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, bassistKev Baird, lead guitaristSam Halliday, and lead singer / guitarist Alex Trimble. Drumsticks also fly courtesy of Brighton, England touring drummerBen 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 Bangorhad 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
In case you missed the big reveal yesterday, here is the tracklisting for the new Twilight Saga film: Eclipse:
1. Metric—“Eclipse (All Yours)”
2. Muse—“Neutron Star Collision (Love is Forever)”
3. The Bravery—“Ours”
4. Florence + The Machine—“Heavy In Your Arms”
5. Sia—“My Love”
6. Farfarlo—“Atlas”
7. The Black Keys—“Chop And Change”
8. The Dead Weather—“Rolling In On A Burning Tire”
9. Beck and Bat For Lashes—“Let’s Get Lost”
10. Vampire Weekend—“Jonathan Low”
11. UNKLE—“With You In My Head” (feat. The Black Angels)
12. Eastern Conference Champions—“A Million Miles An Hour”
13. Band of Horses—“Life On Earth”
14. Cee Lo Green—“What Part of Forever”
15. Howard Shore—“Jacob’s Theme”
Muse, a frequent contributor to the film series, gives fans the first lead single off the soundtrack. As excited as we are for that, the big news with this tracklisting are the collaborations such as Beck pairing with Bat for Lashes.
The soundtrack will be released June 8. You can pre-order the release here.
I still maintain that 2009, besides being a crap year financially and personally, should have not focused so much on which albums were better than others, but on what kind of crazy collaborations the greater indie genre saw (think Discovery, Karen O. and The Kids, etc.). The announced project that came out of the meshed minds of Danger Mouse and James Mercer in September, Broken Bells, would hold its own in that list with the their blippy, bloopy, but otherwise sophisticated (thank you Mercer vocals) smooth starter debut single in December: “The High Road.” It promised a serious balance of The Shins and electronic to symphonic elements with the edge of a producer who has given a proper noise to everyone from Gnarls Barkley to Beck to The Black Keys.
The resulting self-titled full-length doesn’t sound as cutting edge and genre-blasting as I would have expected. But classifying it just isn’t easy; saying I’ve heard the sound before would be too much so. The duo recorded all their own instruments, which definitely boosts the cool-factor of the final result. If you imagined The Republic Tigers broadening their scope by suddenly including, wait, by including Danger Mouse, well you might just get the same effect. You could sub Danger Mouse for another searcher of solo spotlight—Julian Casablancas. The album is catchy after a few listens, and it’s nice to use the words “electronic elements” to describe some highlights of the album, and not have to follow up with an eye roll. The lyrics–for all you weather-beaten and serial status updaters out there–are quite an eyebrow raise of life lessons: “Come on and get the minimum/Before you open up your eyes/This army has so many hands to analyze.”
As far as internal movement, there are moments of subtlety and inner-focus, where you hear a lot of keys and minor percussion and sweeping, swooning vocals. Those are plays like “Sailing to Nowhere,” which is great in its entirety as it breaks down to a few hooks of acoustic confession and bass drum spotlight and then flips into dramatic swings and a piano rift straight out of the 20s. “Trap Door” is also mellow, keeping in tune those low-key “electronic elements” with a hand clap-style back beats and even an inclusion of “mmmm” that I definitely dig, and you’ll appreciate. To switch gears to something a bit more upbeat and add some attitude, immediately set your dial to “The Mall and Misery” and feel a bit closer to a DJ state of sound as you bounce your head to a mini percussion lab. The lyrics here play out a tad more spiteful, “Your tiny vengeful life might pass through my mind, but I blink and it’s over.” Perfectly matches the bad-ass sound that the Shins never got to break out.
The remainder motion of this debut gift of an otherwise stellar partnership (because who knows how long it will last, so let’s not get too involved in the fling), flirts with southern acoustic (“October”), Mars Volta-reminiscent overdramatic echoes (“Vaporize”), a Bee Gees-style sound of soprano heights and hand-claps (“The Ghost Inside”), and lyrics that are more observatory than “God, I’m so heartbroken, lonely, introspective and abused.”
