popwreckoning

Bad Veins
Cincinnati, Ohio.
badveins.net
Indie/Pop

This duo consists of Sebastien (drums) and Ben (vox/guitar/keys) and their reel to reel tape deck. They’re currently recording their second album.

If you haven’t seen them before, then I highly suggest catching them at SXSW this year. They put on a great live show that keeps you dancing til the end.

(Photo straight out of camera. I’m quite proud, if I do say so myself.)

Even though my night ended up with me being stranded outside the Showbox because my car got locked in a parking garage, I look at it as a “glass-half-full” night. Because a.) Frightened Rabbit was in town again to start off their fall tour, and b.) the lighting at the Showbox was better than I’ve seen it in at least a couple of months.

Starting out the night was the adorably lo-fi Bad Veins, who definitely deserved to be higher on the bill. Just the two guys on stage made for a different kind of performance, because I’m so used to at least four people on stage. It makes you pay attention to each band member more closely because there are so few of them. Lead singer Benjamin Davis basically stood in one place, but amped it up with an altered mic stand featuring an old-school corded phone that fed into an equally as old school voice recorder which sat in the middle of him and drummer Sebastian Schultz, who made up for the lack of people on stage with his charming effervescence.

I figure the phone-recorder set up was the cheaper alternative to an actual talk box, and it worked really well with the laid-back, hook-laden retro indie pop. “Falling Tide” and the lovely “Gold and Warm” and “The Lie” are alone enough to go buy their debut album, out now. Seriously. Do it.

Plants and Animals were up next, who weren’t bad. They just left me, as well as the rest of the audience, a little bit cold. The songs seemed to drag on in the middle of the set, and we were all pretty anxious to see some of our favorite Scotsmen. And Bad Veins were just so darn good.

“Undone Melody” was a beautiful 6-minute epic, though. That’s partially why their set seemed to drag – because on average, their songs were 2 minutes longer than Bad Veins’ songs. The one thing I did like particularly about Plants and Animals was the instruments they used. Lead guitarist Matthew Woodley played several different guitars throughout their set, but one specifically was so weathered that it matched up perfectly with their on-record sound. Plants and Animals only records to tapes, so it could easily sound like it was recorded now or in 1975, which is a refreshing change-up from the digital world that we currently live in. And the live show almost lived up to the feeling, but just fell short of the analog-only sound.

Walking on stage still with an internal body clock that said it was 7 a.m., Frightened Rabbit pushed through the lack of sleep to put on an amazing show. And not just for Thursday. It would have been equally as amazing if it were on a Friday or Saturday.

Starting off with the first track from their third album A Winter of Mixed Drinks, “Things” had just the right amount of positive vibe to set the mood for the show. After that came “The Modern Leper,” “Nothing Like You,” and “The Twist,” all intermixed with some particularly nice words from Scott for one of our local radio stations KEXP, which was in the midst of a fundraising week.

“KEXP is the most important U.S. radio station for fledgling British bands,” he said, which was then met by a huge round of applause and “woop-woop”s. It was nice to hear some praise for one of the only stations around that doesn’t have commercial motives, and hasn’t fallen into the cliché “Seattle music” trap (i.e. playing at least one Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains song every hour, often the same one several times a day). But all of Scott’s gushing for Seattle was completely sincere, which is one of the things that I enjoy so much about Frightened Rabbit – that they’ll cuss like sailors, play after being awake for an obscene number of hours, but love every minute of it.

“We played this stage about three years ago, when we came through supporting Pinback, and we thought that this room was fucking huge,” Scott said, “And well, it still is, I suppose. But thanks for filling it up!”

The last time Frightened Rabbit played Seattle wasn’t actually all that long ago – in May at Neumo’s, which is a considerably smaller venue, but this time the show wasn’t any less intimate.

During “Foot Shooter,” most of the band – Andy Monaghan, Gordon Skeene, Billy Kennedy – sat idly for Scott to perform a particularly beautiful acoustic version of the song with brother Grant Hutchison on drums.

“When you play a song this many times, you wanna change it up sometimes.” Amidst the complete silence, it actually sent some people into tears.

