I tried not listening to WU LYF before their show @ The Echo on Tues, 7/26. Resistance was futile. To quote Alice Walker’s The Color Purple: “we are the ones we have been waiting for.” WU LYF’s debut Go Tell Fire To The Mountain channels this ineffable feeling of a universal consciousness, an evolved spirituality for the disaffected youths of the early 2000’s. If you haven’t given WU LYF’s LP a spin by this point, do yourself a long overdue favor. Songs like “Heavy Pop” and “Concrete Gold” (both of which have been on the Superhighway for 18 months now) gain a greater meaning when heard within the album’s overarching concept: a prodigal son kills his father the king then is turned away when he attempts to assume the throne.
You get more bees with honey than with vinegar. WU LYF’s reticence to speak to the media has officially begun to overshadow their music. Their recent Radio 1 interview is quite hilarious, but I could see the casual listener turned off by their caustic demeanor and not give the tunes a proper spin. Transparency is the only answer to speculation. With a level of popularity comes great public expectation, which none of us can control, for such is the nature of human epistemology.
Crystal Antlers’ impassioned set tided fans as they streamed into the venue. Although they weren’t originally listed on the bill, a solid majority of attendees were inside by the third song from the Long Beach, CA natives. We initiated a spirited discussion RE: idea bands vs. song bands – it’s only fitting that an idea band like Crystal Antlers would open for fellow idea band WU LYF. Such distinctions, while often counter-intuitive, prove extremely helpful in this case. By this I mean WU LYF would never tour with The Vaccines or The Arctic Monkeys, for example, since they operate on opposite ends of the indie spectrum.
I was afraid that WU LYF might sound a little sloppy live, since they’ve only played about three dozen shows. I was quite surprised by their tightness and how true they stayed to the LP. This speaks volumes for their unique sound which, despite paying homage to SST, early Modest Mouse, The Pixies, Tom Waits etc., could never be classified as derivative.
I can’t say anything negative about their live performance. Absolutely phenomenal! Their music is imbued with this creative imperative i.e. they make music not because they want to but because they have to. Every measure is joyously cathartic. Those who know the lyrics sing along; everyone else stands transfixed, bobbing to the backbeat. If only they’d done a cover of “Flip Your Wig” or “Teeth Like God’s Shoeshine”, I would rate their performance a perfect 10, but maybe that’s asking too much. Let us hope that WU LYF tour more of America next time around, so they can share their talents with more disenfranchised youths, the listeners who need their music the most.
WU LYF could be the biggest band on the planet if they wanted, but they already are in the hearts of their most devoted followers. – Chris Gedos
July 26, 2011 @ Echo Set List:
LYF
Cave Song
Summas Bliss
Such A Sad Puppy Dog
Spitting Blood
Dirt
14 Crowns For Me And Your Friends
Concrete Gold
Heavy Pop
Scissors For Your Hair
We Bros
“Cave Song” is swirling, cavernous, rapturous. This is as radio friendly as WU LYF gets on their debut album, Go Tell Fire to the Mountain, which was released on Monday in the UK and is set for August 22nd here in North America. The band has dismissed notions of secrecy and given several interviews over the past three weeks. Per lead singer Ellery Roberts, Go Tell Fire To The Mountain is a concept album originally envisioned as a film. In a nutshell: Son metaphorically kills father-king then is turned away when he attempts to assume the throne. Shakespearean Bros, Shakespearean! “Cave Song” has the best back-up yelping this side of Apologies to the Queen Mary. Any comparisons to Modest Mouse, Walkmen et all are to me evolution rather than derivation. Counting the days to their show @ the Echo July 26th. – by Chris Gedos
The gentle soul of Arthur Lee reincarnates on “Every Night I Dress Up As You”, debut banger by Liverpudlian five piece Outfit. The drummer’s a producer according to their abeano.com interview, so the polished sound is their autonomous product as opposed to an iron fist ruling behind the curtain. Androgynous song title + related band name = interest generated! Another track, “Killer”, is almost more impressive since it’s a deep cut as opposed to a single, the kind of track that really fantastic bands use for filler, which makes me think they can write an album as good as Heaven up Here in a year or two. Outfit’s present anonymity allows us to more fully appreciate their ability to make creative dynamism appear effortless. Take “Firemen Don’t Fly” for example. Well done lads – I’m expecting something really proper next! – by Chris Gedos
OUTFIT – Every Night I Dress Up As YouOUTFIT – Firemen Don’t Fly
Left quite impressed with Seapony’s performance at the Echo Tuesday Night. Each song was pitch perfect, pop beauties in their economy and brevity. Their set opener, “With You”, is actually the 12th and final track on Go With Me, the debut album which was released on Tuesday as well. I love how the cover art matches the emotional hue of the music — a girl (presumably the singer) stares wistfully at the calm sea. It’s a bright and cheery picture but with nostalgia and longing as well, as in “we may be hurt inside, but we put on a happy face because things are all right after all.” This is how Seattle does happy, with just enough angst to prove authenticity.
