But when the Cincinnati two-piece set out to perform this music together — in what can be somewhat pinned down with words like “experimental” or “metal stringcore” or “really loud rock” — neither Wakefield nor Caplan were consciously chasing a new, bizarre sound; it was just a natural product of their very peculiar, specific tastes.
Lung will be performing Dec. 6 at Yellow Cab Tavern, alongside Nick Kizirnis, Nervous Verbs (Mike Montgomery’s solo project) and Wujeria.
The show will also be an opening for Mike and Colin Montgomery’s father-son art, “Eye Goop: Consensual Warble.”
Caplan was formerly the bassist for Foxy Shazam, a rock band out of Cincinnati. When the band took a hiatus, he had opportunities to play bass in other bands. But he describes himself as more of a creative driver, an active participant in the songwriting process.
“I felt like I hit the end of the line with where I was at with playing music with notes,” Caplan said. “Rhythm was more interesting to me, so I explored that.”
He started playing drums less than a year before Lung’s inception in 2016. By that same token, Wakefield veered away from the conventional track most classically-trained musicians in that position would take — the orchestra, quartets, etc. — and decided to plug her instrument into distortion pedals, big amps and loopers.
“We’re both people who kind of had a different vision of what should happen,” Caplan said. “You build your vision with the parts that made you. Playing cello as a kid and being an opera singer, she put those things together in a different order and came up with what we have.”
Caplan plays vintage North Drums, a brand of horn-shaped fiberglass and polystyrene drums created by Roger North, first seen at Woodstock. The kit has a Dr. Seuss-like quality, with the bottoms bowed out and bent like the elbow pieces of PVC pipe, pointed straight toward the audience’s ears. There are no heads on the bottom, which give the drums very little tone and a lot of attack, meaning the drums are so loud they can easily compete with Marshall stacks, acoustically.
Wakefield’s electric cello — white, with the skeletal outline of an acoustic cello whose body isn’t filled in — projects a far richer sound than a guitar or bass could on their own; its throaty strings carry a natural weight. Caplan’s North Drums complement the cello with sharp, percussive hits rather than long vibrations.
Lung’s fourth album, “The Swankeeper,” dropped in May. Released on Feel It Records, the latest release retains the band’s innovative status with sinister undertones, a fierceness on the level of metal, and a dissonance that keeps you intrigued and wondering what’s next.
Caplan says much of the economic structures of the songs come from him, whereas the feel of the songs is mostly on Wakefield.
“Kate is really trained in some things, and I’ve been in a rock band forever,” Caplan said. “We kind of naturally fit into where each other’s strengths and weaknesses are and fill in the gaps. Not having everything in the world in common musically helps with that a lot.”
Lung challenges the idea of what a two-piece can pull off live, but the albums and the shows are two separate entities. While aspects of the studio sessions, like some harmonies, can’t be recreated on stage, Lung is fine with the different experiences — like books versus movies.
Lung’s classical influences mixed with the heaviness of rock is not all that strange — metal can be complex, classical can be heavy; there are rhythmic and melodic overlaps between the two genres — not that Wakefield or Caplan set out to find that bizarre sound anyway.
It was just a natural product of their very peculiar, specific tastes.
When asked where the duo gets the biggest response, after over 800 shows in the US and Europe, Caplan said: “Dayton. Duh. Dayton is literally one of our favorite places on earth to play.”
Brandon Berry covers the music and arts scene in Dayton and Southwest Ohio. Reach him at branberry100@gmail.com.
HOW TO GO
What: Lung, with Nick Kizirnis, Nervous Verbs and Wujeria
When: 8 p.m. Dec. 6
Where: Yellow Cab Tavern, 700 E. 4th St., Dayton
Cost: $10
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