As a prelude to “Be Less Rude” off their first album Sing the Greys, Scott told a lovely story about when he wrote the song.

“I wrote this when a friend of mine was dating this girl, who was a complete dick. This song was about her.”

How could you get a more simpler plea than “be less rude?”

I failed to mention already that a friend of mine, Susie – who lives in Scotland and has seen Frightened Rabbit close to 30 times – was staying awake through the night to read my tweets from the show because she was “living vicariously through [me].” One of the things that surprised her was the rearrangement of the band’s setlist. I guess for the last two years they’ve been finishing the night with “Keep Yourself Warm” in the encore, but this tour that was no longer the case.

The final song of the normal set list was “Keep Yourself Warm,” the heartbreaking lament off The Midnight Organ Fight which featured a large majority of the crowd singing along to “It takes more than fucking someone to keep yourself warm” before the ascending outro where Andy, Scott, Gordon, Billy, and Grant all played as if it were still the last song of the night. But glancing at the set list, I knew that there were still two songs to go.

Scott started the encore with the stripped-down “Poke,” a beautiful ballad that almost sounded like a lullaby, and like “Foot Shooter,” the audience responded with complete silence. And immediately the rest of the band came on stage after that to play the final song – “The Loneliness and the Scream,” in which Andy gestured for everyone to start clapping along to the driving beat. I didn’t expect for us to be clapping through the entire song, but even though “The Loneliness and the Scream” isn’t a short song, everyone in this awesome crowd threw their hands together the whole time. And nearing the end of the song, our clapping was met with the accompanying “oh whoa ohh whoaaa” to finish out the 19-song set joyously.

I explained it to Susie afterward, who had a hard time comprehending the set list change. Seeing that A Winter of Mixed Drinks was considerably more positive than The Midnight Organ Fight, Frightened Rabbit probably wanted the finale of the live show to be as uplifting as the new album.

They definitely achieved that. Waiting until the end of the show and leaving too late to get my car out of the parking garage before it closed – thus me having to sleep on my friend’s couch and pay an extra $20 the next morning for overnight parking – was totally worth it.

Set List:

1. Things
2. The Modern Leper
3. Nothing Like You
4. The Twist
5. I Feel Better
6. Fast Blood
7. Foot Shooter
8. Old Old Fashioned
9. Swim Until You Can’t See Land
10. The Wrestle
11. Good Arms vs. Bad Arms
12. Head Rolls Off
13. My Backwards Walk
14. Be Less Rude
15. Yes, I Would
16. Living Colour
17. Keep Yourself Warm

Encore

1. Poke
2. The Loneliness and the Scream

Scottish rock band Frightened Rabbit start their U.S. tour today in Seattle at the Showbox at the Market with openers Plants and Animal and Bad Veins.

This will be the band’s second U.S. tour promoting their newest album A Winter of Mixed Drinks, which they’ve taken some time to do gigs over in the U.K. between tours.

Tour dates:

10/7 – The Showbox at the Market – Seattle, WA

10/8 – The Vogue Theater – Vancouver, BC

10/9 – Wonder Ballroom – Portland, OR

10/10 – The Fillmore – San Francisco, CA

10/11 – Lower Sprawl Plaza – Berkeley, CA

10/13 – Mayan Theatre – Los Angeles, CA

10/14 – House of Blues – San Diego, CA

10/15 – House of Blues – Anaheim, CA

10/16 – Beauty Bar – Las Vegas, NV

10/17 – The Clubhouse – Phoenix, AZ

10/19 – The Loft – Dallas, TX

10/20 – Stubb’s Bar-B-Q – Austin, TX

10/21 – Walter’s On Washington – Houston, TX

10/22 – Tipitina’s Uptown – New Orleans, LA

10/23 – Common Grounds – Gainesville, FL

10/24 – The Social – Orlando, FL

10/26 – 40 Watt Club – Athens, GA

10/28 – Starlight Ballroom – Philadelphia, PA

10/29 – Paradise Rock Club – Boston, MA

10/30 – Terminal 5 – New York, NY

11/1 – 9:30 Club – Washington DC

11/2 – Diesel – Pittsburgh, PA

11/3 – Magic Stick – Detroit, MI

11/4 – House of Blues – Chicago, IL

After they’re finished with the North American tour, Frightened Rabbit will head right into a tour of Germany and the UK.

