popwreckoning

For two sold-out nights, Londoners The xx proved that a minimalist approach can work, when it’s done well.

Having just arrived on the scene in 2009, The xx have earned a great deal of buzz and, judging by the crowd response, a sizable faction of ardent fans. Appearing shy, unassuming and a bit goth in their solid black attire, Oliver Sim on vocals and bass, Romy Madley Croft on vocals and guitar and Jamie Smith on percussion played to a packed house at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall.

To start the show, I was excited to see Phantogram, a New York duo that I have been hearing so much about lately. I had heard about comparisons to Portishead, influences from Serge Gainsbourg and descriptions of their energetic live show. Based upon the crowd response, I don’t think I am alone in my assertion that the performance was a disappointment. The band’s point of reference seems good but there was simply no cohesion and each track seemed sloppier than the one before. There was no trace of an energetic live show and their lighting, which consisted of little more than the incessant, annoying flash of strobes, certainly didn’t help things.

The xx, on the other hand, conveyed exactly the opposite effect. Stacking detached, hazy vocals and thumping bass parts along with “live” drum machine beats, each sound seemed as it were specifically selected to enhance the vibe. Sounding like something that Robert Smith, Ian Curtis and Peter Hook might have cooked up in long-forgotten shed during the wee hours of night, The xx delivered an hour-long set consisting of most of the songs from their eponymous 2009 album. From the syncopated, overlapping lyrics of “Crystalised” to the half-awake “Islands” and “Shelter” the band gave the crowd a peek into their natural, more-mature-than-it-should-be style. The set continued with “VCR,” the R&B influenced “Basic Space” before closing with an energetic version of “Infinity.”

The show felt very intimate, as if the crowd was voyeuristically peeking into their dilapidated practice space while the band played simply for their own late-night enjoyment. That’s really what is so striking about The xx and their music: it’s seductive and tense there’s nothing pretentious about it. You’re left feeling fortunate that you’ve experienced it unfolding before you, as if it could vanish in an instant. Showing the band’s great mastery of restraint, all of the parts have an organic space between them, letting the tracks breathe and evolve in a very satisfying way.

It’s certainly impressive to see such a young band have such a brilliantly realized sound. Making unique noise from pedestrian instruments, these newcomers just might be on to something.

So apparently, I have a bit of a reputation of being a Killers lover. This label was only reinforced by last week’s Under Cover: The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside.” In my defense, I would like to say that I’m not one of those fan girls who has scribbled Mrs. Brandon Flowers all over my notebook (it wouldn’t matter; he’s married) and my love for the Killers is a lot more practical than how “hott” I rate him. No, I honestly can admit that what I appreciate about this band is a lot deeper than that. I actually love them for…their music! These guys are good musicians, so instead of doing another Under Cover where I look at other artists covering this band, I wanted to let them shine. Besides, with the rumors of a Killers cover album looking more and more like a reality, the public had better start getting used to this band doing covers. Now they’ve done plenty more than what I listed here including covers of The Beatles, Frankie Valli, Morrissey, Kenny Rogers, David Bowie and the Nebraska State Song. I’ve even heard that singer Brandon Flowers likes to cover Bonnie Tyler‘s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” when doing karaoke (links, anybody? I need footage!), but here I’ve listed some of my favorite Killers covers.

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The Dire Straits’ “Romeo and Juliet” / 2007 – Abbey Road Acoustic Sessions

In 1981, The Dire Straits released “Romeo and Juliet” as a single from their album Making Movies. It quickly became one of their most successful and well-known singles and, like most good singles, spurred the creation of several covers. The Killers first covered this song live as part of their Abbey Road Sessions before later releasing it on their B-side album Sawdust. Front man Brandon Flowers described this song as “one of the best songs I’ve ever heard” and I couldn’t agree more. This is my favorite Dire Straits song and I love the version the guys put together of this song. The Killers have a reputation for being over the top with glitz and glam, probably a result of growing up in Vegas, but this cover stays true to the simplicity of the Dire Straits instrumentation and guitarist Dave Keuning is the perfect man to play those classic arpeggiated guitar notes that define the song. It is all abetted by the rawness of Flowers’ voice. It’s kind of fun because he has a bit of a twang that you wouldn’t expect from him considering he usually has a reputation of sounding too British.

Flowers was actually sick during the recording of the Abbey Road Sessions, but I think it added a vulnerability to his voice that was perfect for the rendition of this song. For me the highlight of this is when he belts the line, “Juliet, when we made love, you used to cry I said, ‘I love you like the stars above, I love you till I die.‘ The rest of the song after that is almost sung in a whisper.

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Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” / 2008 – Live @ Little Noise Sessions, Union Chapel

Some bands just wanna have fun. And that’s exactly what the Killers did for their cover of Cyndi Lauper‘s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.” I like this because bassist Mark Stoermer switches out his bass for a guitar and gets really into it (as in never looks up into it). This cover surprises me because they went acoustic instead of for their trademark Hot Fuss synth heavy sound, which the song loans itself toward. Though it is a simple cover, it is complex in the idea that the band didn’t go the obvious route with how to cover it.

