popwreckoning

The first step to enjoying UME is educating yourself the proper way to pronounce their name. That would be as follows: ooo-may.

Beyond that, the proof is in the product. According to their site, Laura Larson’s calming vocals, placed over the band’s thundering guitars, explosive percussion and dynamic beats create a combination of fuzzy shoegaze, raw guitar rock and irresistible pop rolled into one fiery package. Often compared to Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Metric and Sonic Youth, this band is causing a stir nation wide. In fact, “Captive,” the first single of Phantons, their yet to be released sophomore LP, recently debuted at #14 on the specialty radio charts, before making its way to the #2 spot.

You can download “Captive” here, courtesy of NYLON Magazine. Then catch them Friday August 5th on the Stageasaurus Rex Stage from 2:10 p.m. to 2:40 pm. For more information, check in with Kanrocksas here.

Feel free to check of this video of UME rocking Fontana’s in NYC in 2009.

A road trip with all the girls to see a show; what better way to spend a Friday night? That’s precisely what I did last week and every painful cent of gas money was worth it.

We arrived at the Firebird with what couldn’t have been more perfect timing. We walked in, paid our dues, settled into the crowd, and the show began. There was a large crowd which both bands deserved: The Antlers hadn’t been through St. Louis in quite some time, and the opening band Little Scream was an enjoyable forty minutes of music, not just a time waster that a lot of openers can be. Hailing from Montreal, Canada, the trio was reminiscent of female-fronted Company of Thieves mixed with the distorted vocals of Karen O. from the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s. I was digging it. They kept the crowd entertained, and with more than just music alone. The drummer recited celebrity birthdays and deaths in between songs. Definitely a first. Maybe a little strange, but hey, it made the band memorable.

The crowd packed in tighter and I somehow found myself right up front by the time The Antlers started their set. Sweet! The heavenly choir of angels – I mean The Antlers – opened with “Parentheses” from their new album Burst Apart and it was absolutely gorgeous. There was no introduction, no “how ya doin’ St. Louis,” just music. And I couldn’t have asked for anything better. They transitioned right into Kettering from 2009 release Hospice before taking a little break for banter about mustaches. Next was a string of five new songs which all ran together into one long symphony. The entire crowd seemed to be in a trance. I had seen The Antlers once before (the previous summer at Lollapalooza) but nothing even comes close to the experience of a small, intimate setting like the one I was experiencing. It was all I could do to not close my eyes and get lost in the depths of my thoughts for the rest of the set. And they played a lengthy one too; ten songs, with an encore of three for a total of an hour and twenty minutes of ethereal melodies.

With Hospice being such a heavy and dense album, one would think that The Antlers’ live shows would be a drag. It’s really quite the opposite though, and Burst Apart, while still somewhat mellow and somber, is on the lighter side and has its jammable moments. In the words of a Metro Chicago tweet, “FYI, I’m probably gonna cry-dance at The Antlers’ show.”

Set list:

Parentheses
Kettering
No Widows
I Don’t Want Love
French Exit
Rolled Together
Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out
Bear
Hounds
Putting The Dog To Sleep

Two
Corsicana
Wake

www.littlescream.com
www.antlersmusic.com

White Lies, the dark London post-punk band that was #2 on the BBC Sound of 2009 poll, have announced on their official website that their second album will be released on January 17, 2011 in the UK. Time will tell if this yet-to-be-named sophomore album will fare as well as their 2009 debut album, To Lose My Life…, which reached #1 on the UK albums chart.

According to NME, the album was produced by Alan Moulder, who over the years has worked with famed bands such as Depeche Mode, Them Crooked Vultures, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Song titles include “Holy Ghost,” “The Power and the Glory,” “Bigger Than Us,” “Is Love?,” “Streetlights,” and “Come Down.”

The band recently previewed songs from the new album at V Festival in August.

White Lies: website | myspace | @ Black Cat | @ Lollapalooza Day 1 | White Lies to Tour North America, Support Kings of Leon

Photo: Mary Chang

It’s been my experience that the 9:30 Club in Washington is not the ideal place to see a dance band. Or maybe I have been going to the wrong shows? Monday night the club played host to the first night of Montreal electro-funksters Chromeo‘s Business Casual Tour. One look at the keyboard stands – women’s bare legs with red heels – should have immediately told you this was going to be an unusual gig.

The first of two opening acts was New York City-based Telephoned, a duo comprising of the mustachioed Sammy Bananas (that’s got to be a stage name, surely?) on turntables and electronics and the prettily coiffed Maggie Horn. It turns out Horn is a local D.C. girl, so the duo had plenty of friends on hand to cheer them on. The two take popular songs and give them their own spin. I’m not really a fan of the songs they “spun” – to give you some idea, their set included mishmashes of Rihanna‘s “Rude Boy,” Yeah Yeah Yeahs‘ “Runaway,” and even their tour host’s, Chromeo‘s, “Night by Night.” Not really my thing, but there were plenty of people on the floor who disagreed. At one point, I was nervous as a man in a Don King outfit got into an argument with a girl who is a big fan of Telephoned as the two discussed their merits (or lack thereof). People: whatever floats your boat, to each his own, etc…

The second opener was Holy Ghost!, a band near and dear to my heart. Having seen them in June play to their fans at the U Street Music Hall, a venue specifically designed for dance music, I did not have high hopes for the 9:30. First there was a problem with the bass levels. Then there was a microphone wire problem. All in all, I have to say Alex Frankel (lead vocals / keyboards / additional percussion), Nick Millhiser (drums) and their two backing band members on guitars and synths did an admirable job despite the technical cock-ups that weren’t their fault. When it came time for “I Will Come Back,” all those equipment issues were forgotten as gig-goers gave themselves over to the beat. In the coming months and years, this will become every bit of a dance anthem as “Hold On” did for them at the start. Trust me. Dance bands often have too much in the way of exciting lighting going on around and behind them, and in the case of Holy Ghost!, less is definitely more. They didn’t have an elaborate stage set-up with them on Monday night, and they didn’t need them.

