popwreckoning

Fresh off his winter tour, Telekinesis front man, Michael Benjamin Lerner took time to chat with PopWreckoning about the band’s newest album, 12 Desperate Straight Lines, and what it’s like being based in Seattle. We caught Telekinesis’ show at Hi-Dive in Denver, CO a few weeks ago, and were blown away by the trio’s energy and indie pop sensibility. Lerner’s genuine rendition of songs off 12 Desperate Straight Lines turned the Hi-Dive’s intimate space into a Tuesday night dance party. Don’t miss Telekinesis this spring as they hit the road in support of Portugal. The Man.

Brianna Hernandez, PopWreckoning: How did you get your start?
Michael Benjamin Lerner, Telekinesis: Well, the live band has been a bit of a revolving cast for the life of this band so far. It’s always been just me writing and recording the records, and then getting my friends to come on tour with me! But, right now, I’ve got Jason Narducy and Cody Votolato playing with me. Jason plays bass with Bob Mould and Bob Pollard, and has his own band called Verbow. He’s kind of amazing. We met through Nada Surf. And Cody Votolato was in a band called the Blood Brothers, and currently in Jaguar Love. We met peripherally through the Seattle scene, and when Jaguar Love took a break, we got connected. He’s also ridiculously amazing.

PW: What was the first show you played? What has changed in your sets and performances since you first started out?
Telekinesis: Our first live performance as Telekinesis, I think, was at this place called the Funhouse in Seattle. It was terrifying! We were really nervous, and I remember it being really clunky, and crazy. David and Jonie Broecker, and Chris Staples were in the band from the beginning for the first year and a half or so. A whole heck of a lot changed from that show, I think. We learned how to play more as a collective, and not just learning the parts. I remember it being really thrilling, and also looking back on it, I’m really proud of where we ended up since then. It’s been a lot of progress: fun progress!

PW: How has your sound evolved over the past few years?
Telekinesis: For me, it’s less naive than it used to be. The first record sounds very naive to me. Which I am proud of! But, this new one I was a lot more confident, and it might sound a little tougher in that way.

PW: Is it more important to you to create something timeless or something that is relevant to what is going on at the time?
Telekinesis: Boy, I don’t know! I mean, I think I just write whatever comes to my head. There’s a whole bunch of influences that are pretty apparent on this record. There’s the Cure, Joy Division, and even some 90′s rock. Whether that’s ‘in’ right now isn’t for me to decide, and I guess I would never really try to write based on what’s relevant! I just have fun!

PW: Who are you currently listening to?
Telekinesis: I’m really, really obsessed with Nick Lowe again! Labour Of Lust is a killer record. I also got this amazing record as per someone’s recommendation. It’s by a band called Dug Dug’s. Insane psychedelic rock. From Chile or something crazy like that. Also, this amazing compilation called Cartagena. Also, The new Love Language record. It’s amazing. And the new Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin record. SO GOOD.

PW: What is it like coming back to Seattle after being on tour? How has Seattle affected you as a band?
Telekinesis: It is amazing! I moved into this incredible little house in Georgetown with my girlfriend, and it’s so nice to come home now. I really look forward to it, for the first time in the career of this band, for sure. Seattle has been a pretty amazing place to grow up. So much music has come out of here, and thru here. And I’m very thankful to be a part of it all.

PW: Playing the drums and singing . . . how do you do it?
Telekinesis: It’s not too bad anymore! It’s mostly a question of being in shape or not! But, I really, really enjoy it! And weirdly, it’s easier to do that than play guitar and sing for me!

PW: What was it like to work with Chris Walla (of Death Cab for Cutie)? Has he influence your recent work?
Telekinesis: He’s a super genius. 100% super genius! He just makes me play better. He makes me give the best performances I am capable, and most importantly, we have so much fun working together. I feel incredibly lucky to be able to work with him.

PW: What was your favorite show to play?
Telekinesis: We just recently played an amazing show in Munich. It was the final show of a somewhat rough six week European tour. And it just felt so incredibly good to play a festival to a very enthusiastic crowd of 1500 Germans. I think Cody knocked me into my drums for that show! It was fun!

