popwreckoning

I really wasn’t sure what to expect from the second show of Jónsi‘s this week in Washington. The first on Monday sold out quickly, so I figured the people present for Tuesday’s show would be the kind of folks who did not jump on tickets when this Jónsi solo tour was announced – like obsessed Sigur Ros fans. After chatting with some people in line outside the 9:30, it was clear many people who had seen the first show had been so enthralled by the performance, they immediately bought tickets to the second afterward. Hardcore. Once inside, I ran into one of my friends who informed me, “he was amazing last night. This show is going to be terrible, because he used up all his energy last night. He must be exhausted.” However, during the 1 hour-plus show, I detected no signs that Jónsi‘s energy was flagging. Quite the opposite: as the set wore on, he seemed to gain power from the love that was pouring in his direction from the audience.

The opening act were three women collectively known as Mountain Man. (I chuckled to myself when I realized there wasn’t going to be a man at all onstage during their performance.) Interestingly, they’re signed to Simon Raymonde‘s Bella Union label in the UK, the same label that also has American bands like Beach House and Fleet Foxes on their roster. The band “stars” the ethereal voices of Molly Erin Sarle, Alexandra Sauser-Monnig, and Amelia Randall Meath and an acoustic guitar used very sparingly. It sure made a refreshing change to see an indie folk band that didn’t have everything but the kitchen sink onstage to play on (which was essentially what you saw when Jónsi and his band had their turn). When you have nothing but your voices to rely on, you’ve got to have the harmonies just right. I wonder how much they practice, but wow, the merging of those three female voices sound amazing. Have a listen to their track “Soft Skin” on their MySpace and you’ll see what I mean.

Jónsi first appeared with acoustic guitar, playing “Stars in Still Water.” I was more focused on what he was wearing – it looked like something a Scottish hobo might wear, a red themed number with bits of plaid fabric sewn together and lots of feathers, with scraps of fabric hanging down it. The rest of his band came in during the second number, and I noticed they all had similar outfits but in more muted colors. As mentioned earlier, there were a lot of instruments onstage for Jónsi‘s set, including piano, synths, xylophone (which fascinatingly was played with bows at one point), glockenspiel, guitars, ukulele, and drums. Suitcases that presumably held all this stuff were used themselves as percussion (manual kick drums) and chairs. It all lent a very free spirited air to the proceedings. You can love or hate Jónsi‘s falsetto but there’s no question that his voice is something almost inhuman, as evidenced by the way he can hold the last note of a song for a very, very long time.

Usually you don’t get a cinematic experience at the 9:30 Club and to be honest, the only other shows I’ve ever seen there that had any sort of visual element running the entire length of the gig were Doves in 2009 and Broken Bells earlier this year. Jónsi‘s set-up was interesting such that depending on which song was being played, you could feel like you were running with antelope, flying with butterflies or owls, or drowning in a room rapidly filling up with water. You could call it a total sensory experience.

Throughout the set, guys and girls of all ages were going all verklempt behind me, sighing “oh my god” after each song. While I myself was not as emotionally transported like these people were, I can appreciate Jónsi‘s artistry. Just on the basis of the amazing crown of feathers he wore for the encore, you could definitely say he is one of a kind.

Jónsi Set List
Stars in Still Water
Hengilas
Icicle Sleeves
Kolnidur
Tornado
Sinking Friendships
Saint Naive
Go Do
Boy Lilikoi
Piano Des
Animal Arithmetic
New Piano Song (exactly as shown on the set list!)
Around Us
//
Stick and Stones
Grow Till Tall

Jónsi: website | myspace
Mountain Man: myspace

Before Manchester electrorock and dance outfit Delphic were a household name in Britain, they were notorious for staging well-received and well-attended illegal raves in their hometown, made possible by a portable generator owned by their touring drummer Dan Hadley. Friday night at DC9′s Liberation Dance Party proved that despite more mainstream success at home, playing more traditional venues, the band can still put on a rave that wows clubgoers. Their DC appearance on the 8th of October was the only headlining gig during their entire stay on our side of the pond this autumn, mostly providing support to Australian band the Temper Trap.

“Clarion Call” is the first track on the band’s debut album, Acolyte, and it’s truly a monster in disguise. It is the perfect song to being a set, as it starts out modestly enough with a very chill vibe but then it quickly builds into a massive wave of sound that is Delphic‘s forte. The trio have said in numerous interviews that having watched other bands perform and lose momentum between songs by dedicating songs to a girlfriend or telling a story. The DC9 set indicated Delphic still believe this, barely allowing themselves a breath between one song and the next. The result ? The energy level was way up on their side of things as well as on the audience’s side. The manic reaction that night had to have been the best of all Liberation Dance Party shows I’ve seen so far: girls were dancing like they just didn’t care, and guys were pumping their fists in the air to encourage the band on. It was quite a sight.

Upon conclusion, “Doubt,” with its lively vowel beginning and engaging chorus, morphed into the ultimate rave-up of “Red Lights,” a personal favorite of one of my close friends. To be honest, who wouldn’t fall for a song that has lyrics like “I put my heart into your hands” and “I’d risk a second broken heart for you“? Critics often complain that electronic dance music has no soul. Obviously, these people have never heard Delphic before. Singer/bassist James Cook, upon seeing the effect “Red Lights” had on the Washington crowd, gingerly asked with a smile, “DC9, how are you doing? Are you ready to dance? Because now is the time to dance.” With those fateful words, he and the band unleashed an insane sequence of synth programming that further pumped up the crowd. Wow.

By this time, Delphic had everyone – and I mean everyone – at DC9 jumping, dancing, or a combination of the two, just really going for it. I couldn’t have been more pleased for these three guys who wanted to make a record on their own terms, writing and recording music that really meant something to them. Having a crowd reaction like this, especially on this side of the Atlantic where they are not known in the mainstream yet, must be incredible validation, and it is completely deserved.