Seapony has hit the scene running. Their album was recorded as a three piece with a drum track. It’s nice to hear the compliment of a live drummer. A little bit of Jefferson Airplane, a little bit of Jesus And Mary Chain, played by the Pixies at 65% tempo? I don’t know what they sound like. Heck, I don’t know if Seapony knows what they sound like, or what they’ll sound like in a year. It’s always nice to get a sense of mutability; because that’s all that pop music is, really, little gems of impermanence.
“Dreaming”, their blog hit and 7”, was played third, slightly uptempo and with a little bit of fuzz. It may’ve been nice to hear it later in the set, since attendees were streaming in as the set progressed. I think they were a little nervous, even though they had no reason to be. “Blue Star” sounded excellent, as the band hit their groove for the last few songs. Seapony is way more than a one trick Seapony. I’m excited to hear what they record next. – Chris Gedos
Given all of the hype and ‘secrecy’ surrounding Manchester outfit WU LYF, their material so far speaks for itself. “Dirt” is no exception with a soulful vocal sitting nicely amidst a variety of syncopated concepts, WU LYF continue to peak our curiosity and anticipation to experience them in a live setting. The band has a handful of shows scheduled around the world in the next few months, dates are on their site. Hat tip to b3sci fam Chris Gedos for the heads up on the track.
The San Fran scene is constantly buzzing, thumping, hissing, rapping. They demand to be taken as seriously as NYC and LA. I see a little sister city love between SF and Manchester in terms of rock autonomy, in fact. Blame it on the Joy Division influence. No, this is not a live performance of Novelty from ‘79! But squealing Sumner-esque guitar? Check. Lead bass with terrifying Peter Hook purpose? Check. All that’s missing is the transformative Ian Curtis howl. Weekend is making themselves scarce over the upcoming months, with only 4 shows scheduled through September. Let’s hope they sequester themselves in the studio and lay down the trax which catapult them to that next level.
Jamaica played a 50 minute set Saturday, April 23rd at Echoplex, their second show in just over six months at the Glendale, Ave. venue. Their debut LP, No Problem, co-produced by Xavier de Rosnay of Justice and Peter J. Franco, was touted in The Guardian as “pop perfection.” The Parisian trio dissects the three minute pop song Continental style on an album surprisingly more American than British in terms of genomic structure. Britt Daniel would be proud. I’ve listened to this album many times while pumping petrol, (which has quietly surpassed the $4 per gallon mark here on the left coast in recent months), so I attended anticipating an energized performance from Jamaica, but I left impressed with components of all three performances.
