popwreckoning

Death Cab For Cutie have announced a fall tour to start September 30th in Cincinnati and go through the end of October. Support includes Telekinesis, The Hold Steady, Explosions In The Sky, and The Head And The Heart. Furthermore, DCFC will also be among the headline acts appearing at Sunrise, Florida’s annual Langerado Music Festival on October 8^th and San Francisco’s Treasure Island Music Festival on October 16^th. Below is a complete list of tour dates. For more information please visit www.deathcabforcutie.com.

AUGUST

1                      Boston, MA                           Bank of America Pavilion

2                      Brooklyn, NY                        Williamsburg Waterfront

5                      Philadelphia, PA                  Mann Center for Performing Arts

6                      Pittsburgh, PA                      Stage AE

7                      Columbia, MD                      Merriweather Post Pavilion

8                      Cary, NC                                Koka Booth Amphitheatre

10                    Nashville, TN                       Bridgestone Arena

11                    Alpharetta, GA                     Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre

12                    New Orleans, LA                 Kiefer UNO Lakefront Arena

13                    Grand Prairie, TX                 Verizon Theater

15                    Phoenix, AZ                          Comerica Theatre

16                    La Jolla, CA                           RIMAC Arena

18, 19              Los Angeles, CA                  Greek Theater

20                    Las Vegas, NV                      The Pool

22                    West Valley City, UT          Maverik Center

23                    Morrison, CO                        Red Rocks Amphitheatre

25                    Chicago, IL                            UIC Pavilion

26                    St. Paul, MN                          Roy Wilkins Auditorium

SEPTEMBER

30                    Cincinnati, OH                     PNC Pavilion at Riverbend Music

OCTOBER

1                      Champaign, IL                      University of Illinois-Assembly

2                      St. Louis, MO                        The Pageant

5                      Memphis, TN                       Mud Island Ampitheatre

6                      Birmingham, AL                  Alabama Theatre

7                      Jacksonville, FL                    Florida Theatre

8                      Sunrise, FL                            Langerado Music Festival

10                    Houston, TX                         Verizon Wireless Theatre

11                    Austin, TX                             Austin Music Hall

15                    Santa Barbara, CA                Santa Barbara Bowl

16                    San Francisco, CA                Treasure Island Music Festival

18                    Boise, ID                                Taco Bell Arena

20                    Portland, OR                         Portland Memorial Coliseum

21                    Vancouver, BC                     Rogers Arena

22                    Seattle, WA                           Key Arena at Seattle Center

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!

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

I woke up Monday morning to a thin layer of rainwater on top of my tent, hoping that the weather would still go our way that day.

What do you know? It did.

Determined to see more bands that day than I’d seen Saturday and Sunday, I went and stood in line at about 11:30, even before any bands started playing. We made our way onto the festival grounds to a small crowd watching local band Jaguar Love, which features one half of the former Blood Brothers. Let’s just say I didn’t stand there for very long. Instead I went to the Yeti Stage for Shadow Shadow Shade, a much more pleasant sound for that early in the day.

Shadow Shadow Shade sounded quite nice in the open air, with their multiple instruments and multiple vocalists to create sweeping harmonies fitting to both dance to, or just stand and listen to. I quite liked “Your Perfect Wilderness.” And even though they were playing at noon, they had a nice-sized crowd who had passed over Jaguar Love on the larger stage.

While waiting to head down to the main stage to see The Temper Trap, I caught a bit of Past Lives, also on the Yeti Stage. Unbeknown to me, Past Lives featured the other, less annoying half of the Blood Brothers. Literally, if you’d put Jaguar Love and Past Lives on stage together, you’d have the Blood Brothers. Past Lives weren’t bad. I’m not a big fan of hardcore music, but this was toned down a bit, mixing louder hardcore vocals with darker and subtler melodies.

Next, I went to see The Temper Trap, and I caught the last ten minutes or so of Mayer Hawthorne, who was quite fun from what I saw. I thought he was an odd choice for Sasquatch, but you really never know what to expect. The Temper Trap was about 15 minutes late to the stage, but it was worth waiting for. I have to say that they surprised me. In a good way. I expected a decent show for 2 o’clock in the afternoon, but they were awesome. Lead singer Dougy Mandagi’s falsetto mixed with the pulsating rhythms, and bassist Jonathon Aherne’s stage antics (and a glorious head of hair) made for a moving live show. At one point during “Drum Song,” Mandagi poured all the water out of his bottle onto the floor tom he was beating to create a cascade of droplets across the stage that went along with the light drizzle that had began. I didn’t even mind the rain actually, because at that time of day it was quite hot and the rain was refreshing. The Temper Trap’s songs also lent themselves to the crowd singing a long, like the repeated “lost, lost, lost” during “Love Lost,” and the “ooo-ooo-oos” during “Fader.” And especially for “Sweet Disposition,” which began with a drawn-out intro, everyone sang along. The songs have a driving tempo that’s just right for rocking out without looking like fools.