It’s hard for me to pinpoint one highlight of the evening because you could just tell by the way Cook smiled and guitarist Matt Cocksedge, keyboardist Rick Boardman, and Hadley attacked their respective instruments that Delphic brought it. “Acolyte,” the title track of their debut album, is their 9-minute, mostly instrumental opus with snatches of heavenly vocals from Cook and Boardman. It is an incredible rush of euphoria live and the perfect way to end a set if there ever was one – percussion, synths, and guitars meld together for an atmospherically complex yet astonishing piece.

After the song was over, Delphic departed from the stage amid a crush of well wishers and cheering fans. Compere Bill Spieler, who has to be given much credit for booking the Manchester band for the night, appeared onstage to say with a shocked look on his face, “O.M.G. How did Liberation Dance Party get Delphic? I want more Delphic. Do you?” He paused and received the applause he was waiting for. “They’re telling me no.” Audible audience disappointment. But Spieler remained hopeful. “Maybe they’ll come out and dance with you.” My thoughts? I just want Delphic to make another appearance at DC9, and soon.

Set List
Clarion Call
Doubt
Red Lights
This Momentary
Halcyon
Counterpoint
Acolyte

Tour Dates
Oct 11 – St. Andrews / Detroit*
Oct 12 – Metro / Chicago*
Oct 13 – Turner Hall / Milwaukee*
Oct 14 – First Avenue / Minneapolis*
Oct 16 – Capital Festival / Mexico City
Oct 21 – Popscene / San Francisco&
Oct 22 – Fox / Pomona, CA*
Oct 23 – Club Nokia / Los Angeles*
* supporting the Temper Trap
& with the Hundred in the Hands

Delphic: website | myspace | American Release Details of Delphic EP | Delphic’s Debut Album Streaming on Their MySpace | @ Trocadero, Philadelphia | Interview with: Matt Cocksedge of Delphic, Part 1, Part 2 | @ House of Blues, Boston

Like Florence and the Machine, Marina and the Diamonds is the eponymously named band of half-Greek, half-Welsh beauty Marina Diamandis. The mention the ‘beauty’ part because let’s face it, us mortals girls don’t have a chance when compared to the gorgeous brunette singer/songwriter. She’s already won the hearts of many a girl and boy across Britain with her brand of idiosyncratic yet incredibly catchy pop. The crowd that lined up prior to doors opening at the 9:30 Club Monday night weren’t shy about showing off their love for the singer: they dutifully put on what I considered pretty tacky “Oh No!” glasses and were taking photos of each other with them on. Kind of weird. It was, however, nice to see an even mix of the sexes at the show, since most gigs I attend are 70% male or more and it can feel intimidating.

The opening act for Marina’s tour is Young the Giant, a very young (all members around 21 or younger) rock five-piece from sunny Newport Beach, California. They also have some serious cred already: in 2009 when they were still called the Jakes, they won an online vote to open for Kings of Leon in Chicago and reportedly “crushed the competition.” I guess there was a lot of equipment set-up on the 9:30 stage for Marina and her band, because sometimes I felt bad that the members of Young the Giant were cramped for space, especially since their guitarists like to run around the stage, run into each other and singer Sameer Gadhia, and occasionally, into drummer Francois Comtois‘s drum kit. At times, I was worried one of them was going to wipe out and fall ala Steven Tyler onto the 9:30 Club floor.

Thankfully, nothing of the sort happened, and they delivered a respectable and energetic set of songs to the rabid Marina and the Diamonds fans. “Cough Syrup” was a highlight, with guitarists Payam Doostzadeh, Jacob Tilley, and Eric Cannata looking so overtaken by the music, they forgot where they were spatially and started running into each other. Afterward, one audience member, obviously pleased with the song, yelled out, “I love you man!” With a smile, Gadhia shouted back to him, “I love you too!” Another standout, “Streetwalker,” featured slide guitar that was I not expecting from a couple upstarts from Orange County. Their last song was “My Body,” which you can download from their website here.

We had to wait over 45 minutes before the Marina and the Diamonds part of show would begin, but the crowd was content to yell “Marina!” every time a roadie would come onstage to test equipment or put down set lists, water bottles, and towels. When 9:30 rolled around (supposedly Marina’s set time), people started chanting “Marina! Marina! Marina!” Her band came out first, already 10 minutes late and then suitably fashionably late, Diamandis appeared, looking a bit Elvira with a black velvet dress and dark purple, almost black lipstick, her dark hair flowing onto her shoulders.

She jumped right into “The Outsider,” and over the course of the night, she played all but one song from her debut album The Family Jewels released here in America in May on Chop Shop Records. Being up front with a friend of mine who is a huge, huge fan of Marina, I was surrounded by girls and guys who sang along to every word uttered by their biggest heroine. For “Numb” and “Obsessions,” she showed her piano-playing chops and also sweating profusely and complaining, “this black velvet is a bitch. It’s so hot, I want to peel my face off.” She then added, smiling widely at her fans, “but it’s worth it!” Never a truer word said by a slave to fashion.

I’m not a huge fan of Diamandis (her voice varies from deep alto territory to over the top operatic), but I have to admit “I Am Not a Robot” is an earworm of the highest caliber. Even days after seeing Diamandis and her band, I’m still hearing the chorus, “guess what! / I’m not a robot / a robot,” in my head. Two more highlights came after Diamandis had a quick costume change. For “Hollywood,” a song she wrote about the perceived excesses and chaos of America, she re-emerged from backstage wearing a long slip, a purple and yellow letterman jacket, and dollar sign sunglasses and holding two exaggeratingly big fake hamburgers. The applause and cheering was deafening.

This was quickly followed by the purposely misspelled “Shampain,” during which Diamandis encouraged everyone in the club to jump up and down and they happily complied. She was so happy with the response that she thanked the crowd with “a bit gin and tonic for all of you!” The encore was an unexpected, soft and reflective cover of 3Oh!3‘s “Starstrukk,” followed by the odd-sounding “Mowgli’s Road,” complete with Diamandis’s cuckoo noises. I’ll say this: a Marina and the Diamonds show is certainly a spectacle.