There are a few bands that I take an unnatural pride in, and being a big advocate for local music, I hold the Lonely Forest near and dear to my heart. A band hailing from the Puget Sound town of Anacortes, Wa., The Lonely Forest has come quite a long way since winning the EMP Sound Off! Competition back in 2006. They’ve released two full-length albums with Burning Building Recordings, played countless shows all around the country and around Puget Sound, and gained a huge local following of young indie rock fans.

With their new release Arrows, The Lonely Forest worked with fellow Washingtonian Chris Walla as the first band signed to his Trans Records, and they put together a fantastic album full of hometown love, epic melodies and passionate performances.

Arrows begins softly with “Be Everything,” a lovely ballad that showcases frontman John Van Deusen’s tender vocals more than any other track on the record, and then it jumps right into the catchy and triumphant “Turn Off This Song And Go Outside.” The catchiness of the song is only matched by its irony, seeing that there’s no possible way that I’d want to turn off the song.

The divergent melodies and messages of “(I Am) The Love Skeptic” and “(I Am) The Love Addict)” are a nice addition to Arrows, but in the scheme of the whole thing, they’re nothing special. I prefer the “Love Skeptic” to the “Love Addict,” for the feisty hook and simple message, “We became too good of friends, and the bullshit, it never ends.” I mean, haven’t we all had one of those?

I feel that the strongest points of Arrows lay in the middle, with “Coyote” and “Tunnels.” The former is a dark and moving track with a killer bass line, and again a seemingly simple chorus line, “I wish you’d come back home, I want to hold your hand.” That’s one of the things I really love about the Lonely Forest – their songs are extraordinarily relatable. The lyrics aren’t overwrought, because the emotion behind them comes from the performance, not the pretentious prose that some bands can fall victim to.

Before I delve into the beauty that is “Tunnels,” let’s talk about “I Don’t Want To Live There.” It’s a song I’ve heard before on the EP that the Lonely Forest released earlier this year, but I have to reiterate how nice it is to have a song that’s so obviously rooted in the Pacific Northwest. It makes me feel proud to be a Washingtonian.

I’ve waited until now to talk about “Tunnels,” because I needed to build up to it, just like the song does so well.

Seriously, this song makes me so excited every time I hear it.  The fact that I get to sing along to the lyric, “obvious contradictions, childish self-afflictions,” is already good enough for me, but the every-growing energy of the song and wall of sound – especially the percussion – exemplifies how good each member of the band is at their craft. But the best part of the song comes in the last minute and a half, where it moves smoothly into the outro of “Ramshackle House,” which isn’t a track on its own on Arrows, but it was on the EP. Honestly, hearing the transition from “Tunnels” to “Ramshackle House” for the first time gave me goosebumps. It’s so perfectly done, and it makes so much sense. That was one concern I had when the EP released, “Where is this song going to go?” That concern flew out the window when I heard the entirety of “Tunnels.”

Arrows closes out just as strongly as it opens, with “Woe Is Me…I Am Ruined,” old hit “We Sing In Time” and the title track. “Woe Is Me” is far different than previous live versions, which were more acoustic, but it’s a perfect example of how good a producer Chris Walla is. He is another reason why I’m proud to be a Washingtonian.

Even though some people might find it weird that the Lonely Forest would put “We Sing In Time” on this album seeing that it was on their last release We Sing the Body Electric, I find it refreshing. The Lonely Forest doesn’t need to follow all the rules. The fans love the song. . And it was a completely different version, with deeper, richer recording and mixing.

The closing track, “Arrows” brings the album to a complete circle, with a softer song showcasing Van Deusen’s vocals and piano. It makes for a quiet close, rather than going out with a bang.

But really, Arrows reads more like a book, with the gradual rising action, the epic climax (“Tunnels,” duh), the much quicker falling action, and then finally the resolution.

And this is definitely one I’ll want to read over and over again.

