Stepping onto the stage before a crowd that was hardly interested in first opening act, Phil and The Osophers, the members of Bear Hands were comfortable, relaxed and ready to rock out for the entirety of their pre-Les Savy Fav time-slot at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. Within minutes of launching into their first song, these Brooklyn rockers had at least half of those in attendance toe-tapping and head-bobbing along to their breed of post-punk experimental indie rock.
Alternating between jumpy electro-rock jams and somber Joy Division-esque testimonials, they kept the audience on its toes and wondering what would be coming next. The combination of lead singer Dylan Rau’s cutting voice and talents on a Korg synthesizer and guitarist Ted Feldman and bassist Val Loper’s penchant for indulging in percussion circles painted the picture of a band that is clearly comfortable with their burgeoning sound. Bear Hands was super happy about sharing their live set with such a receptive crowd that, by the show’s end, they pretty much owned the filled-out audience and got them pumped for Les Savy Fav…
What can one possibly say about this band that hasn’t already been said? Sashaying onto the stage following an impressive opening set by fellow New Yorkers Bear Hands, Les Savy Fav immediately launched into their growing catalog of idiosyncratic indie rock with the energy and enthusiasm of a band hell-bent on bringing in the dawn (so long as the booze was still flowing). Over the course of a set that included tracks like “The Equestrian,†“Disco Drive†and “Rage in the Plague Age,†singer Tim Harrington delivered his hysterically energetic signature performance, complete with stage banter and wandering the floor of the venue sans shirt.
Meanwhile, the band also managed to keep the crowd bouncing along to the beat. The combination of melody and discordance in guitarist Seth Jabour’s riffs set a frantic pace, while drummer Harrison Haynes and bassist Syd Butler provided a slick dance floor rhythm section perfect for the amped audience.The melding of art rock sensibility and post-punk abrasion resulted in a sound that eluded genre branding, like a page straight out of The Talking Heads and Sonic Youth.
With one song leading into the next that was occasionally punctuated by Harrington’s conversant banter with the crowd, Les Savy Fav delivered a no-frills, highly-energetic set topping many shows I’ve seen this year. It seriously felt like pure entropy and left nearly all in attendance with a sore throat and crick in the neck as the energy broke out onto 6th Street.
Guest Reporting by: Khurram Bajwa (NYC)