Marina and the Diamonds Set List
The Outsider
Girls
Seventeen
I Am Not a Robot
Oh No!
Numb
Obsessions
Rootless
// (costume change)
Hollywood
Shampain
Are You Satisfied?
Guilty
//
Starstrukk (3Oh!3 Cover)
Mowgli’s Road

Tour Dates
Sept 13 – Crocodile / Seattle:
Sept 14 – Doug Fir / Portland
Sept 15 – Independent / San Francisco
Sept 17 – El Rey / Los Angeles

Marina and the Diamonds: website | myspace | Marina and the Diamonds Announces September North American Tour
Young the Giant: website | myspace

Another highlight of this past year’s Lollapalooza was Jukebox the Ghost. The piano rockers are releasing a new album, Everything Under the Sun, on Sept. 7. Bethany caught up with them at Lolla and asked them a few questions about their real biography, playing Lolla and the upcoming release. The full interview is below:

Bethany, PopWreckoning: Ok, first off, I was trying to find some information about you guys online and really all I could find is a biography of President Taft. What’s up with that?
Tommy Siegel, Jukebox the Ghost: Haha. I think I have to answer this. Do you guys even know about this? I’m Tommy, by the way. I play guitar and sing sometimes. We set up the Facebook bio and instead of putting an actual bio, I put the Wikipedia entry for Howard Taft. So now when you search on Facebook for Jukebox the Ghost, it says Jukebox the Ghost – indie rock – and underneath it says, “Born in 1837″ or whatever.
PW: You guys are anti-slavery under influences. It says that as well, so that’s good.
TS: Yeah, that’s good.

PW: So what’s your real background story? How did you guys all meet?
Ben Thornewill, Jukebox the Ghost: We met in college at George Washington University in DC. I lived next door to Jesse and met Tommy Sophomore year, so we started there. I’ve lived in Philly for three years. Some of us live in New York and some of us in Philly.

PW: How does the distance thing work with the band with practicing and touring?
BT: We barely practice as it is. Touring is our practice. We would practice like two or three times a year, doing like a marathon: eight hour days for like a week and a half. We’ll keep doing that and it doesn’t really matter where we do it.

PW: Is this your first time at Lollapalooza? How does it compare to other things that you’ve done in the past like club shows?
BT: This is our first Lolla and it is (a) way better than any other festival that we’ve done, for sure. And (b), it is sort of like a perfect show. We had like people as far back as we could see. It is the biggest show we’ve ever played.

PW: And you’re doing an after show for free. How is that going to compare what people saw already at Lolla?
TS: It will be longer, there will be 1/100th the number of people, but it will be fun. We’re playing with two great bands: Skybox, whom we’ve toured with before from Chicago, and Spinto Band, whom we’re fans of but have not met.

PW: Lolla is an extreme festival compared to others. Do you guys have like a survival kit or anything that you’ve learned on how to make the most of it?
BT: Not really. They have golf carts that take you, artists and others, from place to place. That’s the greatest thing. Tommy has advice.
TS: My advice is just to act confident. Because anyone who is a security person, they might ask you a question, but they’re way less likely to if you just act like you know where you’re going. So act confident and you can get all sorts of free stuff that’s not really free here.
Jesse Kristin, Jukebox the Ghost: This is Jesse. I play the drums. My Lollapalooza 2010 tip is bring your cell phone charger with you because there are outlets everywhere. You just got to find them. I was watching the Strokes and charging my phone. It was great. They actually have electricity in this wilderness.

PW: So, the Strokes must have been a must-see for you, but were some of the other acts that you were excited for this year?
JK: Miniature Tigers. They’re one of our best band friends and they just put out a new record. It’s just phenomenal. They’re small for the festival, but we’re pushing them really hard because we love them and they’re going to be huge. We have other friends that have played and are playing. These United States, Freelance Whales, Skybox, so a lot of friends here and we’re pushing for them. The big ones are fun, but it is special to see these small bands play on these big stages.

PW: What are your plans post-festival?
BT: Post-festival we’re just driving back to the East Coast and playing some small album type stuff. The album comes out Sept 7 on Yep Roc Records. Then we’ll go on tour after that for like five weeks. So until Sept. 3, keeping it easy, practicing and maybe learning a new cover.

PW: For people who didn’t get a chance to hear the new songs here, on the upcoming album, what can they expect?
TS: They can expect a more mature version of what we had done before. It’s nothing wildly different, but it is definitely moving in a new direction. There are some prog rock elements, but there are a lot of just straight retro pop elements. We got into a very Beatles-y phase. There are a lot of songs that reflect that aesthetic. We’ve been playing a lot of these songs live though for awhile. Most of our hardcore fans will already know what’s in store.
PW: Sweet.

Prior to Thursday night, the last time I caught a show at Merriweather Post Pavilion was back in 1998. I don’t really like the place all that much; after you’ve seen great shows in smaller, intimate clubs where you can have a connection with the band that’s performing, the lack of intimacy in an outdoor amphitheatre like Merriweather is startling. The crowds also tend to be very different than those you encounter at club shows – Columbia is quite a drive from Washington or Baltimore, so you will mostly run into older patrons and their spouses drinking beer or parents with their underage kids in tow. Pulling into the parking area, my friends and I looked at the pretty empty field and were worried that there wouldn’t be a good turnout. Thunderstorms had moved through the area earlier, making the walk around the grounds a soggy adventure. I might not go to Merriweather to see most bands, but I will make the exception for Keane.