White Sea, the Morgan Kibby solo project, is really a democracy of 3 guys and 2 girls, 3+2 makes a quintessential L.A. coed five-piece! Kibby is well known as frontwoman for The Romanovs, so I knew a certain level of quality could be expected. However, I enjoyed White Sea’s set considerably more so than Kibby’s previous work. With a Cold War aesthetic real-time video of the band in the background, White Sea unleashed a barrage of quality songs. I’m a big fan of British histrionics and detected contagious levels of epic melodrama! There’s definitely some Chameleons UK in the instrumentation and some Mamas & Papas in the harmonies. But White Sea sounds cutting edge, so 2011, so 1967, looking toward past and future simultaneously, understanding that permanence is achieved through admittance of temporality.
(DJ cuts between sets: Rip It Up by Orange Juice, Digital by Joy Division.)
The scattered audience becomes impatient as The Chain Gang Of 1974 meticulously test the sound levels. Their indulgence is a performance in itself. I have no problem with a band wanting to sound right, but I think a certain level of expediency isn’t too much to ask for; either that or stumble on stage without giving a shit. But don’t fiddle around with your chemistry set! Anywize, I found the first half of their set almost equally indulgent, My Bloody Valentine meets Bowie but lacking the underlying joyousness of an MBV. The real-time video continued on the backdrop, but it’s lost its novelty by this point. Datarock does this shtick 100 times better. The issue is that The Chain Gang Of 1974 (lugubrious name) has a sound so ubiquitous; you have to play really exceptional songs to be remembered. I will admit, Matter of Time is hot. But they continued to request level adjustments in-song! It ruined the serendipity of the moment. One song sounded a bit like MGMT, which I think is generally a good thing, but I’m not sure if that’s what the band was going for. I think nerves were involved, as this was their first show of a weeklong jaunt with Jamaica, with gigs in SF (26th), Portlandia (28th), Seattle (29th) and Vancouver (30th). I will admit that their songs have solid arrangement and production values with boatloads of commercial potential.
(DJ cut between sets: Sumday by Hurts.)
Jamaica took the stage at approximately 11:40 PM. They waved to the audience and spoke a few pleasantries before ripping up Cross the Fader, the first song from the EP of the same name in addition to the No Problems LP. It sounds impeccably close to the recorded version. I never appreciated Jamaica’s 90s vibe before seeing them live. They just do a really good job of incorporating their various influences and making them their own. They’ve sort of assumed the designation electro-pop, but they are in essence and execution a live band playing American pop music surprisingly stripped of snazzy production values. They aren’t afraid to simply have fun and rock out.
There was a small technical snafu when Antoine’s guitar went mute, but the drummer improvised a kick-ass solo. The issue was quickly resolved and they were able to transition into their next song without losing momentum, a testament to the band’s professionalism, which even created a nice interlude between the first and second halves of their set. My personal fav is Jericho, with its nod to Sweet Jane by Velvet Underground. The roughly 250 people in attendance got crazy for the last three songs: Short and Entertaining, I Think I Like U2 and When Do You Wanna Stop Working?, each song better than the one before. I wish there’d been an encore or more than a couple new songs, but Jamaica’s showing Saturday night was top notch!
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Jamaica has stuck around L.A. for a few days after the show and will be spinning tonight (Monday 4/25) with DJ Kid Lightning at Harvard and Stone (5221 Hollywood Blvd). Doors @ 8pm, it’s free… be there!
Mona played a thirty-minute set Wednesday night at the Echo, a live venue on Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles’ Echo Park, to an 85-90% capacity crowd. They were only the second band, technically opening for Vanaprasta, although Mona was listed higher on the bill in their defense. And while Vanaprasta does have merits of their own, I left after the Mona set, as did most of the rest of the crowd, because that’s who I went there to see, and I didn’t want to listen to another band who might cloud my then-vivid impression of the Nashville-based four piece’s L.A. debut.
