A few weeks ago, Brooklyn based, funk-infused, psychedelic indie-dance pop legends Rubblebucket released a cover of The Moldy Peaches’ “Anyone Else But You.” The song — which opens with the line, “You’re a part time lover and a full time friend” — seems like the perfect fit for the group, whose core members, front persons, co-writers, and co-producers Kalmia Traver and Alex Toth first met two decades ago at the University of Vermont, became a couple, started releasing music as Rubblebucket in 2008, ended their romantic partnership by the time fifth LP Sun Machine dropped in 2018, and got back together as Rubblebucket (but not romantic partners) in 2022 for follow-up LP Earth Worship. And during a recent phone chat, Kalmia confirms that the song, indeed, felt ideal for the two musical life partners: “We thought that would be so perfect! We really connected with the lyrics and poetry of that song… with our tender, deep, loving friendship, and history as romantic partners… and Alex knew someone in The Moldy Peaches.”
I’m chatting with Traver from the road, with Rubblebucket a couple weeks into the Year Of The Banana Tour, named for the band’s seventh album, which dropped last October on Egghunt Records and has been getting tons of airplay on Y-Not Radio, the home of Philthy Radio. In fact, two of the LP’s tracks made Y-Not’s Top 224 of 2024, including third single, “Moving Without Touching,” which ranked as the 68th best song of the year. Traver tells me that particular track came about shortly after the band’s last tour (which had them playing our very own Brooklyn Bowl with our good buddies Lunar Vacation, who handled support duties): “For the first time, maybe ever, we did a lot of group improvisations with our live band. We just finished touring Earth Worship and had a lot of band synergy… That started from a groove that came from one of those improvisations.”
Traver admits that the group’s two latest releases represent something somewhat new and refreshing for Rubblebucket: “I think it’s evolved a lot. Alex and I have gotten way better at everything in terms of writing and recording and actually making the things that were in our heads [laughs].” She also tells me that they’re doing touring a bit differently these days: “This is our first sober tour, that we’ve done where we don’t have any alcohol on the rider or in the green room, and it feels pretty amazing.” Traver says that doing this for the better part of two decades has given her and Alex just as many insights about being on the road as about making the music itself: “Alex and I obviously are friends, and we’ve chosen our team members carefully… and they’re all reliable and good humans, which isn’t always the case… At this point, we’re very brave and methodical about every decision we make.”
According to Traver, crowds have been loving Rubblebucket’s latest sounds: “It’s been going amazing. It’s always a shock, even though I’ve been doing this for so long, to dive into this swirling pool of fans, to see all their amazing faces and awesome looks they’re coming in with, totally engaging with the lore!” This engagement includes audience members bringing thematic gifts for the group, which have recently included a broken boomerang (referenced in album track “Boomerang”) and a plush rattlesnake (inspired by the LP’s second single, “Rattlesnake”) that a fan made as their first-ever sewing project. “The community is 1,000% what keeps us excited about everything,” Traver enthusiastically proclaims.
This coming Thursday, February 6th, Rubblebucket will be coming to Underground Arts for the first time, but Traver tells me that fans can expect another one of the live spectacles that the band has become known for bringing to venues like Union Transfer, Johnny Brenda’s, and World Café Live so many times over the years: “We’ve got a lot of tricks up our sleeves, as usual!” And she makes sure to give credit to one particular contributor: “We have the best lighting engineer ever, Neil, who is actually the longest standing collaborator of me and Alex of anyone in the band. He’s been with us for 12 years, and he’s just getting more and more fantabulous on each tour. He designed our robot puppets, and we have an awesome set design and lights for this tour.” She also mentions that Rubblebucket will be looking a little different than on past tours: “We’ll be playing as a four-piece, because Sean is taking a leave of absence, so it’s the smallest ensemble we’ve ever toured with, but that gives us a little more room to run around [laughs].”
Joining Rubblebucket on these dates is Hannah Mohan, formerly of And The Kids, who will be providing support. “And The Kids was probably our favorite ever friend band. And the whole family’s gonna be there, because the other main member of And The Kids, Rebecca Lasaponaro, is Rubblebucket’s touring drummer,” Traver tells me. Mohan is actually a labelmate of Rubblebucket, on Egghunt Records, releasing her solo debut, Time Is A Walnut, last year, which I find out was actually produced by the other half of Rubblebucket: “Alex worked on that record with her! It was his first time producing for someone else, or helping another artist make their album… And he plays on in, you can hear Alex’s voice and trumpet on the album!”
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