The pavilion is pretty empty when the first opening act, Fran Healy, begins his one-man acoustic set. Frontmen are all going solo these days – Brandon Flowers of the Killers, Kele Okereke of Bloc Party, and more recently, Paul Smith of Maximo Park. Healy is better known as the frontman for legendary Scottish alt-rock group Travis. He’s putting out his first solo album, Wreckorder, in October, so touring with Keane is a good way for Healy to preview tracks from his forthcoming release. He is very funny, at one point dedicating the 1999 Travis hit “Why Does It Always Rain on Me?” to the unfortunate souls who have lawn seating, and at another point, saying that bugs were biting him and asking if Columbia had mosquitoes, saying, “back in Scotland, we call them ‘midges.‘” In his Scottish accent, it was adorable to say the least.

He also told the story about how he successfully invited Beatle bassist Paul McCartney to play on his solo song “As It Comes” and trying to come up with an appropriate way to thank the Cute Beatle, decided he and his family would go vegetarian in honor of him. (McCartney later mailed Healy three of his late wife’s vegetarian cookbooks in recognition of the gesture.) The older crowd is appreciative of the Travis numbers sprinkled in the set like “Why Does It…” and “Sing” as they are played alongside new songs like the set-ender, “Buttercup.”

The second opener was bespectacled indie pop/folk singer Ingrid Michaelson, backed by a full band. Most of the time Michaelson, dressed in a frilly, small black dress, sang while strumming a ukulele. I’m not really a fan of her music, but even I cannot escape the radio play of her songs “Maybe” and “The Way I Am.” She is obviously a talented singer/songwriter, so I think I would have been more impressed with her performance if she hadn’t played so many covers. Michaelson’s version of Radiohead‘s “Creep” – just her warbling voice and her playing ukulele – was odd to say the least. Perhaps the strangest moment of the night was her saying goodbye with her version of Britney Spears‘ “Toxic”, including a choreographed dance sequence that ended with Michaelson on the shoulders of her bandmates.

Ingrid Michaelson Set List
Soldier
Poker Face (Lady Gaga acoustic cover fragment)
Die Alone
Parachute
The Hat
Creep (Radiohead cover done as an acoustic solo)
Maybe
Locked Up
The Way I Am
The Chain
Toxic (Britney Spears cover)

Keane‘s incidental music before they came onstage was a winner, including Two Door Cinema Club, Everything Everything (the Manchester quartet who recently opened for them on their sold-out Forest Tour of the UK), and Florence and the Machine. It got me appropriately psyched up for what was a fabulously tight set of songs from the English trio. From their recently released EP Night Train, Keane rather smartly only played the best tracks from the r&b-leaning release, including “Clear Skies,” “Stop for a Minute,” and “Your Love.” The latter is now famous as the only song in Keane‘s pretty substantial back catalogue that pianist / principal songwriter Tim Rice-Oxley sings on, and it is a great showcase of Rice-Oxley’s voice. One can only hope that he will share more lead singing duties with Tom Chaplin in the future.

This is not to say Chaplin did not keep up his end of the bargain. As usual, Chaplin’s beautifully compelling voice soared on the Keane ballads we all know so well, including “Everybody’s Changing” and “Somewhere Only We Know,” while being inexhaustible for the more fun, up tempo numbers, like “You Haven’t Told Me Anything” and “Spiralling.” I am torn between Thursday night’s versions of “This is the Last Time” and “Perfect Symmetry” as to which gets my vote for best song of the show. Both are tear-inducing when you hear them live, just gorgeous pieces of piano-driven pop. Going to see Keane is an event. An event you don’t want to miss.

Keane Set List
House Lights (instrumental)
Again and Again
Bend and Break
Everybody’s Changing
Nothing in My Way
Clear Skies
This is the Last Time
Stop for a Minute
Try Again
You Haven’t Told Me Anything
Spiralling
Bad Dream
Is It Any Wonder?
Your Love
Perfect Symmetry
Somewhere Only We Know
Bedshaped
//
My Shadow
Crystal Ball

Tour Dates
Aug 07 – Mann Center / Philadelphia
Aug 10 – Riverside Theatre / Milwaukee
Aug 11 – 1st Ave. / Minneapolis
Aug 13 – Fox Theatre / Boulder
Aug 14 – Mile High Festival / Denver

Keane Photos by Catherine Sexton

Keane: website | myspace | @ Constitution Hall | Keane to Release Expanded Version of Their Debut Album, Hopes and Fears | Keane announces North American in support of new album, Night Train
Fran Healy: website | myspace
Ingrid Michaelson: website | myspace | Everybody review | “Maybe” video

It’s been my experience that the 9:30 Club in Washington is not the ideal place to see a dance band. Or maybe I have been going to the wrong shows? Monday night the club played host to the first night of Montreal electro-funksters Chromeo‘s Business Casual Tour. One look at the keyboard stands – women’s bare legs with red heels – should have immediately told you this was going to be an unusual gig.

The first of two opening acts was New York City-based Telephoned, a duo comprising of the mustachioed Sammy Bananas (that’s got to be a stage name, surely?) on turntables and electronics and the prettily coiffed Maggie Horn. It turns out Horn is a local D.C. girl, so the duo had plenty of friends on hand to cheer them on. The two take popular songs and give them their own spin. I’m not really a fan of the songs they “spun” – to give you some idea, their set included mishmashes of Rihanna‘s “Rude Boy,” Yeah Yeah Yeahs‘ “Runaway,” and even their tour host’s, Chromeo‘s, “Night by Night.” Not really my thing, but there were plenty of people on the floor who disagreed. At one point, I was nervous as a man in a Don King outfit got into an argument with a girl who is a big fan of Telephoned as the two discussed their merits (or lack thereof). People: whatever floats your boat, to each his own, etc…

The second opener was Holy Ghost!, a band near and dear to my heart. Having seen them in June play to their fans at the U Street Music Hall, a venue specifically designed for dance music, I did not have high hopes for the 9:30. First there was a problem with the bass levels. Then there was a microphone wire problem. All in all, I have to say Alex Frankel (lead vocals / keyboards / additional percussion), Nick Millhiser (drums) and their two backing band members on guitars and synths did an admirable job despite the technical cock-ups that weren’t their fault. When it came time for “I Will Come Back,” all those equipment issues were forgotten as gig-goers gave themselves over to the beat. In the coming months and years, this will become every bit of a dance anthem as “Hold On” did for them at the start. Trust me. Dance bands often have too much in the way of exciting lighting going on around and behind them, and in the case of Holy Ghost!, less is definitely more. They didn’t have an elaborate stage set-up with them on Monday night, and they didn’t need them.