Holy Ghost! Set List
Say My Name
Hold On
It’s Not Over
Static on the Wire
I Will Come Back
New song (title unknown)

But Chromeo was who everyone had come to see at this sold-out show. My knowledge of them was limited to “Night by Night,” which had a very sexy promo video released last December. Appropriately enough, the focus is on the dancing. I knew they had two members – David Macklovitch (Dave 1) on guitar and lead vocals and Patrick Gemayel (P-Thugg) on synths and talk box – but assumed live they had to have more members, like Holy Ghost! Wrong. Gemayal had so many synths, even I lost count. For several songs he also wailed on bass, something I really appreciated. Macklovitch may be “the cute tall one” but Gemayel is the master onstage. Something I found strange: most of the duo’s songs are short, not what I would have expected for a dance band. It’s too bad they haven’t found more mainstream commercial success.

At the start, I wondered why Macklovitch was wearing sunglasses. Um, we’re in a dark nightclub, what gives? With a guitar, he had the opportunity to move around more than his synth-playing counterpart. I quickly learned that the sunglasses were to shade his eyes from the powerful light show that was going on directly behind the two of them. There was enough wattage on the 9:30 Club stage to land a jumbo jet. My eyes hadn’t been through such a workout since the Phoenix show at Constitution Hall in April. They granted us a short reprieve with “Momma’s Boy,” a tender but funny ’80s-sounding song that begins with keyboard effects and Macklovitch’s sweet vocals.

“Fancy Footwork,” the title track to their 2007 album release, had a bass effect so strong that I could feel the insides of my face vibrating. Not kidding. I tried holding on to the barrier, thinking this would dampen the effect. No such luck. Between this, the strobes, and the dancing-induced claustrophobia (including people’s limbs in your body and face), it was not a comfortable situation. Definitely not for the faint of heart. But if you’re in the mood for cutting a rug and don’t mind moments of temporary blindness, this would be the show for you. And good news for Chromeo fans: they do preview songs from their new album coming out in September, Business Casual.

Tour Dates
Jul 29 – Bowery Ballroom / New York City*#
Jul 29 – Love / New York City (afterparty / DJ set)
Jul 30 – House of Blues / Boston*#
Aug 02 – Capital Music Hall / Ottawa*#
Aug 03 – Phoenix / Toronto*#
Aug 05 – Majestic Theater / Detroit*#
Aug 06 – Lollapalooza / Chicago
Aug 06 – Official Lollapalooza Afterparty / Chicago (DJ set)
Aug 07 – First Avenue / Minneapolis*#
Aug 10 – Flames Central / Calgary*#
Aug 11 – Commodore Ballroom / Vancouver*#
Aug 12 – Showbox Market / Seattle*#
Aug 13 – Roseland Ballroom / Portland*#
Aug 15 – Outside Lands Music Festival / San Francisco
Aug 16 – House of Blues / San Diego*#
Aug 19 – Twilight Concert Series / Salt Lake City
Aug 19 – W Lounge / Salt Lake City (afterparty / DJ set)
Aug 20 – Ogden Theater / Denver*
Aug 24 – Stubb’s / Austin*#
Aug 25 – Palladium / Dallas, TX*#
Aug 26 – Cannery Ballroom / Nashville*#
Aug 27 – Masquerade / Atlanta*#
Aug 29 – Hollywood Bowl / Los Angeles^
* with Holy Ghost!
# with Telephoned
^ with the Chemical Brothers and Yacht

Chromeo: website | myspace
Holy Ghost!: website | myspace | Friendly Fires / Holy Ghost! – 12” Split Single| Interview with: Alex Frankel of Holy Ghost! | @ U Street Music Hall
Telephoned: myspace

New York City’s alt-rock power trio Yeah Yeah Yeahs sat down with iTunes recently to create an all-new program of music and interview commentary that reflects upon their illustrious nine-year career. The result is ITunes Originals – Yeah Yeah Yeahs, an exclusive  exclusive digital album that features the band performing acoustic reconstructions of YYY’s fan favorites “Our Time” (from a self-titled 2002 EP), the breakthrough single “Maps” (from their 2003 debut Fever to Tell), and several songs from their most recent album It’s Blitz: the showstopper “Hysteric,” “Dull Life,” and “Runaway.” The album also includes studio versions of “Y Control,” “Gold Lion,” “Cheated Hearts,” “Down Boy,” and “Heads Will Roll.”

In addition, fans are treated to interviews with singer Karen O., guitarist Nick Zinner, and drummer Brian Chase, as they reflect on and deconstruct the past nine years of their career, revealing the inspirations and fascinating stories behind their songs.

