into December, but after that, they’re setting aside three months to record a new album they hope to release next year. Some of the new material is already written and the band’s new directions are constantly being refined on stage.

"When you play them you get to find out the bits that work and those that don’t," Best says. "We’re really wary of repeating ourselves."

There’s some new directions being tried as he describes one new song as an R&B number, but that could all change by the time F&M is done recording everything. The band doesn’t want to repeat themselves and songs tend to come out of the studio sounding different than when they came in.

"When we first did ‘Collarbone' it was much slower, sort of an Aphex Twin beat and [when] we listen back now it sounds awful," Best says. "We try not to do the same thing each time."

Fujiya & Miyagi plays October 5 at Empty Bottle, 1035 North Western, (773)276-3600, at 10pm. $12.

(2007-10-02)

Also by Noah Levine

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