L.A. Band Polls are a three piece which remind me of the inchoate indie scene circa ’85-’96, back when The Replacements’ song “Left of the Dial” was a sort of encrypted message for where you could find those under-the-radar acts ostracized by the MTV burgeoning megalith. Such timely influences are sprinkled throughout, everything from early Smashing Pumpkins to Dinosaur Jr. to My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth. They’d make a good Neil Young backing band. What’s impressive about Polls is how they get the sound of a four piece out of only three members, which speaks volumes about their individual talents and their cohesiveness as a band. Their bassist’s tone was impeccable, the drummer was solid, and the guitar parts were quite inventive. Signed to indie label Jaxart, two big things are holding Polls back from achieving more immediate notoriety. The first is their absolute lack of image, and I’m not talking about decking them out in Mao jackets, but they gotta try a little harder to not look like engineers or classical musicians. The second and more important is their lack of a true frontman. Their guitarist, who handles lyrical duties, is passable, but an arresting voice is what’s really keeping Polls from arising out of the slushpile. That being said, a good band.
Mona’s attracting scary attention in the UK right now. NME posts about them regularly, including Wednesday’s blurb about their UK tour, self-titled debut LP in May, and their headlining show at the Electric Ballroom on May 17th, surely to be their biggest to date. Their initial success in the U.K. speaks volumes about the sorry state of public interest in the American Rock Scene. Although there were a few groupies at the Echo show (bravo), most of the attendees were “in the know” and there to see if Mona’s poised to become the next Kings of Leon, the band Mona is most directly compared to, since both bands are based in Nashville and grew up performing Christian music. Will Mona spin on KROQ? Heck, will it play in Peoria? Their appearance in Austin next month will surely prove a deciding factor for their 2011, at least here in the States.
Mona, unlike Polls, exudes image and style. They wear tight black jeans, a Nashville giveaway, but I once heard that girls like tight, black jeans! These guys have channeled their inner Elvis! They don’t give a shit as they plug in their guitars. They know they’re good as they attack their first song with the freedom of a jam session. They equal or surpass Kings of Leon in decibel level. The tastemakers are held at bay and forced to congregate closer to the stage. This is American music, music which epitomizes the vastness and diversity of the North American landscape.
Their fourth song of the night was “Listen To Your Love”, arguably their most radio-ready hit. The three part backing vocals at the end are top-notch. The groupies belt out every lyric at the front of the stage, and behind them a cluster of digital cameras take video. After they finish to a restrained applause behind a few whoops and hollers, their lead singer remarked, “I don’t believe any of the bad things I’ve heard about L.A. crowds,” and I couldn’t help but wonder if he meant it facetiously. And yet as Mona continued onto the second half of their set, I wonder if they take themselves too seriously.
Signed to Island Records, Mona is surely a band to watch. The voice, music, and songwriting are all there, so the quality of their eponymous album will depend on the production values. I just hope that Mona is a band that takes a long time before they discover their ceiling.
My mind deals in chronologies. By memorizing the dates of artworks and events, I gain a greater understanding of particular historical progressions. I always keep this in mind when listening to music, which band another band was listening to when they were writing a particular song or album, or whether they were listening to a different genre or no music at all, since they didn’t want to get encumbered by another’s expression and run the risk of intellectual plagiarizing. The period of 1979-1996 could loosely be defined as the third era of British Rock Music, with the first encompassing the Beatles and the second going from Elton John through the Sex Pistols. (One man’s opinion. Don’t burn an effigy of me just because I didn’t put Boys Don’t Cry or Disintegration on the list!)
10. Teardrop Explodes — Kiliminjaro (1980)
Front-man Julian Cope used to play with Ian McCulloch of The Bunnymen in Liverpool in the late 70’s, before each of them became leader of their own outfit. One can only imagine, however, Julian Cope as the 5th member of the Bunnymen, sharing lyrical duties with McCulloch and battling for bravado rights. Key tracks include the infectious “Treason”, “Poppies in the Field”, and the final song “When I Sleep”, which was a hit single in England. The CD also includes the Kiliminjaro EP with title track, which is a mystical journey toward the snowy peak of Africa. The song’s only lyrics: “We set sail a year and a day ago, making our way for Kilimanjaro.” The group plays with an hysteric tightness rarely seen even in the Post-Punk realm.