Tour Dates:

For more information on the Lonely Forest, go to http://www.thelonelyforest.com/

Listening to 12 Desperate Straight Lines can be a personal experience. Wounds from old, dead relationships are likely to tear open if the listener isn’t careful. Obviously the man behind Telekinesis, Michael Benjamin Lerner, has been through some pain. This is another in a long line of what I like to refer as “bitter about a woman” albums. It might not be the best ever made, but it’s the best I’ve heard in a quite awhile. Add to the fact that we’re talking about full on pop songs, instead of sad bastard folk music, and we have something special.

Routinely, I listen to the first three songs, and then start the album over. This is turning into something of an obsession.

The album starts with “You Turn Clear In The Sun.” An acoustic guitar kicks things off with the lyrics: “we fell in love in the summer/by the springtime we were done.” Then, shortly after: “I never loved you/I never loved anyone.” This is bitter, bitter stuff. As, the saying goes, however, a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. This is such joyous sounding stuff, I sing along every time. The song fully kicks in after a little more than a minute. It’s a synth driven thing, with xylophones and pulsing drums and bass. It’s only after you hear the words coming out of your own mouth that you think, “Oh. Damn.”

The next song is “Please Ask For Help,” and the fun continues: “I’m not going to let you down/but I’m not going to help you up.” The drums, bass and synths are straight out of early ‘80’s goth pop, but The Cure only ever sounded this boisterous when they were actually singing about something happy. The interesting thing is how the vocals sound slightly depressed. They’re in tune, but it sounds like singer Michael Benjamin Lerner can barely maintain the effort needed to accompany the song. Chris Walla’s production is incredible.

Next up, is my favorite song on the record, “50 Ways.” The power chords kick into my head like an angry mule. The song slows down, and wakes back up for the chorus. Sure, verse-chorus-verse/fast-slow-fast is songwriting 101, but when it’s done right it never fails.  A lot of music critics seem to dig when one song relies on awareness of another by a much more famous musician. I’m not an exception. Lerner sings, “Paul Simon probably said it the best/there truly are 50 ways.” If you don’t know what he’s talking about, go find out. Google is all powerful, and also your friend.

I seriously could talk about every song on this album. The “will I die alone” shout from “Car Crash,” and the alcohol fueled insanity of “Fever Chill” are both high points, but the album is pretty much solid throughout. The whole thing is tinged with sadness and desperate to the end. The last song “Gotta Get It Right Now” is probably the most desperate thing here. It’s a poppy sing along about needing love, immediately. Learner sings: “all my friends are so locked down/I’m 23, I should be screwing around.” The amazing thing is, he really is 23.

This is exactly what a sophomore album should be. It takes the promise of the first self-titled Telekinesis album, turns it on its head and improves it considerably. That album was full of slightly naïve love songs.   12 Desperate Straight Lines is nakedly honest and, even brutal in places. It’s an album borne of heartache transformed into melodies that will make your heart soar. If you haven’t figured out that you should buy this yet, then yes. Go. Go now.

12 Desperate Straight Lines is out tomorrow, February 15.

Track Listing:

1. You Turn Clear in the Sun
2. Please Ask for Help
3. 50 Ways
4. I Cannot Love You
5. Dirty Thing
6. Car Crash
7. Palm of Your Hand
8. I Got You
9. Fever Chill
10. Country Lane
11. Patterns
12. Gotta Get It Right Now

Seattle’s The Lonely Forest have announced a Spring tour with the Joy Formidable. The tour is in support of the group’s debut album due out March 22 on Chris Walla‘s Trans Records.

Prior to the tour, the band is stopping at SXSW. Their record, Arrows, comes out March 24 and then the tour kicks off in North Carolina on March 24. The band has already garned acclaim for their self-titled digital EP.

“…guitar-heavy alt-rock ballads with all the intensity of, say, REM or Band of Horses, but without the mopey feeling you’re left with afterward.”—NYLON

The Lonely Forest will embark on an extensive North American tour supporting The Joy Formidable—including a stop at South By Southwest—beginning March 24 in North Carolina (please see below for list of dates). Continuing their steady climb to prominence from modest Northwest roots, the band unveils its Trans Records label debut Arrows, also on March 22. The album release follows a year filled with recording, touring and the release of the band’s eponymous digital-only EP.

