Author Archive
Of sugar, sap and pap - The Little Ones, Chop Suey 11/10
Alright–so pap is a bit harsh, and none of these bands were deserving of such a off-handed dismissal. But I came to this show anticipating an evening of upbeat sugary pop, and through no fault of my own I really wasn’t in the right frame of mind for any of it. So out of fairness to the bands and in hopes of staying awake, I brought with me the only antidote guaranteed to keep me in the there and then…leftover Halloween candy. Not the rare treat of Bottlecaps, or the always gobbled Butterfingers. No, these were the leftovers. These were the trick-or-treat rejects. Not a chocolate or gum among ‘em. The uninteresting Smarties, the uninspiring Nerds, and the generic unbranded candy-corn taffy. Unloved, and untouched in the bowl on the counter. A week past Halloween and still waiting to be asked to the big dance. These candies were the fat-kids and uncoordinated geeks that get chosen last for a team. And somewhere within this bad-analogy paragraph are all the elements and personalities displayed at Chop Suey on this subdued Monday evening.
.
Being not exactly full of vim & vigor, I grabbed a handful of candy on my way out the door to the show. I wasn’t selective. Just a few crinkly packages of brightly colored, far from naturally-flavored corn-syrup confections. I figured, I’ll pop a few of these during each band’s set, and that way I should not only make it to the end of the evening, but I might even get enough gas to get my ass movin’ to the grooves. I even laid off the obligatory social-lubricant libations. I was on dead set on finding candyland.
.
Did I ever find it. But it was more chutes and ladders than visions of sugarplums. I don’t eat a lot of candy, but I don’t go out of my way to avoid it. And there’s always a bowl full at work. But I can’t remember the last time I got a full-on sugar buzz goin’. The candies didn’t last more than midway through the second band, and I was already flying high by the end of the first band’s set. And as the night wore on, it became clear to me why sugar isn’t my drug of choice. Sugar, and candy specifically, have their appeal. But with the rush comes the crash, and after that you’re left just as unsatisfied as before you had it. As the first band schlepped their gear off the stage, I found myself no longer craving energy and instead wondering if I’d be able to get to sleep that night.
.
Apparently the crowd didn’t get the same idea or buzz I had. Maybe it was the 6 day hangover from election night elation, but the crowd seemed either a bit reserved or a bit lethargic. Chalk it up to a Monday, but there were a lot of wallflowers in attendance this night. Maybe they were waiting for someone to ask them to dance?
Read the rest of this entry »
Not enough ‘Liars’ in your life, join ‘the Club’
This is a public service announcement for fans of The Liars Club – upcoming shows:
- Tues 9/16 @ The Rendezvous Jewel Box
- Weds 9/24 @ High Dive 9/24 w/Autolite Strike and Pelvis
- Thurs 10/30 at The Bit Saloon w/9lb Beaver and Sister Hyde.
One can never have enough lyin’ sons-a-bitches in their life!
Bon Iver show @ Neumos 8/30/08
Just as with the Raconteurs show at Neumos a few months back, this show featured top-notch artists at their peak playing ‘you- shoulda- been- there’ sets. The sound was great, the energy was better and the crowd was enrapt.
.
Night Canopy (AKA Amy Blaschke) was up first, and Amy more than held up her end of the bargain in performing her songs without benefit of backing musicians. This is always my worry with acoustic and/or folky bands whose recorded music features multiple contributors and layers of instrumentation and production–how are they gonna pull it off live with or without a band? Amy single-handedly nailed it.
.
Night Canopy covers a lot of ground, with vocals ala Chan Marshall & Neko Case, drawing on song structures reminiscent of The Beach Boys, Blondie and even Jesse Sykes, and the home demos sound as if Amy’s backed up by The Shins. No easy trick–and even tougher to reproduce live with just a guitar and one voice. Amy delivered, and she’s definitely a local artist deserving of a listen and a live look. Check out her MySpace to see if you disagree with my assessment (go ahead, disagree–I can take it).
.
Next up was ‘Gus’ AA Bondy. Here was a confident, skilled performer playing songs which are not exactly ‘disposable pop fluff’. You never know how well a relatively-unknown-’round-here edgy, gritty & witty performer will come across to nicey-nice Seattleites. That’s where song craft and performance chops separate the men from the boys. Gus quickly dispensed with the awkward formalities, launching into a compelling set playing a flawless finger-picking style, with a commanding delivery that brought to mind the vocals of Ray LaMontagne, the hooks of Velvet Underground, and the storytelling of Cash and Cohen. Bondy quickly drew the respect of the crowd and when he exhorted the entire Bon Iver band to join him onstage for his last song, “American Hearts”, he truly won over the hearts of all in attendance. I urge you to give him a listen here http://www.myspace.com/aabondy
.