Tracklisting:
It’s the Year to Be Hated (Interview)
Our Time (iTunes Originals Version
A Love Song In the Truest Sense (Interview)
Maps (iTunes Originals Version
Conga Line Around a Dead Dog (Interview)
Y Control
The Studio As Laboratory (Interview)
Gold Lion
Back from the Dead (Interview)
Cheated Hearts
Darker Side of Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Interview)
Down Boy
Something Tangy, Something Sour (Interview)
Dull Life (iTunes Originals Version)
Glam Rock Murder On the Dancefloor (Interview)
Heads Will Roll
Rewarding Love Song (Interview)
Hysteric (iTunes Originals Version)
Range of Musicianship (Interview)
Runaway (iTunes Originals Version)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs: website | myspace | iTunes store | It’s Blitz review | remix monday: ‘zero’ | @ house of blues | @ bumbershoot | @ monolith | @ beaumont | @ bonaroo 2009 | @ all points west 2009 | @ lolla 2009

My day began with Google maps getting me lost, eventually finding my bus and away I went on a rather beautiful day to begin my Austin City Limits experience. After checking in at the media tent, I made my way to catch the wonderful bluegrass/punk stylings of the Avett Brothers who kicked off my day with a bang, mostly taking material from their recently released I and Love and You (which shall go down as one of my favorite records of 2009).

After the close of their set, I made the trek to the XBOX 360 stage to discover one of my surprises of the festival and that was The Walkmen. Let me just say that I had no idea what to expect, but I was left rather impressed by Hamilton Leithauser’s stage presence as The Walkmen incorporated a rather wonderful horn section, bringing their material to another level.

To my liking, I didn’t have to do all that much walking after seeing The Walkmen as I wandered over to the AMD (West) stage to see the French stylings of Phoenix. Their dance/pop wowed the crowd as they kicked things off with “Lisztomania,” sending the crowd into a dance frenzy which didn’t stop for the remainder of their set.

After a break to rehydrate, and load up on delicious all natural snack in the media area, I made my way back to the AMD stage to catch the last few minutes of Raphael Saadiq who brought the soul, setting the mood for John Legend to take the mainstage right after Saadiq’s performance.

After enjoying Legend’s serenading of the lovely ladies at ACL, I made my way to what had to be the most-hyped performance of the festival, Them Crooked Vultures. Three words come to mind when asked to describe this new band of Dave Grohl, John Paul Jones and Josh Homme and those three words are, heavy as fuck. Grohl’s child-like grin throughout the set just showed how much he enjoys being behind the drums again. Homme’s solos danced around Jones’ heavy bass lines with Grohl setting the fast tempo. Homme is often the overshadowed member of the band and to his credit, he holds his own on the guitar and with vocals that pack a punch.

Following that kind of performance is quite the feat that was left upon the shoulders of Day 1 headliners, Kings of Leon and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. After seeing Kings of Leon just a few days before in St. Louis, I decided to finally experience the visual craziness that is Karen O in person. Heavy on costumes, spit takes and growls, Miss O danced around with an infectious smile closing Day 1 with songs mostly from It’s Blitz, not that I’m complaining, it’s my favorite YYY’s album. After their set, I made my way off the grounds and discovered the joy that was free shuttle service to my hotel. For that, I must confess my love to you Austin and was left looking forward to Day 2 after a night of well-deserved rest.

Austin City Limits: website

Multi-instrumentalist and music savant Andrew Bird graced this year’s Austin City Limits with his prolific musical talent. I was shocked he didn’t play on a headlining stage, but when you’ve got the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Kings of Leon on the bill, too, it’s a tough call. Bird’s performance did rival those of the night’s closers, however.

Andrew Bird: website | myspace | @ virgin mobile festival 2008 | Noble Beast review | @ orpheum theatre | @ the slowdown

The much buzzed about noise pop act Pains of Being Pure at Heart took some time at Denver’s Monolith Festival to speak with Bethany about their new EP, what the band would have been called if not PoBPaH and the greatness of Scribblenauts. Check out the interview below.

Bethany, PopWreckoning.com: Let’s talk about your EP that’s about to come out, Higher than the Stars (editor’s note: just came out on Sept. 22).
Kip Berman (vox), Pains of Being Pure at Heart: Sure.
PW: What’s the story on it, why an EP and not an album?
KB: Our new album came out in February and we’ve been touring a lot behind that album. At the same time, we have some new songs that we’ve been playing live for awhile and we just wanted to put them on the EP so people could have access to them as well. It was exciting for us to go into the studio and try new things, “Higher than the Stars” and “Falling Over” kind of expressed a different side of the band that wasn’t really there on the album. It was fun for us to record those songs and put that forward.

PW: You say new things, what kind of new things?
KB:Uh, role playing. Haha. The songs are cleaner. The album was heavy on this distortion and fuzz. The EP is cleaner and draws on different influences. The song “Falling Over” in particular is centered around Alex’s bass line. Up to that point we had never developed the bass lines to a point that was sort of the forefront of the songs. It was cool to write a song around a bass line and putting that forward.

PW: Haha. Alex, you excited about the more bass line?
Alex Naidus (bass), Pains of Being Pure at Heart: Totally. Showing off.
KB: Alex’s fan mail is going up 25 percent after this EP.
AN: It is just a fun song to play.