Holy Ghost! Set List
Say My Name
Hold On
It’s Not Over
Static on the Wire
I Will Come Back
New song (title unknown)

But Chromeo was who everyone had come to see at this sold-out show. My knowledge of them was limited to “Night by Night,” which had a very sexy promo video released last December. Appropriately enough, the focus is on the dancing. I knew they had two members – David Macklovitch (Dave 1) on guitar and lead vocals and Patrick Gemayel (P-Thugg) on synths and talk box – but assumed live they had to have more members, like Holy Ghost! Wrong. Gemayal had so many synths, even I lost count. For several songs he also wailed on bass, something I really appreciated. Macklovitch may be “the cute tall one” but Gemayel is the master onstage. Something I found strange: most of the duo’s songs are short, not what I would have expected for a dance band. It’s too bad they haven’t found more mainstream commercial success.

At the start, I wondered why Macklovitch was wearing sunglasses. Um, we’re in a dark nightclub, what gives? With a guitar, he had the opportunity to move around more than his synth-playing counterpart. I quickly learned that the sunglasses were to shade his eyes from the powerful light show that was going on directly behind the two of them. There was enough wattage on the 9:30 Club stage to land a jumbo jet. My eyes hadn’t been through such a workout since the Phoenix show at Constitution Hall in April. They granted us a short reprieve with “Momma’s Boy,” a tender but funny ’80s-sounding song that begins with keyboard effects and Macklovitch’s sweet vocals.

“Fancy Footwork,” the title track to their 2007 album release, had a bass effect so strong that I could feel the insides of my face vibrating. Not kidding. I tried holding on to the barrier, thinking this would dampen the effect. No such luck. Between this, the strobes, and the dancing-induced claustrophobia (including people’s limbs in your body and face), it was not a comfortable situation. Definitely not for the faint of heart. But if you’re in the mood for cutting a rug and don’t mind moments of temporary blindness, this would be the show for you. And good news for Chromeo fans: they do preview songs from their new album coming out in September, Business Casual.

Tour Dates
Jul 29 – Bowery Ballroom / New York City*#
Jul 29 – Love / New York City (afterparty / DJ set)
Jul 30 – House of Blues / Boston*#
Aug 02 – Capital Music Hall / Ottawa*#
Aug 03 – Phoenix / Toronto*#
Aug 05 – Majestic Theater / Detroit*#
Aug 06 – Lollapalooza / Chicago
Aug 06 – Official Lollapalooza Afterparty / Chicago (DJ set)
Aug 07 – First Avenue / Minneapolis*#
Aug 10 – Flames Central / Calgary*#
Aug 11 – Commodore Ballroom / Vancouver*#
Aug 12 – Showbox Market / Seattle*#
Aug 13 – Roseland Ballroom / Portland*#
Aug 15 – Outside Lands Music Festival / San Francisco
Aug 16 – House of Blues / San Diego*#
Aug 19 – Twilight Concert Series / Salt Lake City
Aug 19 – W Lounge / Salt Lake City (afterparty / DJ set)
Aug 20 – Ogden Theater / Denver*
Aug 24 – Stubb’s / Austin*#
Aug 25 – Palladium / Dallas, TX*#
Aug 26 – Cannery Ballroom / Nashville*#
Aug 27 – Masquerade / Atlanta*#
Aug 29 – Hollywood Bowl / Los Angeles^
* with Holy Ghost!
# with Telephoned
^ with the Chemical Brothers and Yacht

Chromeo: website | myspace
Holy Ghost!: website | myspace | Friendly Fires / Holy Ghost! – 12” Split Single| Interview with: Alex Frankel of Holy Ghost! | @ U Street Music Hall
Telephoned: myspace

One very good option this past boiling Friday night in Washington was to head into the decidedly more comfy confines (read: well air-conditioned) of the Black Cat to see We Are Scientists gig on the main stage. This time, they’d brought with them two opening acts, girl group Bad Girlfriend and Lightspeed Champion (aka Dev Hynes).

I tend to be overly critical of girl bands. Especially if they’ve got long blonde locks and are dressed in polka-dotted, super short dresses. But the truth is, they have so much to prove in the male-dominated music industry, and that means they have to really rock and prove themselves a hundred times over to audiences and critics. With the unsigned Brooklyn band Bad Girlfriend, I wasn’t too impressed with their vocals – a song titled “Blonde Rocket” isn’t really my thing – but their garage fierce guitar-playing leads me to think there’s something there, if it’s not obvious on the surface. The sound is very Californian – jangly guitars with vocals, kind of similar to what the Like and Surfer Blood are doing these days (somewhat aping the Beach Boys‘s vibe), but the songs aren’t as strong as those groups.

Next up was Lightspeed Champion. I first came to know of Dev Hynes‘s solo work by hearing the ‘tude-filled and hook-laden “Marlene” on BBC 6music, so I was expecting to hear this recent single at this show. No such luck. Hynes, seemingly always wearing his New York Yankees baseball cap, played Friday night with nothing but his guitar and a Macbook for backing. If you’re into uncomplicated sweet pop songs, this would have been the set for you.

One girl at the front knew every word to every song Hynes played, so I’m glad she was up front, but I think I can speak for the rest of the crowd, we were mostly lost. For example, “Galaxy of the Lost”, with the lyrics of ” well kiss my open wounds, and add some ice, and choke on my sick vice,” is more heart-wrenching and probably would have worked better with a less happy-go-lucky, indie rock band than We Are Scientists. Hynes has a strong singing voice as evidenced by songs like “Midnight Surprise”, it’s just that the audience there that night at the Black Cat were mostly the kind who didn’t appreciate his type of mostly baroque pop.