You can check out a stream of the indie rockers’ “We Sing in Time” and their tour dates below:

. “We Sing in Time”

The Lonely Forest Tour Dates:
March 3* Seattle, WA The Vera Project
March 5* Anacortes, WA The Port Warehouse
March 24 Durham, NC The Duke
March 25 Washington, D.C. Black Cat
March 26 Albany, NY Valentine’s
March 28 Providence, RI The Met
March 29 Allston, MA Brighton Music Hall
March 30 Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brenda’s
April 1 Harrisburg, PA The Abbey Bar
April 2 Toronto, ON The Horseshoe Tavern
April 4 Columbus, OH The Basement
April 5 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall
April 6 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry
April 8 Denver, CO Larimer Lounge
April 9 Salt Lake City, UT Kilby Court
April 11 Portland, OR Mississippi Studios
April 12 Seattle, WA Crocodile Café
April 14 San Francisco, CA Bottom of the Hill
April 19 Phoenix, AZ Rhythm Room
April 20 Albuquerque, NM Launch Pad
April 22 St. Louis, MO Luminary Center for the Arts
April 23 Kansas City, MO The Riot Room
April 26 Cleveland, OH The Grog Shop
April 27 Pittsburgh, PA The Smiling Moose
April 29 New York, NY Webster Hall

*—Headlining show

It was almost a whole year ago when I got my first photo pass. It was November 27, 2009, and it was a Lonely Forest show at the Showbox at the Market. I didn’t know what I was doing with my camera, and I basically knew nothing about the band. A year later, this had been the fourth time I’d seen local darlings the Lonely Forest, this time at Neumo’s, with Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin (SSLYBY) and Us On Roofs opening.

I was up front with a couple friends of mine, and clustered next to me was a small crowd of especially excited teens around my sister’s age, freshmen at Western. I wasn’t sure what they were going on about, and at one point I overheard, “well, does your mom know what Chris Walla looks like?

I didn’t hear the answer, but a few minutes later, one of the boys jumped up on stage and grabbed the bass sitting on the floor.  He – Mikey Farrow, and two other guys-Brian Fisher on guitar and Nick Blodgett on drums, made up Us On Roofs, a local indie pop trio that sounded like they took some inspiration from the Lonely Forest themselves. Farrow took off his shoes almost right off the bat, and the crowd surprisingly didn’t overwhelm the band. But seeing that it was a loving local crowd, they were very perceptive and open to more local talent.

And this was a time when I felt particularly old.

All throughout their set, the young band thanked the Lonely Forest more times than I can count, but it was made evident why when John van Deusen of the Lonely Forest decided to get up on stage and sing with the band into Farrow’s mic, as he looked on like a proud older brother. And before he left the stage at the end of the song, van Deusen gave Farrow a great big hug from behind, also like a proud older brother.

It turns out, after I went home to check out more on Us On Roofs, they are all my sister’s age, and from my hometown of Gig Harbor. Go figure. And it also turns out that Us On Roofs also competed in this year’s Sound Off!, a Seattle battle of the underage bands competition put on by the Experience Music Project – a contest the Lonely Forest won back in 2006. So hopefully you’ll hear more from Us On Roofs in the next year or so.

After their set was over, the guys of Us On Roofs took back their rightful places up front with their friends while SSLYBY set up their gear.

Even though SSLYBY was the odd band out in terms of being non-locals, they put on a great show, with some older tracks from Pershing and Broom, as well as a bunch of new ones from Let It Sway, out in August.

“We’d like to dedicate this song to –“ and guitarist Philip Dickey trailed off after mumbling two names and an awkward pause. I guess you could say that SSLYBY has an awkward charm. Understated personas, generic clothes, but superbly catchy songwriting. A couple of my favorites were “Modern Mystery” off Pershing and “Everlyn” off Let Is Sway, which was produced by of all people – Chris Walla.

So even if SSLYBY aren’t based out of Seattle, they’ve still got some bit of Seattle running through their music. I swear Chris Walla is like the Timbaland of indie rock. He works with everyone.