PW: So new album, I feel like I saw you’re already planning a January release?
KB: We don’t have a new album ready yet. January would be a bit soon. We kind of have to write it first. After December, when our touring is done, we’re going to take some time and work on some new materials. We’ll go into a studio, but I don’t think we’ll start recording until spring 2010. January release is a bit premature.
AN: It’s impossible, actually.
KB: There might be another band we don’t know about called the Pains of Being Pure at Heart looking to put out a new album in January and trying to still our thunder.
PW: It is a really popular band name.
KB: Yeah, there are tons of them.
Peggy Wang-East (keys), Pains of Being Pure at Heart: We couldn’t believe it wasn’t taken.
KB: The MySpace URL is all ours!

PW: Now, there is tons of information online about where the band name came from, but not too much about where you guys came from and how you all got together. Is there a story there?
KB: It probably isn’t as good as the band name story. Is is pretty much straight up like any other band story. We were friends and we enjoyed hanging out with each other. We were all kind of music nerds and our interests overlapped. I started writing demos. Me and Alex were psyched on this idea of playing music together then I asked Peggy to play music for me. I thought she was too cool for me and she wouldn’t want to do it, but I tried to phrase it in as cool a way as possible like (in a deeper voice), “Hey, you want to be in this band that’s going to be like noisy pop music.” I guess she had nothing better to do so she said ok.
PWE: Yeah, basically, I have a small hole in my life to fill with Kip and his silly pop songs.
KB: I wasn’t really interested in filling Peggy’s small hole.
AN: Haha, oh my God.
KB: Haha, but at at the same time, I did want to play pop music with her, so it worked out. We played for awhile with a drum machine. That made traveling easy. Eventually Kurt, my roommate, joined up on drums. It really changed things for the better. It really added a dynamic aspect to the music having a drummer. He’s really good and he understands the type of music that we play. It is so essential to what we do. He helped us become a better band. The first band practice we had with him, it felt like every song we were playing was for the first time because it was so exciting.

PW: So Peggy, what is it like to be in a band with all guys and be the only girl?
PWE: You know, it is funny. I’m just so used to it at this point. I hang out with a lot of guys anyways. I have like two really close female friends, but I don’t know, I hate being the girl that’s like I hate hanging out with girls and only hang out with dudes because that’s not necessarily true. I feel like the guys that re in the band are not like exclusionary. They include me on their activities. Though when they talk about video games, I don’t know what they’re talking about. Sometimes I wish there was another girl around, but it is totally fine. No complaints.
PW: You could easily work another girl in on cowbell or something.
KB: Originally we wanted it to be 50/50. When looking for a drummer, we thought a female drummer would add balance and I was really into bands that were co-ed and not just one female member. I liked the idea of it being more balanced. There are weird things that come out of it and are interesting. You can’t put your finger on why bands like that are cool, but they are. Kurt’s pretty girly to be honest, so it works out ok. He was really good at drums and he wasn’t too masculine, so we’re all happy.

PW: Yeah. You do have a good balance from what I saw in your stage show today. What was it like to perform in the Monolith weather right as the rain started up and people were reaching their most miserable cold point.
KB: We weren’t at our most miserable point. We had a lot of fun.
PWE: It was a lot of fun. I was feeling like a baby before we went on, “It’s so cold. I’m miserable.” Then being out and once we started playing it was fine. Though I definitely missed a few keyboard notes due to my fingers being really numb.
AN: It was incredible how good the energy was. It was like such a testament to the people that were there. It is so appreciated that not only there were people there, but they were into to it. It made it so much more fun.
PW: Yeah. I’m getting used to it. I’ve been to four festivals this year. Three of the four had rain. Bonnaroo was a monsoon. Lollapalooza had a cold, rainy day. I think South By was the only one.
KB: Yeah. There’s no raining at South By.
PW: Oh yeah. You were at that one! I missed your set.

PW: Oh, so speaking of the video game love and knowing that you have a song that reference’s Kurt Cobain, “Kurt Cobain’s Cardigan,” what do you think of the Cobain avatar in Guitar Hero 5 and the controversy with that?
AN: I just saw that like Activision or whatever had just put a statement out because they had to confirm whether or not it was legitimate and Dave Grohl had to officially say we had nothing to do with this and Courtney Love signed off on it. I don’t know, it doesn’t bother me.
KB: He’s just a dude who started a band. I love him, but it’s not like his image is so sacred you can’t put it in a video game. Jim Morrison was in a video game. Whatever. These people are all public figures. I don’t know how to say this and I probably revere Kurt Cobain more than anyone, but he’s just a dude that wrote songs. If people want to put his picture in a video game, it’s not going to end the world.
PWE: I thought it was totally, really embarrassing to watch. If he wasn’t dead, he’d be upset about it. It is not like the songs in the trailer were so…I just think if he was alive he’d say that wasn’t cool. I don’t know.
KB: If there was a video of Peggy as a cartoon character singing Soul Asylum songs…
PWE: That’d be awesome, but that’s Soul Asylum. I’d do that anyways.
KB: Runaway train never coming home….There are real problems in the world and Kurt Cobain’s avatar is not one of those.
AN: That’s our next song title.
KB: It’s going to be the B-side. “Kurt Cobain’s Avatar” will be the B-side to “Kurt Cobain’s Cardigan. They’re just graphics on a video game.
PW: I hear they’ll let you go into the Rock Shop on the game and buy him a cardigan.
KB: That would actually be cool. I would like to have Kurt Cobain’s cardigan.
PWE: That was the inspiration. I would really like to wear the one that he wears in the MTV Unplugged thing. Some green thing.
KB: It is like pea soup colored. It would be cool to have that to wear right now when it is so cold out. I’d appreciate it a lot.
PW: Oh I know. I’m ready to splurge on the $40 hoodie even though I’m already wearing two right now.
KB: I almost did that too. It is almost worth it.