For more information on the tour and where to buy tickets, go to http://www.myspace.com/frightenedrabbit.

The 2-piece band, Bad Veins, from Cincinnati, came through KC on tour with We Are Scientists. During the interview, they share two songs with us. The first plays right before we ask Would You Rather questions and is called “Dry Out” followed by “Go Home” at the end.

PopWreckoning is giving away tickets to see We are Scientists, who’ll be playing with Bad Veins and local artists Cowboy Indian Bear, on August 12 at the Record Bar in Kansas City, MO.

We only have a four pairs of tickets up for grabs. The contest will end at 2:00 p.m. the day of show (August 12). The show is 18 and over. Winners’ tickets will be at the door when you arrive at the show. Please also include your full name and email in the comment so that we can get in touch with the winners of the contest.

Winning is easy, simply complete the following steps:

1. Comment in this article and tell us your favorite science experiment and why? PopWreckoning staff will read your answers and choose from our favorite ones the day of show.

2. Repost this article on either your facebook, twitter, myspace, blog, website or other social media tool. Spread the wealth, then send us the link (by posting it in your comment).

Then, best (and easiest) of all, show up at the venue and enjoy the show, compliments of PopWreckoning. Good luck!



I hate to be cliche (ok, maybe I do), but you know how there’s that Forrest Gump quote that says, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get”? I kind of feel that way about shows at Kansas City’s Midland Theatre. Sometimes you get something that’s a bit nutty such as comedian Conan O’Brien. Sometimes you get something that’s sweet such as the State Ballet’s The Nutcracker. And other times, you get something that’s a box of mixed chocolates within itself. That’s what the recent Thrice tour was like: a box of mixed chocolates; and with each act on the bill, ‘you never knew what you were gonna get.’
First act of the night, The Dig, is what I like to imagine as one of those caramel-filled chocolates. Just like caramel, their music had a tendency to stick with you for a bit. They delivered catchy, rock tunes (I say rock because they are more rock live than they are power pop like their website says) that were just the right level of messy raucousness to help them stand out. Their last number turned into a big party as members of later acts came out with extra drum sticks and percussion instruments to add to the band’s already explosive sound.

Next, was indie pop duo Bad Veins and their reel-to-reel machine, Irene. In my musical box of chocolates, I picture these guys as one of those fruit-filled chocolates. Something that’s a bit sweeter than the other chocolates in the box, but in a vintage kind of way. Bad Veins has perhaps the happiest drummer you’ll ever see, which I surprisingly enjoyed despite the odd pairing of his happiness while singer Benjamin Davis belted his heartbroken lyrics through an old-fashioned telephone. This band is definitely doing something unique, but I’d like to see them refine it just a little bit more. At times they went for a more danceable kind of the Bravery type sound and other times they had more of a straight rock sound. I think the dance-ier side of them worked a bit better with the vocal style, especially when Davis sang through the telephone.

The third act, Kevin Devine, is your favorite piece of chocolate in the box. The one that no matter what other surprises you find in the assorted box, you know you can count on this reliable candy…for me that’s the peanut butter one. Kevin Devine began alone on the stage with just his guitar for back up. Later, he was joined by the Goddamn Band. I liked the solo start. It let people really experience the personality of Kevin. He began small, gently strumming and singing closely into the mic before hitting an emotional explosion that makes him hop back and yowl his choruses. It’s an interesting dynamic technique and one that works well for him. Like preceding acts, Devine was also joined by other acts on the roster for a tune. This comraderie between the bands helped provide some relief from the tension of some of Devine’s harsher lyrics.

Finally, there’s Thrice. In my metaphorical box of chocolates, they’re the chocolate you try out anyways, even though you’re not entirely sure you’ll like if from past experiences. They’re my coconut chocolate. Based off the crowd, there are plenty of fans of this particular flavor, but it was just not for me. I tried it, but I’d rather stick with my trusty old peanut butter flavor. Now don’t get me wrong; I respected the tour’s dear headliners with their impressive lights and passionate playing. There was some yelling, but not the kind that makes ears bleed. This just didn’t connect with me and it seemed a bit out out of place even with the diversity of the openers. Sorry Thrice fans, but c’est la vie. I can’t be expected to love everyone.