We Are Scientists began their set shortly after 11. By this time, the club had mostly filled up and it was feeling a little cramped in the front. The Black Cat hosts mostly all-ages shows, so by now, those who could drink had already thrown back a couple and were being generally obnoxious. The band’s latest album Barbara was just released in mid-June so I knew they’d be playing songs from that album. The most disappointing thing about the whole night was that it became crystal clear to me that most people there didn’t have a clue that the band had new songs, let alone that they had a new album out. Um, there’s this thing called the internet? “Nice Guys” started the set with appropriate high energy, but the crowd wasn’t with lead singer / guitarist Keith Murray and bassist Chris Cain. I love the song, the way it’s frenetic and poppy. But the crowd wasn’t feeling it.

The next song, “This Scene is Dead” from their debut With Love and Squalor, went down far better, everyone in the club dancing along. As the night went on, it was obvious the old favorites – “Inaction,” “Dinosaurs”, and “The Great Escape” (introduced by Cain as their best dance song) just three examples – that the majority of the crowd had come to see. Peppered throughout the band’s set was Murray and Cain’s always funny conversations with each other and with the crowd; I’m not sure if all the joking was causing them to make count-in mistakes, but it really didn’t matter because like cats, they always landed on their feet with something terribly amusing to say to us and everyone forgot that there was a “mistake” in the first place. Another mistake I spied was by a girl who had pushed herself to the front and had elbowed all of us out of the way. In her effort to be “seen” by the band, she waved her arms frantically during the last third of the set, and then clapped enthusiastically to new song “Jack and Ginger,” blissfully unaware that she was clapping completely off the rhythm. She also stole a set list from the stage later, which all regular Cat gig-goers know is bad etiquette.

I don’t know about you, but to me, a We Are Scientists gig seems to be the last place you’d see canoodling. But there was a couple right up front, making out during “Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt” while me and new friends I’d made at the concert rolled our eyes and looked away to stop ourselves from getting sick. I guess if you had to choose a song to make out to, that would be the one. I just wasn’t expecting anyone to do it at a gig. I mean, really. Get a room. Or at least go to the side and get out of our way. We want to groove to “Chick Lit” and “It’s a Hit” and you’re really distracting us.

An aborted attempt of Cain’s to start encore song “Cash Cow” causes him to fool around with this bass, concocting several possible lines to be Murray’s “theme song” until Murray is happy with it and the audience cheers for him at the just the right moment. See, with any other band, five false starts would be cause for cat-calls and groaning. But not for our We Are Scientists. They’re funny, they’re real, and for goodness sakes, they play some great rock. And if you haven’t seen them live yet, go. You are in for a real treat.

We Are Scientists Set List
Nice Guys
This Scene is Dead
Inaction
I Don’t Bite
Impatience
Let’s See It
Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt
Rules Don’t Stop
Chick Lit
Pittsburgh
Ambition
It’s a Hit
Dinosaurs
The Great Escape
Jack and Ginger
After Hours
//
Cash Cow

Tour Dates:
Jul 19 – Horseshoe Tavern / Toronto
Jul 20 – Blind Pig / Ann Arbor, MI
Jul 21 – Bottom Lounge / Chicago
Jul 23 – Larimer Lounge / Denver
Jul 26 – Doug Fir / Portland
Jul 27 – Biltmore Cabaret / Vancouver
Jul 28 – Neumo’s / Seattle
Aug 06 – Troubadour / Los Angeles
Aug 07 – Slim’s / San Francisco
Aug 08 – Cellar Door / Visalia, CA
Aug 10 – Kilby Court / Salt Lake City
Aug 12 – Record Bar / Kansas City, MO
Aug 13 – Old Rock House / St. Louis
Aug 14 – Basement / Columbus
Aug 15 – Brillobox / Pittsburgh
Sept 03 – Fountain Square / Cincinnati

We Are Scientists: website | myspace | Brain Thrust Mastery review | @ Johnny Brenda’s | @ Austin Music Hall | @ Electric Factory | @ Black Cat, January 2010 | MP3 Minute: “Rules Don’t Stop” | We Are Scientists Debut “Nice Guys” Single | Interview with: Chris Cain of We Are Scientists | Barbara review
Lightspeed Champion: website | myspace
Bad Girlfriend: myspace

D.C. finally has a new, inviting dance club to call its own in the form of the U Street Music Hall. Just two blocks from the now world-famous Ben’s Chili Bowl, it has a façade so minimalist that you could completely miss it when you’re walking east on U Street unless you’re keeping your eyes peeled for it. This was the first show I’d ever seen there; the venue just opened on St. Patrick’s Day this year, with Belgian DJs/producers Aeroplane (known to me as the guys behind the popular remixes of Robbie Williams’ “Bodies” and Friendly Fires’ “Paris”) leading the welcome of the venue to our city. I was assured by the congenial doorman that the sound system was world-class (this makes sense, as five of the six owners of the place are DJs), the bartenders were nice (and that he was possibly the meanest person that worked there, which suggested the rest of the staff had to be super sweet), and the dance floor was reinforced with cork as to provide more support to dancegoers’ aching tootsies. All definite pluses.

Saturday night was the first Washington appearance of electronic dance duo Holy Ghost! Until last month, Holy Ghost! the live experience consisted of longtime friends Alex Frankel and Nick Millhiser DJaying and spinning records. Holy Ghost! have just released an EP on DFA Records called Static on the Wire, and it’s their first official release despite having been together for a long while. Now after supporting their friends LCD Soundsystem on a North American tour, the two are on their first headlining tour of America with a three-member backing band. When the band was first booked for the Saturday night timeslot of 9 PM, I thought that had to be a misprint. But the venue’s website was clear on this, even encouraging everyone to show up early and not to miss the live set. Between the club and the band however, they made the smart decision to delay the set start until after 10 to allow for the club to fill up further.