Bon Iver emerged after a short intermission and made quick work of introducing themselves, sharing that this was the end of the tour, and that they were psyched to play and give it their all. And that they very much did. If you don’t know BI’s “For Emma, Forever Ago”, you owe it to yourself to give it a spin. And don’t just give it a half-ass song or two. This album is a cohesive work from start to finish. Justin Vernon’s vocal style is not for everyone, and yet it so perfectly communicates the moods of the album. Bon Iver are now more than just Justin and an album of multi-tracked vocals. They are now a full-fledged band, and one hell of a band at that. They somehow managed to produce the vast majority of the bells and honks and string washes and clangs and everything else that is intertwined within the songs of “For Emma”–and short of backing up Gerald McBoingBoing, I don’t know if they could’ve done more to faithfully reproduce one of last year’s most underappreciated albums. And they did it all while being funny, warm, even dorky at times. They’re extremely likeable, and they rocked the house. It’s not often I would find myself wanting to hear more of 4 guys singing harmony together–it’s just not what turns my crank–but these guys and these songs are so good at their essence, that I found myself amazed and entranced and clapping wildly for more. Justin told us this was the greatest tour and time of his life, and that it would not be the last. Judging by everything we saw this night, there can be no doubt about that.
.
P.S. Bon Iver will be on Conan this week (not sure when, so watch for it).
.
An outstanding night at Neumos, and a sort of triumph to see that even during the height of the mighty Bumbershoot, three folksy bands could pack the house and tear it down in such a memorable way.
Bon Iver, Night Canopy & AA Bondy @ Neumos
Greetings and “good winter” from Bon Iver (’bone eevair’ in Americanese), Night Canopy and AA Bondy. Here’s a short-notice heads-up on a great show taking place at Neumos tonight.
I fell in love with Bon Iver (AKA Justin Vernon) when my wife brought home “For Emma, Forever Ago” after hearing it on KEXP. Whether you take it song by song or listen to the album as a whole–and no matter where you or your head is at–you’re gonna be transported into a strange but comforting place where the heart is both breaking and hopeful and the mood is parts withdrawn and triumphant. The album has texture and depth and layers of instrumentation buried so subtly that you want to keep listening so you can begin to peel them back while you feel your way into the warm darkness within. If you can’t make the show, I recommend the album highly. And the story behind the recordings makes it all the more intriguing. Check it out and see for yourself.
The opening acts, Night Canopy and AA Bondy are also really intriguing. I researched them after seeing the acts on the playbill, and I was really impressed with both artists’ songs and sound. Should be a nice complement to a night that will no doubt run the gamut of emotions and dynamics.
Bon Iver, Night Canopy, AA Bondy - $12 @ Neumos, doors open at 8pm.
A Club of Their Own? A Bit of Liars Club + Free EP
Went and saw The Liars Club Saturday night at The Bit Saloon. Perfect place to see them. Seemed like their kind of crowd.
-
Interesting night all around…Monty Python references abounded–from the ‘Spam’ door stamp, to the “I Fart in Your General Direction” t-shirt the bartender wore. Didn’t help that my buddy and I had just randomly seen the Spam sketch prior to heading out that night. Was it predisposition or preordained?–I’ll never tell.
-
I must admit, I didn’t catch much more than peripheral audio from opening band, Pablo Trucker–not an indictment of their music, it’s just that I happened to be playing the world’s longest game of “Elvira” pinball ever. Won’t bore you with the details, but suffice to say The Bit’s table ain’t quite right.
-
I was pleasantly surprised by the unassuming Seeing Blind. They had energy, something very unique to offer, and even though their tunes weren’t really my thing the crowd seemed to be enjoying themselves. I mean they have a cellist, fer chrissakes! And her contributions were no gimmicky afterthought. Overall, quirky, skillful, arty stuff without putting on arty attitude. Check ‘em out if you like your rock infused with a bit of jazz and an odd quasi-mix of Throwing Muses, Jeff Buckley and Tori Amos. (Don’t blame them if the comparisons are off. Again, not my area of expertise).
-
Round about midnightish The Liars Club came on. Guitarist, Chris, had let me in on the prior night’s drama–Bassist, Alex, had either severely sprained and/or broken his left fretboard-fingering wrist. Thing was all swollen up and wrapped in a brace, but there he was–ingesting various suggested ‘pain-relievers’ and downing medicinal adult-libations. And at the volume The Liars Club played, I can honestly say I couldn’t tell if Alex was ‘on’ or ‘gone’. It was my first time seeing The Liars Club live, and I gotta say they did not disappoint. Sufficiently loud, sufficiently energetic (especially with newish drummer, Steve), and sufficiently polite (singer K.C praised a show-goer for his ‘metal-hair’). It’s true–dude was fully metal from the frizz halo around his Mustaine-do to the toes of his butt-rockin’ boots. The Liars Club weren’t dissin’ on him either–they were sincerely appreciative of his attendance and style. That about sums up their vibe that night. Happy to rock some faces, and makin’ the best of The Bit’s small space (K.C patrolled the crowd like a death-spiraling fish in a tank). I’ll give ‘em a Bronze, with most of the minus being a technical deduction for the apparent physical handicap. Nevertheless, they medal (or should I say ‘metal’)–and I’m pretty sure next time I see them they’ll stand taller on the podium. (and there will be a next time).