9. The Wedding Present — Seamonsters (1991)
The Wedding Present, a favorite band of the late British DJ John Peel, is the product of David Gedge. What he lacks in vocal range he more than compensates for in lyrical mastery. Seamonsters contains some of the great rock love songs of the past 25 years. “Dare” is Gedge’s attempt to persuade a girl to love him:
Stay all night, I dare you
Look who is going to know?
I can’t believe you want to go!
Other key tracks include Carolyn, Octopussy, Suck and Niagara, which climaxes in a magical “1,2,3,4!” count-off into the final instrumental. There’s a steep listening curve on this album, but the rewards are more than worth it.
8. The Smiths — The Queen is Dead (1986)
This album should probably be higher on the list. Actually, I forgot about the Smiths when I first created this list late at night, but it would be criminal to shun them from any list of this nature. They are too representative of the era not to give them their proper notice.
The Smiths are highlighted by guitarist Johnny Marr and singer Steven Patrick Morrissey, who of course is better known as simply Morrissey. The Queen is Dead features several of the most iconic Smiths hits, including “Cemetery Gates,” “Bigmouth Strikes Again,” ” A Boy with a Thorn in His Side,” and a personal favorite, “There is a Light that Never Goes Out”. Morrissey’s trademark self-conscious self-deprecation permeates the album, epitomized by the lyric “It lasted 20 years, 7 months, and 27 days whoah-oh ah-ohoh…” (from the song “Never had No One Ever”.)
7. Echo and the Bunnymen — Ocean Rain (1984)
Today, Echo and the Bunnymen is best known as the group that recorded the song “The Killing Moon”, which gained prominence after it was featured in the 2001 movie Donnie Darko. Following the release of the movie, which was a massive cult hit among lovers of independent cinema, Echo also gained notoriety as a key musical influence for groups like Interpol and British Sea Power.
This is not to say that Echo and the Bunnymen wasn’t important in their own day. While virtually unnoticed in America, they had 4 top ten albums in the UK, and “The Killing Moon”, which starts out the second side on Ocean Rain, made it to #8 on the UK singles charts. Bunnymen zealots contend that guitarist Will Sergeant was better than The Edge and also that Bono ripped his vocal style off of Mac the Mouth.
Ocean Rain was supposed to be the album to catapult the Bunnymen toward international superstardom. While it didn’t quite do that, it made it to #4 on the UK album charts. The album features one of my favorite second halves. Starting with “The Killing Moon”, it sequences into “Seven Seas”, featuring one of the greatest bridges of the 80’s, “My Kingdom” and the epic title track to close things out. The Bunnymen are great for toeing the line between passion and histrionics.
6. Oasis — What’s the Story Morning Glory (1995)
Oasis was the biggest thing since the Beatles. Or at least The Brothers Gallagher thought they were. But these guys had the brawn to match the hubris. Oasis’ critics say that they only had one gear and couldn’t change their sound up enough (the paradigmatic one-trick pony), but they knew their sound and usually knocked it out of the park.
While some prefer Definitely Maybe, their debut, I prefer (What’s the Story) Morning Glory, which showed no signs of a sophomore slump. Morning Glory roars out of the gates with “Hello” (more of the Definitely Maybe vein), “Roll With It” (Nirvana meets Britpop), “Wonderwall” (their most accessible hit), and “Don’t Look Back in Anger” (title inspired by the John Osborne play). The album gets a little sleepy in the second half before closing with “Champagne Supernova” (another classic).
5. Radiohead — The Bends (1995)
Radiohead is the band which defines our generation. In fact, I had to tailor this post to end in 1995 instead of 1997 so I wouldn’t be obliged to put OK Computer at the top of this list. In many ways they are the current end-product of the entirety of British Rock.