Some guys up front at the show were definite diehards, yelling out “fuck yeah!” at the conclusion of each of the band’s numbers. “I Will Come Back,” the crown jewel of their recent EP, was a revelation live. It’s the audience participation, “raise your hands in the air like you just don’t care, and sway your arms from side to side” kind of song. Terribly difficult to write but somehow dance acts always know how to put these together perfectly, and Holy Ghost! is no exception. During the set, Frankel alternated between lead vocals, keyboards, and a percussion setup that looked especially impressive under U Hall’s lighting scheme, so when you watched him, it was like seeing a National Geographic time lapse film. Track “Static on the Wire” featured a drumming duel between Frankel and one of the backing band. Awesome.

And what is dance music without the mad beats? Nothing. Millhiser, wearing a t-shirt proclaiming “J DILLA CHANGED MY LIFE,” was inexhaustible on drums. I think it’s entirely possible that he could beat a drum machine in a face-off. At one point during new song “Slow Motion,” Frankel lost a drumstick and later another in the reckless revelry of hitting a tom. The devoted fans were also respectful, pushing the wayward drumsticks out of harm’s way (and out of the path of Frankel’s dancing feet), not shamelessly grabbing them as souvenirs as I’ve seen at other shows. When it came time for the band’s 2008 epic hit “Hold On,” bodies were bumping. Is the world ready for Holy Ghost! ? I think so.

Set List
Do It Again
It’s Not Over
Static on the Wire
Say My Name
Slow Motion
I Will Come Back
Hold On
New song (title unknown)

Tour Dates
Jun 24 – le poisson rouge / New York City
Jun 25 – Making Time / Philadelphia
Jun 26 – Club Vinyl / Denver (DJ set)
Jul 23 – Bushnell Park Pavilion / Hartford, CT
Jul 26 – 9:30 Club / Washington, DC#
Jul 27 – Trocadero / Philadelphia, PA#
Jul 29 – Bowery Ballroom / New York City#
Aug 02 – Capital Music Hall / Ottawa#
Aug 03 – Phoenix / Toronto#
Aug 04 – Central Park SummerStage / New York City^
Aug 05 – Majestic Theater / Detroit#
Aug 06 – Lollapalooza / Chicago
Aug 07 – First Avenue / Minneapolis#
Aug 10 – Flames Central / Calgary#
Aug 11 – Commodore Ballroom / Vancouver#
Aug 12 – Showbox Market / Seattle#
Aug 13 – Roseland Ballroom / Portland#
Aug 16 – House of Blues / San Diego#
Aug 19 – Twilight Concert Series / Salt Lake City
Aug 20 – Ogden Theater / Denver#
Aug 24 – Stubb’s / Austin#
Aug 25 – Palladium / Dallas, TX#
Aug 26 – Cannery Ballroom / Nashville#
Aug 27 – Masquerade / Atlanta#
* with Altered Egos
^ with Hot Chip
# supporting Chromeo

Holy Ghost!: website | myspace | Friendly Fires / Holy Ghost! – 12” Split Single | Holy Ghost! Touring with LCD Soundsystem, Plans for Headlining Dates and Tour with Chromeo | Interview with: Alex Frankel of Holy Ghost!

(Author’s note: Despite my securing prior approval from Holy Ghost!‘s people to take photos at the show, U Street Music Hall has a no photography during shows policy. For live photos from their first-ever live gig on May 15, 2010, at Under 100 in New York City, check out this post at Tastes Like Caramel.)

“Are you ready to rock?” asked a jovial Barry Hyde of the Futureheads Friday night. Cheering ensued. He flashed an evil grin. “You’re in the right place, because we are too!” The Sunderland, England punk rock quartet played a blazing set of favorites old and new to a crowd raring to go at the Black Cat in Washington. Their latest album The Chaos was released in America this past Tuesday on Dovecote Records.

The first of two support acts, the Static Jacks, seemed perfectly matched to the punk sensibility of the headlining Sunderland rockers. This five-member New Jersey band is a band primed for success that you’ve probably never even heard of by name before. According to Wikipedia, tunes by this self-described garage-soul band have graced “The Hills” and “The City” and have been featured on stateside satellite radio. Despite sporting a haircut reminiscent of Lyle Lovett, singer Ian Devaney has the swagger and aura of coolness of Joey Ramone and the magnetism of the Horrors‘ Faris Badwan. I was standing in front of bassist Spencer Kimmins and guitarist Henry Kaye and nearly got hit in the head by wayward guitar necks; this didn’t put me off at the slightest, because this is what you should expect during a high energy punk set. You don’t expect the bass player to hit a suitcase with a stick like it was a drum either, but you go with it if the music is good. Despite their young age (all of them under 21, according to the Xs on their hands), they have a polished but aggressive sound. If they keep this up, expect big things from this band soon.

The Like, an all-girl group from Los Angeles, have previously toured with some heavy hitters – Muse, the Arctic Monkeys, and Razorlight, just to name a few. Given their sometimes punk, sometimes sunny pop sound, the comparison to the Go-Go’s is inevitable. There are also whiffs of the Beatles (check out the video for “He’s Not a Boy” below, which reminds me of the nightclub dance scenes in “A Hard Day’s Night”) and the Beach Boys with their harmonies. Oddly, their set sandwiched in between the Static Jacks and the Futureheads almost felt like a rest period because they couldn’t match the liveliness of the other two acts. I would have preferred if they stuck to punk (and showcase their technical chops) than with retro pop. Their next album produced by Mark Ronson, Release Me, will be released on June 15 on Downtown Records.

He’s Not A Boy from The Like on Vimeo.

