Seattle Subsonic

Past Lives In-Store At The New Sonic Boom

February 24th, 2010

I went down to the new Sonic Boom on Melrose Avenue for the first time Tuesday night to a) check out the new Sonic Boom, b) pick up a copy of Tapestry of Webs and c) watch a live performance from Past Lives. Success on all three fronts. (I even picked up a few other albums. Yay.)

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First, the store: it’s pretty nice and spacious. But it’s a record store, so nothing special; just rows upon rows of CD and vinyl racks (the vinyl area, btw, is much larger than what they had at the old 15th Avenue location). The performance area is rudimentary, but no less effective. And it’s high up so the band’s feet are basically at eye level—good for swarms of people. The lighting is a bit poor, with a large hanging fixture right where most frontmen/women would have their face. Owner Jason Hughes astutely turned it off mid-way through the set. Now they just need some mood lighting of some sort. Neon signs? Strings of lights? The possibilities are endless.

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Second, the band: I don’t have to tell you these guys were spot on (they were). It’s how they roll and their maturation as a cohesive unit has been pleasing to watch over the last few years. Past Lives, who tread adroitly in uncommon groovy art-punk, are easily one of the most exciting local bands around (FWIW, Pitchfork recently gave Tapestry an admirable 7.5 rating). Watching them play, I was struck by this realization: they remind me of TV on the Radio. More stylistically than sonically, but the similarities are there. Both bands have an experimental nature to their music; both bands have a unique lead vocalist who often keeps one arm contorted somehow while performing; both bands have a thick-bearded guitarist contributing high-register backup vocals; and both bands have a dexterous drummer with a hip-hop style. What’s this mean? Not much, I just thought it interesting.

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They played “the hits”, if you will, from the new album: “Past Lives”, “Hospital White”, “Vanishing Twin”, “Paralyzer”, and “Hex Takes Hold”. Below is a video for “Vanishing Twin”:

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Don’t forget, you can stream the whole album on pastliveslife.com.