This album kicks ass! I often listen to it in the morning to get my iconoclastic juices rolling before a long day hunting for my piece of cheese in the rat race. The album is replete with attitude, strong choices and general precociousness. Few bands rock as hard as Radiohead on The Bends. After the merely-above-average debut of Pablo Honey, Radiohead went to the sketch pad and drew up the plan for their second album. This is when Radiohead started to become the best band of Earth, even if Yorke owes Buckley’s estate some royalties for “Fake Plastic Trees”. (And I think “Street Spirit” is overrated.) But the quality is uniform throughout.
4. The Clash — London Calling (1979)
Rolling Stone Magazine shocked its readership in 2003 when it placed The Clash’s London Calling at #8 on their 500 Greatest Albums list. I remember them getting some negative feedback, probably justified (with albums like Velvet Underground and Nico, Abbey Road, Are You Experienced, and Nevermind ranked after — a minor misdemeanor.) But even if London Calling isn’t number eight, it undoubtedly clocks in somewhere before twenty.
“Phony Beatlemania has bitten the dust” sings Strummer on the opening title track. Although there is an outward rejection of the past, The Clash were receptive to incorporating other genres into the framework of punk. “Brand New Cadillac” is Jan and Dean, “Rudie Can’t Fail” is Proto-Ska. Then there’s “Lost in the Supermarket” and “Lover’s Rock”, which for me transcend definition and float within the timeless realm of ineffability. This nineteen track double album is guilty of some filler, but it closes the deal with “Trian in Vain (Stand by Me),” one of their most popular songs.
3. The Stone Roses — The Stone Roses (1989)
The iconic bands share a self-fulfilling vision to be the greatest band on the planet. These guys had that vision. Led by frontman Ian Brown and guitarist John Squire, driven by the incessant beat of bassist Mani and drummer Reni, who battles the late Pete Defritas of The Bunnymen as the best English Drummer of the 80’s, The Stone Roses’ eponymous debut is a statement of purpose.
They are unapologetic about their intentions, as indicated by the opener, “I Wanna Be Adored”, which was an American college radio hit. Next comes the infectious bass line from “She Bangs the Drums”, made recently popular by the videogame Guitar Hero II. “Don’t Stop” is “Waterfall” played backwards! — I mean, who else plays a song backwards? The epic finale is much-loved, but I prefer the saccharine sweetness of “Sugar Spun Sister”.
2. Echo and the Bunnymen — Heaven Up Here (1981)
Echo and the Bunnymen’s second album, Heaven Up Here, was their only LP to make the Rolling Stone top 500 list, squeaking in somewhere between 450 and 500. The inclusion is a bit of a pity prize, but I am at least glad that a) they got the recognition in the first place and b) the preferred Echo album was Heaven Up Here, which, in my opinion, is the most cohesive album of the 1980’s. Still in their early 20’s, they built on the foundation laid with their 1980 debut Crocodiles. While some of Crocodile’s pop infectiousness is lost on Heaven Up Here, Echo makes up for it with a surety of purpose evidenced by a higher lyrical quality; the band follows suit in this step up to the big league. (To compare it with Boy by U2 is a joke, quite honestly.)
“Realistically, it’s hard to dig it all too happily,” Ian McCullloch croons at the start of the opening track, “Show of Strength”. Echo, like the Stone Roses, make an overt statement of greatness with the opening track and somehow manages to succeed. Seargent’s guitars are mesmerizing and DeFritas’ drums cannot be played at a loud enough decibel. The hysteria continues with the dystopic “With a Hip” and the six-minute epic third track, “Over the Wall”, where Mac the Mouth takes the listener to their logical limit. Even filler like “It was a Pleasure” kicks absolute ass. Any doubts are handled by the time we get to “Zimbo”, a metaphysical journey not unlike Kiliminjaro (see#10).