PW: So what video games would I find on the Pains tour bus then?
AN: MarioKart.
KB: I play a lot of Scribblenauts or whatever.
AN: Scribblenauts. It will revolutionize gaming. I wish I could tell you more, but the other guys can explain it better.
PWE: It’s like a secret club. I watch them play it and they’ll get really into it.
AN: I’ve witnessed it. It’s pretty impressive.
KB: A little known fact. If our band wasn’t called the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, we were going to be called Rainbow Road, which is my favorite level on MarioKart. You beat the game and you get to drive on a rainbow in outer space.
PW: That’s the hardest level! You always fall off.
KB: You fall off, it is really dangerous, but at the same time, a cloud picks you up if you fall off. So you’re in outer space and on a rainbow and it really happy. I love it a lot. So if we weren’t called Pains of Being Pure at Heart, we’d be called Rainbow Road. I’m sure that would open us up to even more jokes about the same subject matter.

PW: Haha, you guys would be fine. You’re popular on the blog circuit. Even Pitchfork gave you a good review and they hate everybody.
KB: Haha, I’m sure that’s not true.
PW: Now Pitchfork is called a hipster blog and you guys get labeled as a hipster band, but nobody every agrees what that means. As a “hipster band” what does that mean?
KB: It is not something that concerns us. We think of ourselves as just a pop band and we have a good time. At the end of the day, all bands are measured by the quality of music they produce and we’re excited about the music we’ve made and what we’ll make in the future. That’s who we are. We’re just regular dudes that like video games and regular stuff.
AN: I don’t think we think of ourselves as a cool band or cool people really. We’re just people who just generally like what we do because it is fun.
KB: All of us growing up were never the cool dude. We just enjoyed what we enjoyed. Music is something we identify strongly with and force our identities around. The kind of bands that we like are the kind of people that we wanted to be. The music we loved growing up and then to meet people who had that too was just a thrill. I never really had friends that knew who half the bands I liked growing up, but then I met Peggy. And I was like oh my God, you’re into what I like, too. It was just awesome to meet these people.

PW: For a final wrap up question since we’re at Monolith, what other bands here are you most excited about? Who have you already checked out that impressed you?
AN: We can’t stick around tomorrow. We got to see Depreciation Guild today on a really big stage, which was amazing. I like them a lot.
PWE: Edward Sharpe was awesome. They were on before us. Then I couldn’t get in, but Starfucker. They were in a room that was really packed and crowded. I kind of snuck in through the back, but then we got kicked out. That’s my teenage rebellion of the day. I want to see Of Montreal. They’re always so fun.
KB: We’re on tour with Depreciation Guild, so we’re psyched about that. Edward Sharpe was really cool. Starfucker, I was with Peggy, we were trying to watch them and they kept throwing us out of the place we where we could watch them. They’re a cool band that I’d like to see. I’m bummed we won’t get to stick around tomorrow because Yeah Yeah Yeahs are playing.
PWE: No, they’re tonight. Phoenix is tomorrow.
KB: Oh, Phoenix. Phoenix is great. We saw them briefly in France, which was cool they’re from there. I’ve loved them since the album United and the song “Funky Square Dance.” They’ve been putting out good records for awhile and they’re finally starting to get the acclaim they deserve. We’ll be driving to Salt Lake City tomorrow, but everyone should see Phoenix. They’re great.

Pains of Being Pure at Heart: website | myspace | @monolith

The coasts of the United States never seem to be at a shortage for festivals, but travel to the heart of the country and festivals are scarce. Chicago does have Lollapalooza, which is a fun festival, but very mainstream. So the addition of Monolith Festival has been a haven for the Midwest hipster to see new buzz indie bands and some classic gems in one of the most beautiful venues in the world: Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Denver, Colorado.

The first day of the festival was a cold and rainy mess, but the bands stuck it out with smiles and were gracious to all the people who stayed the whole day. Store bought ponchos and trash bag made ones became the must have fashion accessory and one stage emcee quipped he would give a prize to anybody who could pull off the most creative, hipster rain outfit.

I wore two jackets and a poncho and wrapped my camera gear in a bag and despite only operating on an hour of sleep, I made it through the festival and loved every minute of it. Monolith fortunately has one of the best indie line-ups with few disappointments, so it was easy to lose yourself in the music and forget that you couldn’t feel your toes anymore.

Generationals // Woxy.com Stage @ 12:20 – 1 p.m.

Like I said, it was ridiculously cold out and off and on sprinkling, so heading to the indoor stages early seemed like a good plan when I arrived at Monolith Amphitheatre. Turns out it was. I started at the Woxy.com Stage, a stage that ended up having the best line-up of the day and hosting a majority of the best acts that I saw. Generationals were among those acts.

Generationals had a rock sound with folksy inclinations. The singer was a lot of the reason I liked them because he had a sort of nasal boldness to his vocal that made me think a bit of Tokyo Police Club without ever thinking that the band sounded like them. The female keyboardist balanced out his vocals, but I wasn’t as thrilled with the band when they gave her the lead vocals on a song. She was a fun support member to watch, switching from keys to keyflute (I have no idea what those mini-keyboards are that you blow air into, but that is what I’m calling keyflute.)