All 10 tracks from the debut album of Manchester, England-based electropop dance band Delphic are now available for streaming on their Myspace. The album Acolyte was released in January in the UK on Kitsune Maison but just saw stateside release last week on June 29 on Dangerbird Records, the California label of Silversun Pickups and Bad Veins.

The band – lead singer/bassist James Cook, guitarist Matt Cocksedge, and multi-instrumentalist Rick Boardman – recently played shows in New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles in June prior to the American album release date. But there are rumors the English trio will return to America for shows in October. I just saw these guys last week at Roskilde Festival and they’re definitely ones to watch. Check out the promo video for “Halcyon” below.

Delphic: website | myspace

Irish trio Two Door Cinema Club was pretty much universally hotly tipped by British music critics last year even before their debut album Tourist History even made it to store shelves in early March 2010. The band received further validation as a one of only of 15 acts to make it on the BBC Sound of 2010 long list. Despite accolades like these, the band have not rested on their laurels, relentlessly touring and easily gaining new fans with their brand of pop / punky hybrid rock, first across Britain and the rest of Europe. Now it appears North America has caught the Two Door bug, with many of the dates on their first-ever headlining tour of our continent selling out. High off playing a great gig the night before at New York’s Bowery Ballroom, they performed at Johnny Brenda’s in Philadelphia’s Fishtown neighborhood last Thursday with two opening acts, Million Young and Bad Veins.

Florida’s Million Young took to the stage first. Frontman Mike Diaz (guitar, programming) sings dreamy lyrics but is backed by synths and Afrobeat. They sound like what you might imagine would result if Beach House went to the islands and decided to make a record. That’s my impression anyway – other people have compared the band’s sound to South Carolinan Toro y Moi. The vocals are too new age-y for me, but I was really digging the synth and drum sections. Songs like “Mien” and “Cynthia” set early gig-goers gyrating.

I’d seen Bad Veins before, also in the second spot on the bill; they supported We Were Promised Jetpacks in DC in February. Thankfully, singer Benjamin Davis still rocks the telephonic vocals, and drummer Sebastien Schultz is still pounding out the militant beats that pair so well with Davis’ style of sometimes drawn out, sometimes disaffected and Beck-ish, and sometimes theatrical rock singing style. Their tape player, Irene, was employed to add further warmth to the music with strings and brass. Davis commented that “her” location stage right was unusual (usually the tape player is set up in the middle of the stage between them, so that Schultz can reach the play and stop buttons).

However, their set did not seem to be affected by this at all. Songs like the yearning “Gold and Warm” and the groovy “Crosseyed” and “Falling Tide” captivated the audience so much that the crowd was won over, with several fans on the floor and in the balcony shouting with much displeasure when Davis announced they only had one song left. I’m impressed by all that these two guys from Cincinnati can musically and their performance in Philadelphia was no exception. Watch this video of “The Lie” below from South by Southwest 2009, just gorgeous. Definitely check them out. Really, they should be much bigger in America than they are.

For most of the bands I like from overseas, it takes a long time for America to catch on and to ever see them on network television, so I take Two Door Cinema Club‘s appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live earlier this month as an excellent sign that they’ve already been recognized in America as a good bet. (Catch one of the songs they performed for Kimmel below.) When it came time for Two Door’s set on Thursday, there were several teasing moments where the lights went down and went back up again as guitars and gear were checked and re-checked. This gave ample time for latecomers to fill in on both floors when the band finally took the stage, beginning with the engaging love song “Cigarettes in the Theatre,” which I imagine will be their trademark set starter for the foreseeable future.

Listening to a record in the comfort of your bedroom or car is different than seeing that band live, and this can’t be stressed enough in the case of Two Door Cinema Club. Watch for the frenetically played, flying guitars being played by the principal members, bassist Kev Baird, lead guitarist Sam Halliday, and lead singer / guitarist Alex Trimble. Drumsticks also fly courtesy of Brighton, England touring drummer Ben Thompson, personally chosen by the band in October to replace the Mac programming employed on their recordings. This is just fun, fast-paced guitar pop with good lyrics. Watching gig-goers go into near trances over the great music made me smile.