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Joy Division’s “Shadowplay” / 2007 – Control Soundtrack

Now what would this cover section be if I didn’t include perhaps the band’s most famous cover: Joy Division‘s “Shadowplay”?  “Shadowplay” was originally recorded by Joy Division for the 1979 album Unknown Pleasures. In 2007, a biopic, Control, about Joy Division’s lead singer Ian Curtis was set to be released. The remaining members of Joy Division, aka New Order, actually picked the Killers to do the cover for the film, which played during the credits. This was a huge honor for the Killers considering the band is heavily influenced by both Joy Division and New Order. In fact, the band’s name comes from New Order’s video for “Crystal,” in which New Order is under the guise of a fictional band called the Killers in the video. As further tribute to New Order, the Killers often play as fictional bands in their own videos (The Genius Sex Poets and Los Dientes del Perro).

This cover even had a music video made with clips from the movie mixed in. However, for me, it isn’t the studio recording that sticks in my head, but the live version. It became a tour staple for the Sam’s Town run and is still performed by the band on their current Day and Age tour. With the Killers’ addition of “Ooh ooh oohs” and fist pumping, this cover kept the mood set by Joy Division, but took it to anthem levels.

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Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghostbusters Theme” / 1998 – Another EP?

So, this might be cheating, but this is too good of a cover to not share. In 1998, the Killers obviously were not around, but the individual members were still quite busy making music in other bands. Drummer Ronnie Vannucci was a member of some groups that met with some moderate success. Personally, I was a big fan of his ska punk group Attaboy Skip, which fans of NOFX would actually enjoy a lot. In fact, the band is actually confused with NOFX a lot and this particular cover can be found wrongly attributed to NOFX on YouTube. This aforementioned cover is none other than “Ghostbusters Theme.” I seriously couldn’t think of a better song that a punk group with brass could cover than this theme. Hilarious. Vannucci drives the band into double time at the end giving the theme their own personal spin.

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The Killers: website | myspace | Sawdust review | under cover: “Mr. Brightside” | @ magness arena | Day and Age review

I must admit that I’ve been a little selfish in waiting so long to review Kansas City group The Republic Tigers’ debut album, Keep Color. I even went to the CD release party on May 6, so it isn’t like I didn’t have access to the album.

Two things held me back from reviewing in a timely manner. First, I wanted them to be my little secret. I had been following their growth since before they had signed to Chop Shop Records. However, that seems to no longer be an issue because the group is quickly picking up buzz, so there is really no way that I could keep them a secret after they have had songs on hit shows like “Gossip Girl” and performed on “The Late Show with David Letterman.” Second, because I already loved the group so much I was really worried about having to write an honest review of the album. What if it wasn’t as great as I had hoped? How could I say something mean about one of my favorite bands? Fortunately, after thoroughly listening to the album, I can honestly say that it is a good album and worth the hype that this band is getting.

Keep Color kicks off with the group’s first single, “Buildings and Mountains.” With the instrumental landscape created and the haunting ahhs, by the time lead singer Kenn Jankowski breaks in with a deep voice reminiscent of Ian Curtis, the album already promises to be epic. While the chorus states, “All these buildings and mountains, slowly that arise before our eyes,” you can see before your own eyes the successful career of this band slowly arising like a mountain.

“Golden Sand” follows with tongue twister lyrics and more fun than can be packed into a can. This song would be perfect for a party. Following that is “Feelin the Future,” which begins with hesistant instrumentals that sound like they are mimicking the title and feeling out what to play next.

Next is one of my favorite tracks, “Weatherbeaten.” It is beaten not only with a heavy drum, but weary lyrics. The percussion on this track is brilliant. When the chorus says, “Marching into a synchopated cold, it’s orchestrated to play til we give up and just grow old,” the drums mirror the lyrics with a syncopated beat. With its musical references in the lyrics, this ends up being a personally revealing track for Jankowski as it references coming out of past failures to find success, much like his track record with previous bands.

The next song, “Air Guitar” would be a decent song on its own, but following the emotional “Weatherbeaten,” it is a little flat. Energy picks back up with “The Nerve.” It has an odd introduction, but once it gets going, it ends up being one of the boldest songs on the album. “Contortionists” follows in the strain of “Air Guitar,” meaning it would be interesting on its own, but in the grand scheme of the album, a little out of place.

It is followed by another fun dance number, “Fight Song.” Although if you are going to dance to it, pay close attention to the tricky rhythms. The album stays strong with “Made Concrete,” which is another emotional and personally revealing song as it delves into relationships. Female vocals were a nice addition to a song about relationships. This is probably where I would have ended the album because, yet again, the final song, “Give Arm to Its Socket” comes off as out of place.

Although it wasn’t as fantastic as their self-titled EP, Keep Color is one of my favorite albums of the year. There are a few songs that can be skipped, but if you completely skip out on listening to Jankowski’s amazing vocal range and his bandmates amazing instrumental capabilities, then you are making a big mistake.

Keep Color was released by Chop Shop Records on May 6, 2008.

Tracklisting:
01. Buildings and Mountains
02. Golden Sand
03. Feelin’ the Future
04. Weatherbeaten
05. Air Guitar
06. The Nerve
07. Contortionists
08. Fight Song
09. Made Concrete
10. Give Arm To Its Socket
11. Stranger to the Eyes of a Child-Man
12. Cast On, Cast Off

The Republic Tigers: myspace
Chop Shop Records: website | myspace

Written by: Bethany