“We’d like to dedicate this song to the Lonely Forest, or more how we’ll feel once we’re done touring with them,” Dickey announced again, right before they jumped right into “All Hail Dracula!” But the best part of that song is how upbeat and so not-vampirey it sounds. You’d be hard-pressed to find a band whose melodies are more universally feel-good that you picture artfully shot scenes from adorable movies with Michael Cera in your head.

But the retro mixing and harmonies matched with the oftentimes-somber lyrics keep SSLYBY from being kitsch. You sometimes want to skip around, sometimes slow dance, but you always want to dance in some way or another.

Just before 11, the Lonely Forest came out on stage, checking the mics and chatting with the kids in the front row, but not starting their set quite yet.

“We’ve gotta go off stage, because it’ll make us cooler!” John van Deusen said to his tourmates waiting in the stairwell to the right of the stage.

“You’re already cool enough!” A voice came from the crowd, not sure where though. Van Deusen smirked at the remark, but then they did step off stage to be “cooler.” But suddenly before they actually took the stage, local comedian and radio host Luke Burbank got up on stage to introduce the band. I hadn’t seen a proper band introduction in…I don’t even know how long, so that was a nice surprise. Burbank told the crowd that apparently The Lonely Forest had been double booked that night, but they needed a good reason to stay at Neumo’s. With that, a monstrous round of applause and screaming lit up Neumo’s as the band took the stage for real this time.

Having seen the band four times this year, the songs are all so darn recognizable that I can’t pinpoint any sort of set list. I was glad to hear all the songs off their latest EP – included “Let It Go,” “Ramshackle House,” “Live There,” and “Turn Off This Song (And go outside).” The latter of which was basically the soundtrack to my summer. “This song is about pretentious guys in bands,” van Deusen said of “Turn Off This Song.”

“Live There” was also a stand out because of the intensely local subject matter, and being in a room full of kids spanning from Anacortes all the way to Gig Harbor, it was a particularly heartwarming song.

As the venue grew hotter and hotter, the crowd grew more and more enveloped in their own mass of energy. Even after playing through plenty of songs off We Sing the Body Electric, guitarist Tony Ruland crowd surfing, and one encore, the crowd wasn’t done yet.

Really, during the encore the band played an especially rousing version of “Blackheart vs. Captain America” that ended with van Deusen swinging his guitar high above his head that I was afraid the strings might break and the Telecaster would be sent into the crowd. Thank goodness the strings didn’t break, but it was surely the way to end the show.

It’s a weird experience going back and looking at the photos I took of this band a year ago, and I think about how far the Lonely Forest has come since then – they released a phenomenal EP, were the first band signed to Chris Walla’s record label Trans, and they’re getting ready to release another LP.

It’s nice to know that we’ve all grown quite a lot in the last year.

And Chris Walla seriously works with everyone.

Almost one year ago: The Lonely Forest, Telekinesis, and The Globes at the Showbox.

Check out more photos from last week’s set at Neumo’s HERE.

“Turn off, turn off this song. You can listen to it later, and go outside.” That’s what the Lonely Forest begs of us listeners on the first track on their new EP. You see, I would – but the thing is, it’s so good that I can’t possibly follow their instructions. Being the inaugural band to be signed to Chris Walla’s new Trans Records, The Lonely Forest will release the first round of new songs this month with a 5-song EP, out September 14^th. In keeping with their passionate pop rock, the Lonely Forest didn’t stray at all from their debut LP We Sing The Body Electric with this new effort. But I wouldn’t have expected anything less with fellow Washingtonian Walla nurturing this budding band.

The one glaring change on this EP is how personal it is. After listening through it several times now, I’ve connected with it on so many levels that it’s kind of crazy. The whole EP reads like a love letter to the Pacific Northwest, or more specifically, Anacortes, WA – where the band is from. “Turn Off This Song” begins the EP in a hook and harmony-driven self-deprecating plea for people to stop sitting around and to get out and do something. It takes all the cliché out of “live your life to the fullest,” and still resonates with anyone – teenagers to 30-somethings.