This album can’t be better likened to anything less obvious than a sigh. A freaking sigh. You don’t really know you needed it until it runs through your entire soul, removing all frustration, confusion and clutter by giving you the ‘You Time’ that’s deserved. Add to that some famous guys and a fling with electronic tics and you have something that should feel even better when you know what to expect.
Track Listing:
1. The High Road
2. Vaporize
3. Your Head Is On Fire
4. The Ghost Inside
5. Sailing to Nowhere
6. Trap Doors
7. Citizen
8. October
9. Mongrel Heart
10. The Mall and Misery
It’s very hard to try and put a genre label on One Republic. They utilize almost every type of music, from R&B to alternative rock to even some reggae influences. Most people try and compare them to fellow “piano-rockers” The Fray, but that’s just it: the only similarity linking the two bands is the piano element. So the question remains on how to classify One Republic and if that’s even possible. Their display of a soulful, R&B edge mixed with a melodic rock premise distinguishes them from any other band in the music industry today. They continue to illustrate that distinction even more blatantly on their much-anticipated 2nd full length release Waking Up.
As a follow up to their extremely successful debut album, Dreaming Out Loud, Waking Up is an album carefully comprised of 11 songs that individually have a completely different, unique sound and feel than the one preceding it. The rhythmically-charged album begins with “Made for You,” a haunting melody that transitions into a soulful chorus and starts the album off strongly. It is followed by their first single “All the Right Moves,” which is destined to be an instant hit due to the numerous hooks that are filled with a mix of strings and strong drums. This effectively eerie combination is very reminiscent of Paper Route’s Absence album’s tone and feel. A few songs later listener is hit with “Everybody Loves Me,” a Beck-like album staple that is in a direct contrast to any other One Republic song on either album. It may sound strange to compare One Republic to Beck, but it strangely works.
Waking Up peaks with what has become my personal favorite song on the album, “Good Life.” It is full of rhythmically perfect beats and feel-good harmonies that have a hint of an African tribal flair. It’s the song on the album that will probably not become a single, but will be an instant fan favorite. (It was on repeat on my shuffle for two days straight.) Next up, the U2-esque title track “Waking Up” could almost be considered a 2-part song. Three minutes of the song is a fist-pumping section full of effective chanting and lead singer Ryan Tedder’s Bono-inspired voice. In a stark contrast, the 2nd half of the song moves into a solely instrumental piece with a heart-wrenching melody provided by an immaculate combination of strings and piano, immediately making the listener stop and take notice. One Republic hasn’t entirely dismissed their catchy, melodic Dreaming Out Loud roots, as is displayed with Tedder’s enchanting piano playing on tracks “Fear” and “All This Time.” The album is wrapped up with a song entitled “Lullaby.” It is an appropriate mellow counterpart and conclusion to an otherwise energetic album. It is slowed down to a relaxed pace and enters an almost trance-like state with soft guitars, Tedder’s pure voice, and gospel-like harmonies.
Looking back over the past 45 minutes makes one realize that an album that has combined elements of Paper Route, Beck and U2 (and doesn’t turn out to be a disaster) can rightfully be considered successfully unique. Dreaming Out Loud was full of effective, but safe melodies and textbook undertones, but they definitely take the edginess of their band to a whole new level on Waking Up. With an album dominated by intense drums, clean harmonies, and daring beats, the band has stepped out of their comfort zone and has further created a genre of their own. They could have written a radio-friendly, similar sounding album to Dreaming Out Loud, but they chose to try out a new sound that allowed them to grow and evolve into a new, fearless bad that is taking all the right chances.
Waking Up is a brave album that will earn the band respect from old and new fans alike.
It is streaming on MySpace now and is physically available Nov. 17.