-
If there’s anyone out there who hasn’t heard The Liars Club’s latest efforts, I’d advise you to have a listen. Feel free to download the entire EP with the last link.
-
Wide Open Beaver
Wedgewood Hop
Trust Fund
Born on a Friday
-
Download Entire Liars Club EP
The Liars Club EP - ‘Go Forth and Wrend Assunder’ (sic)
I make it a point to listen to any new album or EP I buy, and sometimes the ones given to me, at least 10 times before expressing an opinion. The idea is to let the whole outweigh the individual experiential moments and to let a piece of music sink in.
-
Some albums take you in a note or two (typically a band you already love), and others grow on you later like a strangely familiar de ja vu or a delayed epiphany. I’ve come to love albums that at first did not grab me. I’ve also loved records or bands and listened them a lot, then I get burned out and they fade away. You can’t always go with your first instinct. But I trust music more than I trust most people, and I give it a wide birth to work its magic.
-
The Liars Club E.P. is all of 4 demos, but it’s got enough obvious strengths to rank in the 75th percentile of homespun bands. It’s good, better than many, but it’s not a totally cohesive work. Not that it should be. It’s a four song EP/demo for chrissakes. It’s a bit all over the place, and it covers a lot of ground in just four songs. And that, in a nutshell, is both the strength and weakness of the band, and the songs. There’s a bit of magic here, and there might be more in a live setting.
-
To this listener’s ears, there’s elements of Pixies, Queens of the Stone Age, even a tinge of The Cult in their orchestration and delivery. But it’s not that they sound retro or obviously derivative–they just mix in some pieces and parts that echo the energy, delivery and/or aesthetic of those bands. They sound like a rock band. And they sound ready to prove it to you.
-
That was my assessment after having only listened to their songs from their MySpace page, on laptop speakers and headphones no less. And I didn’t give their MySpace page a second glance. I’m not going to evaluate the merits of a band or their music based on the layout of their own self-designed web-presence. That may be the way of the average 14 year old these days, but I’m no 14 year old. So I listened my requisite minimum ten times, and then I called TLC’s(apologies) guitarist, Chris Craig, to get the story behind the band.
-
Chris tells me singer, K.C., started the band several years ago, and that it’s been through a few iterations since. A full length was released, with various lineups performing throughout the northwest. Around 2006 Chris hooked up with K.C. and the two began writing new material. Alex joined soon after on Bass, and recently Steve took over on drums. Chris expects the band to spend a couple of months working out new material and to begin playing shows in late summer and the fall. The EP was recorded by Jules Hodgson of KMFDM, and produced by Martin Feveyear, of local fame and lately of Blue Scholars, Brandi Carlile and Presidents of the USA. It’s a solid, professional sounding effort, with just enough polish to make sure repeated listenings reveal the music and not the lack of a major label’s backing. Long story short, this is a band with a bit of history, a bit of new blood, and a new lease on life.
-
So what about the music? “Wide Open Beaver” launches with a distinctly Nirvana-esque Bleach-era intro, but quickly shifts tempo and sounds more Fu Manchu than Kurt Cobain. “Wedgewood Hop” changes gears, exchanging riffs for mood and a rolling guitar line leading into the verse. This song shows the most variety of parts and some of the better hooks. You get the sense the band’s following probably sings along with this one the most. “Trust Fund” reminds me of Love-era Cult, but K.C.’s vocals are neither reminiscent, nor copping the vibe of Ian Astbury’s hippie headbanging. And that’s a good thing. “Born on a Friday” opens with keyboard and could be the illegitimate offspring of The Raconteurs and Kings of Leon, but in truth it sounds nothing like either of those bands. It just reminds me of them.
-
As I said, these four songs cover a fair amount of ground. But none of them lack for the energy that should translate to an energetic live show. And that is, after all, what you ask of a local band when they’re getting it together and performing new music. You want something that catches your ear, maybe a performance worth watching, and hopefully a future to anticipate and participate in. These guys may yet cover all that ground too.
-
I haven’t seen them before, let alone 10 times, and it’s only going to take one show to know whether the songs here translate well to a live performance. That’s a chance I’ll take, and I’ll tell you something else–their EP has been in my car’s disc changer for 2 weeks straight. And that hasn’t been the case for the Pixies, QOTSA, and definitely the Cult for quite a while.
-