The next song, “Ramshackle House” almost seems like a 58-second lead-in to the song following it, but I wonder if it’s more of a preview for what’s to come on the full-length album in early 2011. Even so, it’s a short, intriguing track with a incessant humming in the background complimented by lead singer John Van Deusen’s powerful vocals. The most personal song on the EP, and one that hit me so deep that it’s almost brought me to tears several times, “Live There” is a lovely piano-laden ballad proclaiming the band’s fondness of where they live – Western Washington. In the song, we’re told that since LA is too obsessed with money and Nashville is “much too safe,” they always come back to the northwest. “Give to me miles of tall Evergreens, the smell of the ocean and cool mountain breeze, won’t you please?” Having grown up in Puget Sound myself, I can say that the Lonely Forest expressed the beauty of this region with a song equally as beautiful.

The penultimate song on the EP is the heavy “Let It Go.” And I say heavy because no aspect of the band takes a backseat on this song. Employing a much fuller sound, and most likely higher-quality recording equipment, the drums, bass, guitars, and vocals are all strong without competing for your ears’ attention. I also say heavy because “Let It Go” tells the story of a girl “pierced in the heart by a sinister dart thrown by an insecure tongue,” and it’s left to rot for years, pushing the girl further within herself until nothing’s left of her. It’s a familiar story, one that The Lonely Forest’s young fans can definitely relate to, but again – without the cliché. From here, we’re given the acoustic version of “Turn Off This Song,” which some people might find redundant, but considering the song’s message, I think it fits perfectly. We’re kicked at the beginning with Van Deusen telling us to turn off the song and go live our lives, and again as a reminder at the end. But it still doesn’t make the song any less good. We’re still going to listen to it.

Track Listing

1. Turn Off This Song
2. Ramshackle House
3. Live There
4. Let It Go
5. Turn Off This Song (Acoustic)

The Lonely Forest on MySpace

Syracuse NY’s most internationally beloved export Ra Ra Riot will issue its second full length album, The Orchard, August 24 on Barsuk in the U.S. International release dates will be confirmed and announced shortly.

Produced by Ra Ra Riot and Andrew Maury and mixed by Chris Walla (with one assist from Vampire Weekend‘s Rostam Batmanglij), The Orchard is 10 more stunning offerings of the bittersweet and endearing Ra Ra Riot blend that Entertainment Weekly likened to “Unforgettable Fire-era U2.”

The Orchard’s full track listing is:

1. The Orchard
2. Boy
3. Too Dramatic
4. Foolish
5. Massachusetts
6. You and I Know
7. Shadowcasting
8. Do You Remember
9. Kansai
10. Keep It Quiet

Sage Francis‘ new album Li(f)e is currently available for stream on MySpace.

Li(f)e pairs open, honest lyrics with an atmospheric to rock musical backings. Francis worked with a variety of artists such as Death Cab for Cutie‘s Chris Walla, Calexico and DeVotchKa to help bring about Li(f)e.

Li(f)e hits stores May 11, 2010 on Anti- Records.

It looks like The Thermals will once again be teaming up with Chris Walla, indie power-producer extraordinaire and guitarist for DCFC, for an anticipated September 2010 release on Kill Rock Stars.

Since 2002, The Thermals have consistently churned out authentic, snot-nosed, un-fussed, tri-chord punk pistols that fire with a shot from the hip kind of glory. Walla, who has previously worked with the beloved Portland-based punk rock rascals, producing Fuckin A in 2004, will be setting up camp with The Thermals at the Jackpot Recording Studio in Portand, OR.

This will be the fifth LP from The Thermals and the first with new drummer Westin Glass on board. Keeping Walla in the family means we can look forward to another classic from these bruisers.

The Thermals: website | myspace | interview | @ monolith 2009 | @ the slowdown

As the first part to a tribute to Northwest music, the Showbox lit up Pike Place Friday night with local favorites The Lonely Forest of Anacortes, and Telekinesis and The Globes of Seattle. Just to say how much Seattle loves their locals – even before the doors opened up, the line curled around the block as horse-drawn carriages rode by on the rare rain-free night.