Looking like fools came later.

But I give The Temper Trap the honor of best performance (at least that I saw) of Monday. I was thoroughly impressed.

Following that great show, I went back to the Yeti Stage for a couple more shows, both starkly different from one another, but both local. First was Fresh Espresso, one of Seattle’s most promising hip-hop acts. Being so well known in the local scene, they drew a huge crowd for 3 o’clock, and I can see why. Mixing hip-hop, pop, and glam, they sure brought the energy. Also, during their set they brought this random guy out on stage, who then proceeded to propose to his girlfriend right now. That was sweet.

Telekinesis was next, who I also saw back in November opening for The Lonely Forest. Frontman Benjamin Lerner was very at ease in this large arena, even if it was the smallest stage at Sasquatch. His light power-pop drew a less energetic crowd than Fresh Espresso had before, but Lerner’s songs were just as enjoyable. One girl from the crowd shouted a song that she wanted to hear, and Lerner replied with, “You really did your homework, that isn’t even on the record.” And then she spouted out something else I couldn’t hear. “That’s your favorite song? Ever? Dang.” Lerner said, very flattered.

As the sun was starting to set, Dr. Dog started their set on the Bigfoot Solar Stage, bringing their bluesy folk rock to the festival. I would have liked to hear their great cover of Architecture in Helsinki’s “Heart in Races,” but their set was still really good. At times it almost had a hint of a gospel vibe along with their strong 60s-pop influences, which I liked, especially “Army of Ancients,” with its relaxed melodies and passionate vocals.

The Mountain Goats, who came next, were one of the bands I was really hoping to see at Sasquatch, and I was not disappointed. Of all the performers, I’m pretty sure John Darnielle had the most fun on stage. He said, “I know it’s corny, but I love playing music.” It wasn’t corny, John. Of all the places to make that declaration, Sasquatch is it. With how much joy they had on stage, evidenced my Darnielle’s wicked awesome facial expressions, The Mountain Goats fans had even more joy. “No Children” turned into a giant sing-along, about “hoping we both die.” No really. It was charming and hilarious and joyous, and perfect for Sasquatch.

After the Temper Trap, the Mountain Goats got my second best performance of the day.

I made my way back down to the main stage for the final time that weekend to see Band of Horses and MGMT, who I wouldn’t say disappointed me, but didn’t wow me either.

I couldn’t get close enough to see anything but what was on the jumbotron, so that could be the reason why I didn’t react to their performances as strongly. Band of Horses were fine, good ol’ southern rock. And I was glad to hear that they did play a lot of songs off their first two albums, because I personally was a bit under whelmed with Infinite Arms. By far the best part of Band of Horses’ set was during “Funeral,” when virtually everyone started screaming the lyrics along with them, which always makes a concert better.  A concert shouldn’t just be great music, but also a shared experience with the dozens, or hundreds, or thousands of people surrounding you. Lots of people went to go see Band of Horses, so at least they accomplished that much.

Figuring that it would be a mass exodus leaving the amphitheater after MGMT and it would take forever, I went and sat on the grassy hill for the first and last time that weekend to enjoy them. I wasn’t expecting crazy stage-hopping MGMT, but I also wasn’t expecting the glazed-over possibly high MGMT either. The third song in Andrew Vanwyngarden introduced “Flash Delirium,” the inexplicable hit from their new album Congratulations, but instead they played “The Youth,” from their first album. Hmm. And about a third of the way through, bass player Matthew Asti asked the huge crowd of people in front of him, “has the sun set yet? No, it’s still holding on!” Okay. But the one thing that I do enjoy about MGMT is that their music is so odd and entertaining that you don’t really need a lot of stage presence to pull it off. By the last twenty minutes of MGMT set, the rain began to fall. It was like the sky couldn’t hold on the precipitation any longer and had to let it go.

But the best way to end Sasquatch when MGMT played songs like “Electric Feel,” “Kids,” and “Time to Pretend.” When they came on, I had to get up off the grass and dance around like a crazy fool, because that’s just what you do.

Here’s hoping next year’s Sasquatch is just as good. Or better. That’s always an option.