Track Listing:
01. Made For You
02. All The Right Moves
03. Secrets
04. Everybody Loves Me
05. Missing Persons 1 & 2
06. Good Life
07. All This Time
08. Fear
09. Waking Up
10. Marchin On
11. Lullaby
Sindri Mar Sigfusson, aka Sin Fang Bous (or Sin Fang Blues Brothers as he asked us to call him) looks like an even more baby-faced Beck and is just as cuddly. It’s a rare occasion that I check out a support act as I hate waiting around for the main act to come on (why do they insist on taking so long?), but Sing Fang Bous’ warm and fuzzy sounds were a pleasant welcome to the friendly space of the Black Cat. Low-key retro pop was the order of the day, and, while it wasn’t revolutionary, it was certainly enjoyable, with a refreshingly sparse and pure sound — no unnecessary quirks. Elements ranged from folky acoustic guitar with handclaps to sea shantyish organ sounds, the best tunes being the simpler ones. He ended with “Life,” a song in the epic-indie style, which I found the least engaging. The milder stuff was better, something I’d happily settle down with now that winter approaches and the nights get darker.
In contrast to the simpler pleasures of Sigfusson, Múm are a multi-instrumental band of multi-instrumentalists, with a rotating string and guitar section, at least three dedicated singers, as well as bass, organ, trumpet, laptop, kazoos, mouth-organ, harmonica, and drummer, and some other stuff I don’t know the name of. They were suitably foreign, all wide eyes, cute phrases and smiles, funny clothes and haircuts, just the kind of thing an indie crowd laps up (though perhaps it wasn’t part of the act? Maybe their clothes and haircuts reflect the collapse of the Icelandic economy?). I went in to the show having heard some of the older stuff and expected some ethereal ambient female-led electronica with some good glitchy beats, a bit Sigor Ros, a bit Bjork. What I ended up hearing was a little more down to earth and more along quirky indie lines, apparently a reflection of where the band is now, which is fair enough.
They started out very soothingly, to the point where I began to wonder if their choir-like sound worked well in a space like the Black Cat, with it’s low ceiling and basement vibe (though it’s actually on the top floor). Soft electric slide guitar and mournful trumpet carried on the warm tones from Sin Fang Bous on “If I Were a Fish.” Other early songs made use of the strings and voices supplied by Hildur Guðnadóttir and Sigurlaug Gisladottir and the sound was quite experimental, with good use of the trumpet in particular. Gunnar Örn Tynes seemed to play the role of band leader and whipped out his mouth organ fairly often. He looked faintly ridiculous, but the toy-like sound fitted in well with the overall calming mood of the songs.
Later on things were more uptempo, Múm’s amazing rhythm section working as well as a drum machine to get people’s feet moving. Playground 8-bit beats were layered with shimmery guitar; a cowbell was heard while Guðnadóttir and Gisladottir added theatrical (and somewhat overemphasised) yelps; whale-like bass backed up what sounded like a heavy rock christmas carol. The Orb-like dub and skittery beats of “A Little Bit, Sometimes” were particularly impressive, the overlayed mouth-organ bringing Red Snapper to mind. The electronic side of Múm is definitely impressive, but sadly there somewhat twee indie-rock side is less so — kazoo and harmonica orchestras are amusing, but an extended jam that seemed to last twenty minutes started to grate. Some of the latter dynamics were also predictable — loud-quiet, female-male, fast-slow. It’ll get most of the crowd going but it’s not particularly clever. Having said that “Sing Along” was scary and unhinged which seemed very apt for some reason. Live bird whistles were employed before the song vapourised into a rock lullaby echoing from the 50′s. The encore made up for the somewhat lagging final third of the show. “Green Grass of Tunnel” has that glacial vibe I was looking forward to, and the band stretch it out live into something far more filmic, with elements of the Cocteau Twins and (sorry) Bjork, and some glorious floor-shaking bass.
A bit of a mixed bag then, but something to satisfy most indie-rock fans and even some electronica ones, if they don’t mind their beats a little buried under the avant-garde.
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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.
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).
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.