The Globes were up first. Lacking a record deal, but with nothing lacking in the talent department, The Globes were a great way to start the show – bringing in a mixture of shoegazing guitar rock and raw indie pop. Guitarist Kyle Musselwhite provided almost Thom Yorke-like vocals next to lead vocalist Erik Walters’ high-energy wails, bassist Sean McCotter’s low-key vibe and drummer Marcus Ourada’s excellent beats. They were just experienced enough to have the charisma to hold the room, but with just a little more stage time, they’d be just as charming as the two bands that followed. And with their first LP coming out soon, The Globes are one of Seattle’s emerging indie acts that show the promise of what our region has to offer the next few years.

After The Globes’ short half-hour set, Telekinesis came to set up their equipment, with one rare addition. My friends and I were standing right off to the left of center by the stage, and I swore Chris Walla of Death Cab for Cutie was tuning his Rickenbacker. I turned to my friend and asked, “Is that Chris Walla?”

“No, it can’t be. It’s gotta be some guy that looks totally like him.”

“That’s Chris Walla. I’m not kidding. Look.”

And I must tell you; my friend is a diehard Death Cab for Cutie fan, so she of all people should know who and who isn’t Chris Walla. But this time, I was right. Chris joined Michael Lerner (a.k.a. Telekinesis) and his touring band for this one-night Seattle engagement. Just because. Lerner later mentioned Chris as one of the people who was responsible for his record being released. He said that, “He made me write this record.” Signed to Merge Records in early 2009, Lerner has been touring for most of the year with David and Jodie Broecker and Chris Staples as his live band, and the unconventional stage lineup threw me off a bit, but made the night more interesting. Lerner sat at the drumkit as he sang on most of the songs, and the unexpected cameo by Walla excited the crowd like they should be on a Friday night at 10 p.m.

I would have liked to have heard “Awkward Kisser,” just cause it’s such a damn cute song, but Lerner played the lot of the songs off his eponymous debut released in April – a few highlights being “Tokyo,” “Coast of Carolina,” and “Foreign Room.” My sister especially liked “Calling All Doctors,” with its distinctive hook of a repeated “twitchin, twitchin.” There were a couple songs where Lerner got up off the drums and stood with his acoustic guitar by himself while the rest of the band lounged on the floor. “I Saw Lightning” was a perfect example of a Seattle ballad – heartfelt and not overdone. Like one of those songs you can sing to your girlfriend at an open mic and not sound too amateurish.

And I must say how epic David Broecker’s mustache was. It truly was amazing.

Right on schedule, headliners the Lonely Forest graced the stage at just after 11 p.m., right as my feet started to ache. The Showbox had become even more crowded than when we first arrived, which again shows how much buzz this band has gotten with the locals. Lead guitarist and vocalist John Van Deusen actually started off the set with “Can I get a shout out to Anacortes!” and the room threw up their arms and cheered with pride.

The Lonely Forest manages to bring together emotional piano pop with heavy, complex indie rock, without sounding generic in the slightest. Their newest album We Sing the Body Electric, released on Burning Building Records earlier this year, is easily one of the most dynamic and, dare I say, best of the year. Van Deusen, along with guitarist Tony Ruland, bassist Eric Sturgeon and drummer Bradyn Krueger started off the holidays just how they should be – full of vigor. By halfway through their set the Lonely Forest had the whole room jumping to the sound of Ruland’s badass guitar licks and Van Deusen’s weathered voice with tracks from We Sing the Body Electric, “Two Pink Pills,” and “Tomato Soup.” They also played “Soil Silt and Clay,” a track from their first LP, 2007’s Nuclear Winter, a concept album about the world ending and the protagonist’s escape from destruction through space travel.

One of my favorite songs of the night was “They’re On To Something,” a fast and guitar-heavy track with a shy piano line and the perfect beat for the lively crowd to dance around to. But it wasn’t until towards the end of the night where most of the people surrounding me on the teeming floor sang along to “We Sing In Time,” the undeniably catchy pop song with a killer building hook. Once the band stepped off stage, people immediately started shouting for an encore, and as it’s become standard practice, The Lonely Forest walked back out for not one – but two – songs for an encore.

You’d never think that Van Deusen spent time in rehab and Ruland almost died after a stint in the hospital two years ago. But then again, with how much passion The Lonely Forest has both on their record and in a live setting, one has to wonder where they get their fire.

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