1. The La’s — The La’s (1990)
I was not impressed with this album when I purchased it off Amazon about five years ago. I thought it was too short and that the songwriting was not original enough, outside of “There She Goes” and “Timeless Melody”, the album’s premiere cuts. Most importantly, I found Steve Lillywhite’s production shoddy and hated how I had to crank the volume up before even beginning to rock out.
But over time, I grew attached to this album. I listened to it at least once every day for a six month period, and I still listen to it on a regular basis. This album makes #1 because it breaks all stereotypes of chronology, with tracks sounding like they could’ve been recorded in 1959 or 2009, but definitely not 1989. The La’s came from a different era, taking their, ahem, timeless melodies from that great magical jukebox in the sky.
The La’s, originally from Liverpool, were hailed as the second coming of the Beatles. They put a record company out of business while making this album. Once the label put Steve Lillywhite (U2, Dave Matthews) to the task of salvaging the wreckage of three years of false starts, the album finally came out in 1990. The band, especially frontman Lee Mavers, hated the album and publicly lambasted it, urging their fans not to buy it. They had minimal buzz in the US, appearing on Letterman in 1991; “There She Goes” went to #5 in the UK. After the band broke up, the song continued to grow, being covered by The Cranberries and Sixpence None the Richer and being featured in movies like So I Married an Axe Murderer.
There She Goes was originally released in 1988 as a single, then climbed to #5 when re-released with the album. It is the perfect pop song. Unforgettable guitar intro, pitch-perfect falsetto, 2 minutes 40 seconds, all the ingredients. “Timeless Melody” is almost as good, along with “Way Out”, “IOU”, “Freedom Song”, and the epic finale “Looking Glass”. This album is #1 because there’s no filler. Each track is equally qualified for radio airwaves. Please buy this album, don’t download, since Lee Mavers lives off the royalties. Just don’t tell Lee that you liked his album.
The energy at The Spaceland was palpable last night for the West Coast debut of the next great U.K. guitar band, The Vaccines. However, there were two L.A. Bands opening for them, upon whom I must touch before turning my attention to the main draw.
Bixby Knolls play heavy, conscious guitar pop. They seem to have a faithful coterie of followers who were quite familiar with their songs. Their lead singer plays with a confident nonchalance while emotionally interacting with the crowd through the music, a prerequisite for any successful frontman. Their sound is of the UK rock tradition, a mélange of The Clash, The La’s and Echo and the Bunnymen. While they might not reinvent the wheel, there’s definitely a good bit of traction on their musical tires!
After a brief intermission of less than twenty minutes, Sweaters took the stage. I would technically call them a four piece, although there was a fifth member who participated on most of the songs, mostly banging away at the tambourine and sprinkling in some Saxophone at times. The lead singer plays the keys, with the bassist doing a strong back-up vocal, along with a guitarist and drummer. They have a raucousness which is representative of the best Rock. They’re unconcerned with derivation or with being sandwiched into the subgenre of the month. My main gripe is that the singer lacked the stage presence of the Bixby Knolls frontman.
Sweaters have fun on stage. A lot of fun on stage. This cannot be stressed enough. In an ‘indie’ scene which came to be defined in the 2000’s by the minor key, it’s so refreshing to hear joyous pop/rock music in whatever incarnation that may be. They also have a comfort with the technical aspects of playing which leads me to believe that more than one member has a background in Classical Music.
Sonically, they’re all over the place, which I think is a good thing in this instance. Their singer sounds a little too much like David Byrne, but hey, who doesn’t these days? They’ve got everything from Todd Rungren to Warren Zevon to The Modern Lovers to The Doobie Brothers lumped within their sound. Essentially, the keyboard, which was turned WAY UP, sets a foundation for their sound in the popular 1970’s vein. This homage, this sense of nostalgia, is probably their greatest strength and their most glaring weakness, as I can’t quite say that they’ve amalgamated their sounds into one cohesive style all their own. Will they be representative of Matisse before or after 1905? Youth is wasted on the young, and also on the next great band, which is why a band like The Vaccines coming together makes for such a magical, ineffable experience.