Sunderland, nestled in the far reaches of Northeast England, has been criminally neglected by music pundits in the past, but mark my words, it won’t be for much longer. One of these days someday soon, America will come to its collective senses and realize the wealth of music there, from the likes of Field Music, Frankie and the Heartstrings, and Friday’s headliners the Futureheads. I should have known I was in for an amazing nights simply from a message lead singer/guitarist Barry Hyde sent me hours before the show, “we’re going to rock your socks off!”

The moment Hyde and his band stepped on the Black Cat stage, you could sense the electricity in the air. The driving count-in of “5-4-3-2-1!” of “The Chaos” was a superb way to begin a set that never let up in sheer intensity and fun. “Heartbeat Song” was prefaced by Hyde with, “imagine it’s the ’80s. You’re in a John Hughes film, and you’ve just fallen in love.” Wow. It’s the obvious earworm single of The Chaos, and was simply breathtaking live as a pop-punk masterpiece. I previously linked to the excellent promo video for the song on a tour announcement 2 months ago, but check out this “making of” video that shows you just how fun these guys are.

Their roadie had painstakingly taped down all the guitar cords onstage, and this was because guitarist Ross Millard, bassist Jaff Craig, and most often Hyde himself could be found roaming the stage while frenetically going at their instruments with gusto. By the second song in, all of them were covered in sweat. Having never seen this band before live, I was not expecting the very funny stage patter from Hyde and the interaction between him, Millard, and Craig. It made an already stellar gig even better, and I’d argue they rank up there with We Are Scientists for pure during-gig hilarity. Early on in the show, Hyde chided a drunk couple who had been chatting throughout the set, one of whom had thrown a empty glass at his feet. “You do know this is a gig, right?” The crowd cheered in response.

During their cover of Kate Bush‘s “Hounds of Love,” Hyde involved the audience in a shouting contest, as Millard was unable to do his harmonies due to a sore throat, Hyde admitting he was scared to sing part of a song that he’d never done live before. Aww. (If you were wondering, my side singing along with Craig won the contest due to our enthusiasm in participating.) For the encore, Hyde indulged a devoted fan as the band played “Man Ray” from their 2004 self-titled debut album, saying to her, “after every single song we’ve played you shouted for this.” Just goes to show that persistence, in the presence of a obliging band, pays off. After such an energetic set, it was obvious that these chaps from Sunderland could have played on for hours and hours and the crowd would have eaten it all up. I can’t wait to see these guys again soon.

The Futureheads Set List
The Chaos
Meantime
Heartbeat Song
Decent Days and Nights
The Baron
Area
Struck Dumb
Sun Goes Down
Skip to the End
The Connector
I Can Do That
The Beginning of the Twist
Hounds of Love (Kate Bush cover)
Jupiter
//
This is the Life
Man Ray
Work is Never Done

Tour Dates
Jun 07 – Paradise / Boston
Jun 08 – Bowery Ballroom / New York City
Jun 10 – Mod Club / Toronto
Jun 11 – Magic Stick / Detroit
Jun 12 – Lincoln Hall / Chicago

The Futureheads: website | myspace | The Futureheads Ready for June North American Tour
The Static Jacks: website | myspace
The Like: website | myspace

After seeing Laura Marling and Mumford and Sons last month, I suspect I may well be turning into a folkie. Not that it’d be a bad thing. Furthering my genre-specific education was folk rock siren April Smith and her four-man band the Great Picture Show, who graced the Christmas light-lit Iota stage this past Tuesday night – a decidedly balmy, sticky night in the Nation’s Capital. This sort of weather is typical for June here, and native Washingtonians have learned to live with the heat and humidity of our summers. For Smith and her band however, I felt terrible about it because she kept mentioning the stifling heat. Surely the night before in Atlanta could not have been much better? I was worried how this was going to affect them playing songs from her fan-financed debut album Songs for a Sinking Ship, full of hand claps and finger snaps. I really needn’t have worried.

I decided that her talking about the heat and revealing to us that they had indulged in a large pasta dinner earlier (and saying it was probably a bad idea before a performance) was her way of reaching out to us, like we were friends. Iota has that kind of vibe about it– it’s a small but comfortable, homey place, a place where you can go to see an up and coming band perform and you don’t feel like you have to be someone else. Wearing a sleeveless white blouse with a red skirt and lacy petticoat, the brunette Smith looked more cowgirl than a rocker. This thought was quickly put out of mind as soon as she opened her mouth on their opening number, “Movie Loves a Screen,” Smith engaging the audience with her sweet voice.

Wow, what a voice. The best numbers were those that showcased Smith’s amazing vocal control, range, and delivery, like “Dixie Boy” (a woman’s stern warning to another woman eyeing her man), and those that got the crowd involved, like the hand clap, foot stomp-inducing “Colors.” The end of the show should have been album track “Wow and Flutter,” which if you were wondering did wow me quite a lot, especially thanks to a homage to Led Zeppelin the band injected into the bridge of the song in the form of a folky bit of “Whole Lotta Love,” including some of the rock anthem’s racier lyrics. Not what you expected from a bunch of folkies, huh?

After a short period of deliberation in a huddle, the band decided to return for an encore. Smith explained that it was going to have to be a cover. “Do you want upbeat…” she started to ask, interrupted by someone shouting out “upbeat!” Well then. Smith and the band proceeded to play a blazing version of Melanie’s “Brand New Key,” a 1970s pop hit that you may be familiar with via a recent cover by American Idol alum Katharine McPhee. Given the choice, I’d take April Smith and the Great Picture Show’s version any day. According to the band’s Facebook page, Smith provides “vocals, rhythm guitar, [and] sass” – she’s got plenty of talent in all three to teach generations of women how music is done right.

April Smith and the Great Picture Show Set List
Movie Loves a Screen
Drop Dead Gorgeous
Terrible Things
Stop Wondering
What’ll I Do
Colors
Can’t Say No
The One That Got Away
Dixie Boy
Wow and Flutter
//
Brand New Key (Melanie cover)

April Smith and the Great Picture Show: website | myspace | Songs for a Sinking Ship review