The surprises of the evening were the playing of two little-known b-sides, “Hands Off My Cash, Monty” (introduced by Baird with the warning, “you won’t know this one, unless you are a super fan or something“) and “Kids,” which wasn’t the MGMT cover some of us at the front had guessed jokingly when the set lists were first laid out on the stage floor. Both of these sound great live and in truth, either of them would have felt right at home on Tourist History. The crowd enthusiastically clapped in time to the bridge of “Costume Party,” leading me to believe that many of them had already gotten their free mp3 of the song from joining the band’s mailing list.

But if I were to pick the highlights of the night, hands down they would be the songs from the encore. The printed set list did not indicate there would be one, but a big fan at the front commented loudly to the rest of us, “They have to come back. They haven’t played ‘I Can Talk’ yet!” Wise words. After the audience’s insistent chant of “one more song!” the band returned to play “Come Back Home” followed by “I Can Talk.” By then, these lads from Bangor had the Philly crowd eating out of their hand. World domination is next.

Two Door Cinema Club Set List
Cigarettes in the Theatre
Undercover Martyn
Hands Off My Cash, Monty
Do You Want It All
Something Good Can Work
This is the Life
Kids
Costume Party
You’re Not Stubborn
What You Know
Eat That Up, It’s Good for You
//
Come Back Home
I Can Talk

Two Door Cinema Club: website | myspace | Two Door Cinema Club To Tour with Phoenix in Spring, Headline First North American Tour | “Something Good Can Work” video | @ Constitution Hall | Interview with: Sam Halliday of Two Door Cinema Club
Million Young: website | myspace
Bad Veins: website | myspace | @ Rock ‘n’ Roll Hotel

Thrice has announced the second leg of their Summer headlining tour. 

The band recently canceled their co-headlining tour with Manchester Orchestra due to a family emergency, but they’re now ready to tour again. They’ll be going back on the road with Kevin Devine, Bad Veins and The Dig.

The tour starts June 3 in San Francisco, CA and goes until July 17 in Pomona, CA. Presale tickets for the second leg of the tour are available May 11 at 1 p.m. local time in each city. Tickets go on sale to the public on May 17.

Tour Dates:
Jun 3 – San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom *
Jun 4 – Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater *
Jun 5 – Seattle, WA @ King Cat Theater *
Jun 7 – Edmonton, AB @ The Starlite Room *
Jun 8 – Calgary, AB @ MacEwan Hall Ballroom *
Jun 9 – Saskatoon, SAS @ Louis’ Pub
Jun 11 – St. Paul, MN @ Station 4 ^ #
Jun 12 – Chicago, IL @ House of Blues * ^ #
Jun 13 – Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews Hall * ^
Jun 15 – Toronto, ONT @ Phoenix Concert Theatre * ^ #
Jun 16 – Montreal, QC @ Le National* ^ #
Jun 17 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues* ^ #
Jun 18 – New Haven, CT @ Toad’s Place * ^ #
Jun 19 – Clifton Park, NY @ Northern Lights* ^ #
Jun 21 – Lancaster, PA @ Chameleon* ^ #
Jun 22 – Allentown, PA @ Crocodile Rock Café * ^ #
Jun 23 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Trocadero * ^ #
Jun 24 – New York, NY @ The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza * ^ #
Jun 25 – Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom* ^ #
Jun 26 – Towson, MD @ The Recher Theatre * ^ #
Jun 28 – Norfolk, VA @ The NorVa * ^ #
Jun 29 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle * ^ #
Jun 30 – Charleston, SC @ The Music Farm * ^ #
Jul 1 – Lake Buena Vista, FL @ House of Blues * ^ #
Jul 2 – Fort Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution * ^ #
Jul 3 – St. Petersburg, FL @ State Theatre * ^ #
Jul 6 – Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live * ^ #
Jul 7 – Austin, TX @ Emo’s * ^ #
Jul 8 – Dallas, TX @ The Palladium * ^ #
Jul 9 – Tulsa, OK @ Cain’s Ballroom * ^ #
Jul 10 – Kansas City, MO @ Midland Theatre * ^ #
Jul 11 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre * ^ #
Jul 13 – Salt Lake City, UT @ In The Venue * ^ #
Jul 15 – Tempe, AZ @ The Marquee * ^ #
Jul 16 – San Diego, CA @ House of Blues * ^ #
Jul 17 – Pomona, CA @ Fox Theatre * ^ #
* Supported by Kevin Devine
^ Supported by Bad Veins
# Supported by The Dig