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At least one A-list celeb (A-minus in the eyes of some) was in the audience last night! It wouldn’t be a sold out show in Los Angeles without at least one familiar face. Creativity breeds creativity. The intellectually curious artist will make it a point to search out the cutting edge across various modes of expression.
Nobody moved as Sweaters left the stage. None of that usual dispersal toward bathrooms, bar-counters and cigarettes. The anticipation continued to build as the mics were tested. It was clear to me that this wasn’t a concert in Kansas City or (dare I say) my hometown of Cleveland. The jaded L.A. crowd has seen, heard, and done everything — their expectations were through the roof for a show with unrelenting consistency. The audience was littered with stoic Industry faces, betting the under on the length of The Vaccines’ set, which the bookmakers had probably pegged at 27 minutes!
The Vaccines take the stage around 11:05. Confident with the sound levels, they blast immediately into their first hit, ‘Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra)’. Lead singer Justin Young, stripped of guitar on the 85 second cut, commands the stage, both playful and serious, toeing the line which separates gimmickry from insouciance. He dons his guitar for the second song and almost the entirety of the rest of the set. He’s especially confident and competent playing rhythm while singing. I hear fleeting snippets of The Ramones and The Beach Boys in their sound. They have the same lack of pretention as on ‘Please Please Me’ (is it sacrilege to say that?)
NME has proven over the decades a priceless ability to peer into that crystal ball of theirs and predict the future of UK Rock n’ Roll. The Vaccines is the band Interpol could’ve been had Turn On The Bright Lights been released in 1998 and they weren’t so indebted to Joy Division and The Bunnymen. For a band that’s only been together one year, The Vaccines’ continuity and vision is incredible. Even the cool crowd had let down their guard by the end of the first song. Will this be the band to break the current American prejudice toward UK guitar bands? The specialness of the night isn’t lost on the four-piece from London, for this may have been their first time on the West Coast, flying into LAX and seeing the endless Pacific. If that’s not inspiring for an artist, I don’t know what is.
‘Post Break-Up Sex’ is their paradigmatic song, I would say. It was played early in the set. For the self-mockery of the title, the sound is serious. The lyrics are emotional and intellectual. They’re not dripping with metaphor but produce highly specialized images. The same can be said for ‘Blow It Up’, which draws the quickest link to The Beatles of ’63 and ’64, but also discloses a little Replacements and even Roy Orbison on a strain of their musical genome.
I hear the Jesus and Mary Chain comparisons on ‘If You Wanna’, which was the fifth or sixth song of the set. There’s a touch of ‘Taste of Cindy’ and ‘Happy When It Rains’ in there, but again the influences are pushed to the background. The Vaccines sound like The Vaccines. They switch up their sound without pastiche or derivation, something Sweaters attempted in vain. ‘If U Wanna’ has a singalong quality by the second or third listen. They’re not as camp as The Arctic Monkeys, and not as repetitive as Franz Ferdinand, but I can’t comment authoritatively, since I’ve only seen Franz Ferdinand in a large venue, not a hotspot as intimate as The Spaceland.
The Vaccines closed their set with a cover of The Standells’ ‘Good Guys Don’t Wear White’, followed by another less than two minute track, ‘Noorgard’. In total, they played for about 35 mintues, covering the spread. They warned us in advance that they wouldn’t play an encore, but I was left wanting more regardless. I think the Vaccines are approaching the game like businessmen. They lack ego and hubris in their interviews. There’s a hunger and drive to their playing — they won’t rest on the buzz surrounding their debut, What Did You Expect From The Vaccines, slated for release on March 21st through Columbia Records, for which I shall wait with bated breath. Tell your friends and your frenemies: THIS IS THE BAND TO WATCH!!!
RATING: 9.728
Contributed by Chris Gedos
The Vaccines – We’re HappeningThe Vaccines – Blow It Up
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