As I walked off from their set, I made a mental note to check out this band’s music at home. I quickly learned that I’d be making a lot of these mental notes.

Stars of Track and Field // Radius Earphones Stage @ 1:00 – 1:40 p.m.

I’ve been dying to see Stars of Track and Field since a few years ago, my local radio station, 96.5 the Buzz, played “Moons of Antarctica” on air and I went out and actually purchased their album. “With You,” my favorite from that album, was actually the last song I listened to in the car ride before the fest.

I don’t know why, but for some reason, I always figured the group had a girl in the band because of the records’ harmonies, so I was a bit surprised when three guys came out wearing tight pants and leather jackets. Despite the gray day and playing indoors, the singer had on bug-eyed sunglasses. He also adorned a scarf and their whole look reminded me of the time I saw Barcelona and their musical sound isn’t that different from each other. Perhaps they’re all friends–they are both bands from the Northwest, and maybe they do their shopping together.

Once I got over my surprise that a weird falsetto was the actual harmonizer, I got really into their set. They had a few pitchy problems, but it was still good. The new songs fit perfectly with the old and it was fun to watch the guitarist take random dips and jumps as he rocked out. Another cool thing that I discovered about Monolith watching them is that to the side of the Radius Earphones Stage, there was an artist that was painting them. I guess this was happening all day and it was fun to see a mixing of the two art genres. Stars of Track and Field just released a new album about a week ago. Go check them out.

Set List:
Movies
EOAT
Static
Bright Fire
With You
The Aviator
Arithmatik
Now You Lift
Lacuna
Lights

The Antlers // Woxy.com Stage @ 1:40 – 2:20 p.m.

The Antlers were yet another amazing discovery for me. I really hadn’t heard much about them until this past week and had no idea what to expect. What I got was the product of if the singers of Cold War Kids and Passion Pit had a baby that then the kid was raised by Fleet Foxes in some mountain cabin in the heart of the Rockies. This group had that sort of classic sound meets modernity.

The vocalist was a crooner and he would crawl up the scales at the end of the verses, hit his high note and add a beautiful, yet different vibrato touch at the end. Gorgeous. As a whole, the group had the Fleet Foxes vibe with that sort of blending and harmonizing that the Foxes do so well. Also gorgeous.

A warning though—the musical subjects are very sad–hospitals, death and cancer.

Set List:
Bear
Sylvia
Shiv
A Trophy
2
Epilogue

Lydia // Radius Earphones Stage @ 2:20 – 3 p.m.

I’ve seen these barefoot indie pop musicians multiple times and they always give warm fuzzies. Piano, pleasing guitars and a perfectly happy band that never stops smiling kind of does that for you. They’re like Straylight Run, but happier.

These United States // Woxy.com Stage @ 3 – 3:40 p.m.

I think this band might win for favorite new artist of the day. PopWreckoning recently raved about them in an album review, and now we continue the raving by declaring them fucking amazing live. It was like being at a barn party with your closest friends gathered and just as you hit the tipsy point, somebody whips out an acoustic guitar and just starts jamming. It’s the kind of party where you love your friends and the music and are having such a good time that you think you could be eternally happy holding your beer and listening to your friends play forever.

These United States made every person in the room feel like they were all close friends at a party such as that. Their crowd interactions made it seem like if you did have a request, they would have tried to fulfill it. In fact they tried to do something like that. A person in the audience asked where they were from and after responding, they want on to say that they had a question box on the side of the stage because nothing was as important as responding to what the people want. And as for the crowd, whether they knew the bands very, very, very new music, they would still try to sing along.

When I left the room, I was still singing, “Get yourself home, boy, get yourself home.” The little jamboree at the packed Woxy.com Stage was hands down one of the best sets of the festival and maybe one of the best sets that I’ve seen in my life.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros // Southern Comfort Presents Stage @ 3 – 3:30 p.m.

I only caught a bit of this group, but it was exactly like the Letterman performance. Smiliing hippies dancing to the feel good “Kumbayah” like music that a bajillion musicians on stage were performing. It was good, but it is hard to give a complete review of a band when you only caught a song and a half.

Frightened Rabbits // Esurance Music Stage @ 3:30 – 4:15 p.m.

This Scottish act was the first of three that I would see at the festival and the Scottish acts came to the festival to show the American audience who was boss.

Accents made it difficult to really follow lyrics, but it didn’t matter. It sounded great and the people loved it. Some fans got really, really into it:

Pains of Being Pure at Heart // Southern Comfort Presents Stage @ 4 – 4:45 p.m.

Pains of Being Pure at Heart was a band that I was really excited and really nervous to see. I loved their self-titled debut, but one of the critics I respect in Omaha gave them a mixed review about two days before this festival. He basically said something along the lines of PoBPaH as one of those groups that has a great band, but a singer who can’t sing.

After seeing them for myself, I have no idea what he was talking about. The singing was perfectly fine and a nice cheery spot in the extra dismal weather. Kip, the singer, even quipped, “Today we’re the Rains of Being Pure at Heart.”

I think the band’s genuine glee at playing for Monolith made the set just that much better. It would have been easy to be wallow in misery that I could see my breath,  couldn’t feel my extremities and was now at risk for pneumonia, but then I would look up and see Pains’ smiles and I’d smile too and forget the cold and get lost in their noise pop.