I readily admit it: I started to become a wee bit giddy upon seeing We Were Promised Jetpacks‘s curly-haired, hoodie-wearing guitarist Michael Palmer on the side, itching to get onstage and fiddle with his guitar already. All the memories of the band’s first appearance in the nation’s capital, an amazing but brief set at the Black Cat last October (on the Fat Cat Records Tour), came rushing back. Then, the audience was mixed in their loyalty, either to them or their labelmates Brakes (BrakesBrakesBrakes in America) or the Twilight Sad. This night however, there was no question that all 200 exuberant ticket holders at the sold-out show Saturday night at D.C.’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Hotel were present to see them. But before getting to this point, let me backtrack to the evening’s two supporting bands.

Typefighter is an unsigned, local to Washington five-piece, describing their musical genre on their MySpace as being of folk, melodramatic popular song, and indie. I hadn’t gotten the chance to listen to their songs there prior to the concert, so I really didn’t know what to expect. But one look at the instruments onstage (banjo, ukulele, melodica, and keyboards, along with the usual guitars and drums) made me think, “homegrown Fanfarlo?”

I felt further confirmation of this as two songs in, the “da dum-dum” rhythm of one of Typefighter’s songs reminded me of Fanfarlo‘s “Luna.” While Simon Balthazar of the London-based folk pop band has said the title of their debut album Reservoir is related to a previous fixation about bodies of water, it appears this Washington band likes writing about boats and oceans. This is evidenced by songs like the metaphorical “Ocean Floor,” with despondent lyrics like “I’m waiting for this ocean floor to dry” and talk about sinking boats with holes. (Kind of weird that the Jetpacks have a song on a similar theme to this too, huh?) But trust me, the music itself is a lot more upbeat, with handclaps aplenty. Probably the most impressive was their set closer, “I Wrote This Song for You,” all band members singing along and snapping their fingers as lead singer/guitarist Ryan McLaughlin played ukulele.

Singer Ryan McLaughlin and multi-instrumentalist Mary Voutsas exchanged friendly, jokey banter with each other and with the audience between songs, lending a warmth pretty much absent from the other two bands’s sets. I noticed that among the many tattoos McLaughlin has on his body, he has a lighthouse on his left forearm. With lighthouses being beacons of light amidst dark and stormy seas, I feel like Typefighter just might have what it takes to shine, break out of here, and do well.

Cincinnati’s Bad Veins took a bit longer to get settled in to play, as singer/multi-instrumentalist Benjamin Davis needed just the right setup to anchor a telephone receiver in a mike stand. You read that right – a telephone receiver. Quirky is a good way to describe the rose motifs on the band’s drum kit and their telephone case and their third “band member” on display, an antique reel-to-reel tape player they’ve named Irene. With the mike stand problem resolved and Irene queued up, the duo came on to “Hail to the Chief,” leaving me wondering if only we as D.C. residents received this kind of welcome from them. Interestingly, Irene was used to add piano, horns, and strings that the two men onstage would not have been able to achieve otherwise.

Drummer Sebastian Schultz meanwhile was too busy pounding away on his drum kit (a kit I might add that was outfitted with four high-hats and cymbals in total). Schultz certainly earned his keep Saturday night, delivering powerful beats to go with Davis’s often theatrical vocal approach. At times, his voice would run emotional, sounding like James Allan of Glasvegas, but then all of a sudden turn shouty, like over the top Tyson Ritter of the All-American Rejects.