For the final set of photos from Sasquatch 2010, visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/abbigshmail/sets/72157624191722284/

Sunday’s coverage: http://popwreckoning.com/2010/06/03/sasquatch-festival-sunday-with-local-natives-kid-cudi-dirty-projectors/

Saturday’s coverage: http://popwreckoning.com/2010/06/02/sasquatch-festival-saturday-with-ok-go-the-national-vampire-weekend/

On the first of two shows in Seattle, Spoon filled the Moore Theater Friday night with fans, fun and a fantastic lineup. I entered the theater after I inexplicably acquired two after-show passes and took a seat up towards the front for the openers. In fact, I didn’t actually take my assigned seat until Spoon started their set.

The theater was virtually vacant for the first act, Micachu and the Shapes, who pushed through their eccentric set of songs laced with cowbells and bottle percussion, as well as some insistent feedback ringing from the front speakers. They acknowledged it at one point – “Sorry for the buzzing.” And someone shouted from the audience – “Keep playing and we won’t hear it!” Micachu and the Shapes was far more experimental than the two bands that followed, but it does suck that they didn’t get a better crowd. I quite liked “Vulture,” as its ambient sound almost made sense with the buzzing feedback. But it was an early door time. People didn’t feel like getting an early dinner before the doors opened at 6:30. My dinner consisted of a maple bar, so I had no trouble making the opening bands.

After Micachu finished their set, there was a short turnover time before more photographers started showing up for Deerhunter. At this point, the number of attendees in the theater grew by quite a bit. Now that I’ve seen the show, I feel bad for everyone who didn’t make it to see Deerhunter, because they were so good they didn’t feel like openers at all. Singer Bradford Cox and the gang came out on stage, and awestruck by the size of the theater or something else, proclaimed “what the fuck is going on?” This turned out to be a theme throughout their show – disbelief. I almost felt like a terrible person for not being familiar with their music before this show, but I’m surely familiar with them now.

The set was so casual, with Deerhunter tripping across the stage, breaking out into laughter at times, and during “Nothing Ever Happens,” a friend of band jumped up on stage and shimmied around with maracas. She crawled on the floor underneath Cox’s legs as he played and she licked the guitar strings, climbed on the drums and leapt around the stage, stumbling into every band member. All of this culminated into a long, drawn-out version of  “Calvary Scars,” where Cox exclaimed how surreal it was to be twenty-seven in Seattle at the anniversary of Kurt Cobain’s death. “I’ll never be 27!” he repeated several times, as he waxed poetic about his twelve-year-old self, his own contemplation of suicide, and his unbelievable dream of his dead idol coming down from heaven to take vengeance on all the high school bullies. The whole thing was magical and felt completely personal, like we’d never see the same show again.

By this time, the Moore Theater was basically full. I didn’t have the luxury of sitting in an empty seat up front after I was finished shooting. But I didn’t care. I could have been on the second mezzanine and it still would have been amazing. I caught a glimpse of the set list, and it was huge. I knew we’d be there for awhile, rocking out to a smorgasbord of Spoon.

It was a hodgepodge of old and new stuff. Spoon played most of Transference, some select favorites from Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, but a lot of Gimme Fiction. In fact, during “I Turn My Camera On,” I could see another of the photographers making frames with her hands up to her face. You could surely tell that the audience was full of new and old fans of Spoon. They have been around for about 15 years now, so it was to be expected that there would be fans mix age and below as well as fans my parents’ age.

They jumped right into their two hour-set with “Before Destruction” off Transference and moved swiftly into more of my favorites. The intimate, dome-shaped Moore Theater glowed with the spotlights reflecting off the walls, revealing the joyous faces of the audience. Britt planted his feet – clad in leather ankle boots – on the stage, strumming the notes of “The Underdog” on his guitar. The instant familiarity sent the audience into an indie rock dance party, even my fellow photographers. I can them on the other side of the stage bopping around with their cameras like silly fangirls at a Jonas Brothers concert.

The crowd swayed back and forth along to Britt Daniel’s flawless delivery, switching from his easy raspy tone to a powerful cry during each song. The one omission from the show that peeved me was “Got Nuffin.” It was nowhere to be found. It turns out that they played it the next night instead of Friday. I wanted “Got Nuffin,” but what I got was so amazing that I didn’t even care at the time.