OK Go // Esurance Music Stage @ 4:45 -5:45 p.m.

You know them for their dance moves whether in front of funky wallpaper, on treadmills or in a backyard, but OK Go is so much more than that. They are a talented band that cares about their fans and really understand the art of performance.

One member walked out ahead of the group and struck out a large clear sideways bass drum. He was the herald to singer Damian Kulash‘s entrance. It was an attention grabbing opening.

The band proceeded into a set filled with all their well-known songs and some brand new ones. There was lots of confetti and cute little anecdotes.

What I liked the most about OK Go was that the band really was all about the people. Red Rocks is an epic amphitheatre, but there is a big gap between the main stage and the front row of the audience. Kulash bridged that gap and carried his mike stand to the heart of the audience for a love song.

“Denver, are you lovers?” Kulash asked. To which the crowd cheered a yes. “Good. Our next one is a love song. We’re going to give it the 60s treatment and wave…or you got lighters? Those allowed here? Hold up you cell phones and let them get fucked up in the rain.”

They had a playful edge about them that just made it impossible to not like every moment of the set.

“This next one is a new song, but I need your help singing. This is in C er G no D…Pitch perfect. We’re pitch perfect.” said Kulash. “You’ll sing, ‘Let it go, this too shall pass.” The audience had a miserable attempt at repeating it back. “That was a bit fast, but we’ll give it a try.”

Kulash does not have a future in teaching because that was the worst attempt at giving directions I have ever seen. When the song finally got to that part, it sounded nothing like what he sang in the practice run, resulting in a kind of pub like singalong on the audience’s end. Fortunately I think Kulash has a secure future in music so he won’t have to toy with the idea of education as an alternate career.

Set List:
Shooting
Get Over It
Million Ways
White Knux
I Want You
Oh No
BFK
Don’t Ask
HIGA
Last Leaf
Skyscrapers
Disaster
TTSP
Good Idea
Invice
DWYW

The Walkmen // Southern Comfort Presents Stage @ 5:30 p.m. – 6:15 p.m.

I couldn’t bring myself to leave OK Go and I was dreading trekking up the stairs again, so I was strongly contemplating skipping the Walkmen to wait to  see M. Ward, but others at the site have said this act was the shit, so I embraced more soreness to add to my calves and jogged up to see the Walkmen. It was good, but kind of blah. After the last few really solid and crowd-welcoming performers, it was hard to get into this set. The Walkmen’s downfall? They could sing and play well, but the performance was lacking in the entertainment value. Sorry other editors at this site. I just didn’t feel it.

M. Ward // Esurance Music Stage @ 6:15 – 7:15 p.m.

M. Ward had a similar problem to the Walkmen, except, unlike them, I felt really guilty that I found his set a little blasé. He is a fantastic guitarist and singer, but I think he would have been better off either earlier in the day or playing one of the smaller indoor stage. His act was nice because it diversified the line up a bit and I think some of the older audience members really got into it, but the younger kids had a hard time staying awake.

Ward just had a tough act to follow after OK Go’s set and like I said, his problem wasn’t that he isn’t talented. Simply poorly placed in the line up.

Set List:
Sad Sad Song
Chinese Translation
Requiem
Epistemology
Fool Says
Poor Boy
Some Lucky Night
One Life Away/Lullaby Rag (acoustic)
Poison Cup
Four Hours
Magic Trick
To Save Me
Fahey/Fisher of Men
Nobody Like You
To Go Home
Vincent
Big Boat

Beethoven

Girl Talk // Esurance Music Stage @ 7:45 p.m. – 9 p.m.

Anybody who has heard of Girl Talk knows that Girl Talk tears it up every time. My friends had never experienced Girl Talk and I had to rush off to an interview before this set, so I gave them a little tip: stay close to the front before this set and keep your eyes open. Why would I give this tip? Because Girl Talk is a DJ that likes to be surrounded by people, toilet paper and lots of confetti…sometimes blow ups and balloons, but those were missing this time around.

Anyways, my smart friends took my advice and soon noticed a line toward the side of the stage and hopped in the line. This line was to get on stage with Girl Talk and to dance your heart out. So as Girl Talk blasted his spin on modern and classic hits, my friends got to dance up close and personal on one of the most epic stages in the United States.

I got out of my interview to join the rest of the audience getting covered in the rain, toilet paper and confetti and I loved every messy minute of it. Girl Talk has to be the love of everyone…well, maybe not the security and clean-up crews, but still, you know what I mean.

Of Montreal // Southern Comfort Presents Stage @ 8:45 – 9:30 p.m.

It is weird to say this, but Of Montreal was kind of tame this time around. No guitars were given out like at Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza at the end of the set. No guest performers. No balloons. Even the costumes weren’t quite as crazy as usual. They still had the gas mask Christmas story and they had the little dance bits with the people in black.

So since I wasn’t as distracted by the other stuff that usually accompanied their set, I was actually left to focus on their music this time around. Guess what? It was still fucking amazing. Great keys, falsettos and guitars and all while every band member moved around and danced.

Set List:
Intro
Mingusings
Fashion
Seine
Cato
Forecast
Rapture
Id Engager
Faberge
Elegant Castle
Touched
Eluardian
Heimdalsgate

Rejector

Yeah Yeah Yeahs // Esurance Music Stage @ 9:30 – 11 p.m.