And I haven’t forgotten the telephone. All bands have a gimmick, and Bad Veins have a telephone that Davis sings into for some songs like “The Lie” and “Afraid.” All things considered, the telephone effect worked better than I thought, not only because of its uniqueness in a rock show, but because Davis would sing into the receiver and it sounded just like you would imagine hearing someone singing to you through the line. However, my favorite song of theirs, completely devoid of the telephone, was “Falling Tide,” a reminder of just how good rock ‘n’ roll can be when you’ve got forceful lyrics, killer guitar, and wicked backbeats.

11:30 rolled around and as I mentioned early on in this review, seeing guitarist Michael Palmer smiling and raring to go made me smile. Scotland is doing very well musically in my book, producing both Camera Obscura and We Were Promised Jetpacks, definitely two of my faves as of late. Good bands have excellent musicians or a charismatic singer. Great bands like the Jetpacks have both. The band’s opening number Saturday night, “Keeping Warm,” came in like a hurricane, the guitars of Palmer, lead singer Adam Thompson, and bassist Sean Smith wailing, and Darren Lackie beating his drums so furiously that one of his drumsticks broke and the broken piece flew into the air, landing near the front of the stage. (You know what they say about physics and momentum.) Even before Thompson uttered a word, the combined sound was so loud, it was as if the club was a jetliner and we were about to take flight.

The effect successfully built up the crowd’s excitement for seeing these four lads from Edinburgh, who played most of the songs off their well-received debut album These Four Walls. Before launching into hit “Roll Up Your Sleeves,” a smiling Thompson said to us, “thanks to everyone who came to the Black Cat show [last October]. That was a great show for us!” The crowd cheered appreciatively, one woman shouting back, “tell us a Scottish joke!” (This was most likely in reference to some jokes the Black Cat crowd had with Thompson the last time they were in town.) He considered this for a half-second before replying with a wide grin, “a Scottish joke? Fuck off!” Laughter.

I expected many in the audience to know and sing along to all of the words to songs like “Quiet Little Voices” and “Ships with Holes Will Sink,” but I was surprised when some provided loud impromptu backing with their voices on the instrumental portions of the set closer “Short Bursts.” Throughout the set, Thompson sang with the same never-wavering conviction displayed on their album that has no doubt made the band a hit with many music fans. The 10-song set included two new songs that unfortunately at this time have unknown titles, as I could not find the band nor their merch people afterwards to buy their new EP. But no matter. I expect the Jetpacks to make a triumphant return to D.C after becoming more of a sensation in the UK and Europe than they already are and the release of a successful second album. We Were Promised Jetpacks, the sky’s the limit!

We Were Promised Jetpacks Set List:
Keeping Warm
Quiet Little Voices
Moving Clocks Run Slow
New song (presumably not on the new EP)
New song from new EP
It’s Thunder and It’s Lightning
Roll Up Your Sleeves
This is My House, This is My Home
Ships with Holes Will Sink
Short Bursts

Tour Dates:
Feb 15 – Knitting Factory / Brooklyn*
Feb 17 – Casbah at Tremont Music Hall / Charlotte*
Feb 18 – Masquerade / Atlanta*
Feb 19 – The End / Nashville*
Feb 21 – Hailey’s / Denton, TX*
Feb 23 – Rhythm Room / Phoenix#
Feb 26 – Troubadour / Los Angeles#
Feb 27 – Slim’s / San Francisco#
Mar 01 – Biltmore Cabaret / Vancouver#
Mar 02 – Neumo’s / Seattle#
Mar 03 – Doug Fir / Portland#
Mar 05 – Urban Lounge / Salt Lake City#
Mar 06 – Hi Dive / Denver#
Mar 07 – Jackpot / Lawrence, KS#
Mar 08 – Waiting Room / Omaha#
Mar 09 – Varsity Theatre / Minneapolis#
Mar 11 - Lincoln Hall / Chicago#
Mar 12 – Grog Shop / Cleveland#
Mar 13 – Summit / Columbus#
Mar 14 – Radio Radio / Indianapolis#
Mar 15 – This Old Rock House / St. Louis#
* with Bad Veins
# with Bear Hands

We Were Promised Jetpacks: myspace | We Were Promised Jetpacks Plan Winter 2010 Tour of North America | @ Black Cat | @ monolith
Bad Veins: website | myspace
Typefighter: myspace