Spoon also implored some friendly faces to play with them during the show. Seattle’s own Michael Lerner, a.k.a. Telekinesis played snare on a select few songs, and Cox stepped back out to play when Daniel just crooned into the mic without his guitar. When Cox walked on stage with a snowcap on, Daniel swung his guitar off his shoulder and handed it to him. Keyboardist Eric Harvey played the cool and sexy opening riffs of “Who Makes Your Money” and Daniel sauntered around the stage singing his “oh, oh, ooos” to the audience directly in front. He threw his head back and shouted the hook while Bradford snuck up behind him and thrust the neck of his guitar between Daniel’s legs. He stared down at his groin and continued crooning, “who makes your money? Who makes you money?” then shoved Cox back playfully as the audience giggled along with them. Soon after, Daniel set down his guitar and jumped into the crowd to wake up the one guy who wasn’t on his feet. Really, the guy was sleeping.

Taking a trip through oldies-but-goodies, I was completely satisfied with my Spoon experience. Even though I was hoping to hear “Got Nuffin,” I left on a pleasant note, as the finished on an high note with one of my favorite Spoon songs, “Jonathan Fisk.” And more dancing ensued. I loved the show’s friendly environment. It was awesome. If the security guards hadn’t been walking up and down the aisles making sure people stayed out of them, I’m pretty sure people would have started dancing with each other during several of the songs right down the aisles. As the show finished at about 11:30, I almost wanted to get tickets to Saturday’s show just to extend the greatness that I’d just experienced for another day, but I had work to do the next day. But I think if I’d seen Spoon two days in a row, I may have overdosed on awesome.

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.

The Lonely Forest: website | myspace

For a band from such a rainy city, they sure know how to make a crowd feel awash in their sunny melodies. Seattle band Telekinesis played bright and early on the Mohawk Outdoor Stage. The early set time didn’t stop them from drawing a decently sized crowd that was eager to check out this recent Merge Records signing.

Passing Michael Benjamin Lerner on the street you wouldn’t place the skinny redhead in glasses as one of the most powerful singer/drummers, but I think he serves as a reminder that you can’t judge a book by his cover. Lerner was joined on stage by friends, Chris Staples, David Broecker and Jonie Broecker, whom loaned instrumental talent as well as impressive vocal harmonies.

Keep an eye out on Telekinesis. The debut self-titled album drops April 7.

Telekinesis: myspace

Having made a huge impact on 2008, Ra Ra Riot are aimed at taking over 2009. To start the New Year, the band has confirmed their next round of touring, kicking off January 30, 2009 and including a brief European stint, appearances at the Langerado and Noise Pop festivals, and headline gigs including the El Rey in Los Angeles (dates below).

Meanwhile, Ra Ra Riot’s debut full length The Rhumb Line has begun surfacing on multiple Best of 2008 lists.

Tour Dates:
Jan 22 – Bowery Ballroom / New York City (Planned Parenthood Benefit w/ Regina Spektor (SOLD OUT)
Jan 30 – Colgate University / Hamilton, NY
Jan 31 – Smith Opera House / Geneva, NY
Feb 11 – Barfly / Birmingham
Feb 12 – King Tuts /Glasgow
Feb 14 – Academy 2 / Newcastle
Feb 15 – Night and Day / Manchester
Feb 16 – Bodega / Nottingham
Feb 17 – Borderline / London
Feb 18 – La Fleche D’or / Paris
Feb 21 – Richard’s on Richards / Vancouver !@
Feb 24 – Doug Fir Lounge / Portland !@
Feb 25 – Neumos / Seattle !@
Feb 27 – The Independent (Noise Pop) / San Francisco !@
Feb 28 – El Rey Theatre / Los Angeles @
Mar 01 – The Loft / San Diego !@
Mar 02 – Detroit Bar / Costa Mesa, Ca. !@
Mar 08 – Langerado Music Festival / Miami
Mar 10 – The Parish @ HOB / New Orleans )#
Mar 11 – Walter’s on Washington / Houston #
Mar 12 - Cine El Rey / McAllen, Tx. #
Mar 13 - The White Rabbit / San Antonio #
Mar 14 – Granada Theatre / Dallas #
Mar 16 – The Slowdown / Omaha #
Mar 18 – The Conservatory / Oklahoma City $
Mar 24 – The Cinemat / Bloomington, In. $
Mar 26 – The Blind Pig / Ann Arbor, Mi. $

! w/ Cut Off Your Hands
@ w/ Telekinesis
# w/ Tokyo Police Club
$ w/ Passion Pit

Ra Ra Riot: website | myspace | @ north star bar | @ jackpot saloon | The Rhumb Line review

Photo: Jessica McGinley