I must be getting old (no shit, Sherlock). Friday I was supposed to go to Benihana for a going-away party for some friends-of-a-friend that I've partied quite a bit with over the years. What's more my buddy Joey K. had flown in and I usually make a good showing at such events. Of course, I knew full well that the party in question would eventually devolve into a full-on coke binge, so I wasn't shocked when I received a text message from Joey after 10 PM Saturday stating the following:
Just getting up to eat. Up until 3PM today. See you in a couple weeks. I'm going back to bed. Hellsbells.
So, evidently, fun was had, but if I had, um, partaken then I likely wouldn't have made it out to the Tapes 'n Tapes show. So there's that.
After some crappier-than-usual traffic near Queens Boulevard, I parked on North 6th just before 10. (Incidentally, on the way in I gave the Black Keys' new one, Attack and Release, its initial spin. It kind of sucks, no?) Got inside Yuppie Northsix shortly thereafter and walked up front to hear Vampire Hands (who are also from Minneapolis). I really wanted to like these guys but whoever was in charge of mixing the sound should be lashed with a cat 'o nine tails-- you simply COULDN'T HEAR THE FUCKING GUITAR at any point throughout the set, which was a shame because the guy was whipping out some tasty postpunky licks (from what I could gather). As a result of this, the closest these guys got to a real live actual hook was some interesting krautrockish rhythmic interplay -- the singer doubled on floor tom/assorted percussion. In fact, with the guitar inaudible these guys sounded kind of like the Damo Suzuki Network show I caught last year at Knitting Factory. Shame.
Austin's White Denim were up next, and I'm still straining for a way to describe these guys that does them justice. They made use of sampled guitar loops, great drumming, breakneck-paced tempo shifts, and jittery powerchords-- in other words, they really brought the RAWK. At the time I was thinking that these guys reminded me of We Are Scientists or Frog Eyes only way more enjoyable, so I'm sticking with that. I'm kicking myself for not buying their EP after the show-- I just assumed that I'd find it on eMusic but it ain't there, goddamn it, and my local indie store can't get it either. Rats.
Tapes 'n Tapes were up next, with Josh Grier taking the stage accompanied by a mug of chamomile tea. PAAAAARTY!!! I loved The Loon (#3 on my Best Albums of 2006 list) and I'm really digging their new one, Walk it Off despite the overloaded production making it sound like your speakers are blown. The first time I saw Tn'T was a little less than a year ago, and that show was plagued by simply atrocious concert sound-- a theme which unfortunately continued this time around as well. Sigh. Once again, the guitar was way too low, and the bass the opposite. Grrr. Nonetheless it was impossible not to feed off the band's infectious enthusiasm and the kids up front (I was front row as usual) rocking the fuck out.
The specifics: the set started with "Jakov's Suite," and focusing on the new shit, which was nice. The show's oddest moment occurred early on during "Le Ruse," (best song off Walk it Off, methinks) when some obnoxious fratboy and a skinny kid started pounding on each other, which was fucking hilarious. But after perfunctory apologies tensions were smoothed over. The set continued largely violence free with a healthy sampling of tunes from both albums, ending with a "The Dirty Dirty" - "Insistor" - "Hang Them All" - "Demon Apple" run. At first I was puzzled at the choice of set closer but as the song's funky, clown-car-ish stumble gives way to an ascending riff similar to the set's opener ("Jakov's Suite", remember?) which -- intentionally or not -- dovetailed the evening's music rather nicely. The encore included "Manitoba" which meant that the only great song they didn't play was "The Iliad."
So, a fun show marred slightly by a crucial mixing desk error. Jay Reatard tomorrow night. Tuddd out.
good stuff...fingerbanging mrs butterworth works on so many different levels
Posted by: jake | April 20, 2008 at 09:30 PM