I want to be Karen O. This is a woman so creative that she can wear jackets more colorful than Joseph’s technicolor dreamcoat. So bold she has no problem spitting like a man. And so talented that she can be caressing the vocals to a love song one moment, “They don’t love you like I love you,” and then going into a loud yowl, “I do! I do love you!”

Karen O owns the stage and uses every square inch for her dance moves and she never tires as she hops around. Watching her, it is almost easy to forget that Yeah Yeah Yeahs is a band and there are other people on the stage. I’ve seen this band multiple times and tonight was the first time that I really watched the rest of the band. Nick Zinner has some great guitar lines, but I finally noticed him as a performer tonight. He often just stands off to the side in a too cool for school leather jacket with his lower lip out in a concentrated pout as he plays. This show he seemed to finally interact and Karen and Nick even came together in an embrace at one point.

Each song was better than the last as the band went through old and new hits. “Cheated Hearts” into “Headz Will Roll” into the normal full version of “Maps” just made for a non-stop dance party and singalong.

It was  a great way to end the night and left the crowd psyched and ready for day two of the festival.

Set List:
Runaway
Dull Life
Honey Bear
R Tung
Shame
Gold Lion
Zero
Miles Away
Skeletons
Hysteric
Soft Shock
Cheated Hearts
Headz
Maps (full)
Dates

Look for the Sunday follow-up soon!

Monolith Festival: website

Arriving in the Seattle Center on Sunday proved that people don’t give a shit about the weather when good music is involved. It reminded me of a movie I recently saw – “Taking Woodstock,” where the famous Woodstock festival was almost put to a halt because of a terrible rainstorm.

We’re Seattle, it doesn’t affect us much.

But in defiance of the sky’s will, the rain did stop and start during various times during the day – the most ironic one actually was during the Cold War Kids set on the main stage when they started playing their hit “Hang Me Up To Dry.” Seriously. Everyone had just put on their hooded raincoats, and the sun came out all of sudden. It was magical. Even the front man Nathan Willett noticed it – “clothes are just coming off all over the place.” For being the first set on the main stage, the Cold War Kids rocked Memorial Stadium. Guitarist Jonnie Russell brought a lot of the charisma to the stage, switching instruments, and beating a cymbal with a maraca. It took a little while for the crowd to build up their energy, seeing that it was early in the day, and wet, but the Cold War Kids didn’t really give a crap about the rain. They played some old songs and some new songs, but since I was pretty close to the stage, I noticed that the crowd sucked compared to Saturday. But it was early yet, so I didn’t mind.

And they were great warm up for Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who were next on the main stage.

Holy crap, I’m so glad I had a second chance to see them. They came to the Sasquatch Festival back in May, and I missed them because Bon Iver played at the exact same time, and when I saw that they were playing at Bumbershoot too, I jumped to joy.

Let me tell you – that is one live show you can’t afford to miss. Karen O came bounding on stage in this multi-colored stringy, almost harness-like get up, with a equally colorful cape, and Nick came out with his ridiculously awesome hair and dark pair of wayfarers, and they killed it. The rain had started again by then, but I couldn’t count how many people crowd surfed in that hour-and-a-half. A few people around me actually were dropped because people weren’t paying attention to them enough to remember to hold them up. Karen said over and over how awesome the crowd was – and I couldn’t argue with her. We were singing along to slower hits like “Runaway” from It’s Blitz! and frantically jumping and dancing to older heavy hits like “Date With A Night.” Karen O is the epitome of a front-woman, with her melodic singing, fantastic shrieking, and something that sounds almost like an orgasm, especially during “Date With A Night” as she shouts “I’ll set you, I’ll set it off!” At this point, I was thinking to myself, “why are they playing at 2:30 p.m. in the afternoon?” The scheduling for Sunday didn’t make much sense, having Yeah Yeah Yeahs in the early afternoon and Jason Mraz being the headliner at 9:30 p.m. But that’s a testament to how great a show Yeah Yeah Yeahs put on.

During the last half of “Skeletons,” where Karen O wasn’t singing, and it was just a powerful keyboard solo, a huge gust of wind blew in and tossed the tarps lining the stage around like sails on a boat. I might have been the only one who thought it was cool, but it fit perfectly into the song. But the best part of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ set came when Nick switched to an acoustic guitar and we all knew “Maps” was coming.

“This is a song about love. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Seattle – Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Seattle – love.” And Karen O put her hand on her heart. Her stage presence reminds of Freddie Mercury – with her wild outfits and insurmountable amount of energy. It’s amazing. And on this day, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs could feel the love from Seattle, and Seattle – for sure – could feel the love from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

After my sister and I left the main stage, trotting through puddles and slowly ascending the wet stairs, we took a breather to have some lunch and shop around to give my sister’s back a rest. At 6 p.m., we headed over to the Broad Street Stage to catch the Vivian Girls. The audience was quite a bit smaller than Matt & Kim or Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head from the previous day, but the crowd they did have were really into it. But I think the Vivian Girls music is more fit for smaller clubs than large festivals. I haven’t heard much of their music, but oddly enough, they were very reminiscent of late 90s indie chick rock, but with a little more grungy edge. I’d like to think that Kurt Cobain would enjoy their music. That’s basically how I can describe it, with everything from their vocal stylings, fashion, and stage presence. My sister made some odd comparison as, “the less poppy Donnas.” I personally wouldn’t go see them again live, as I like my live shows to be slightly more energetic, but I listen to their self-titled record a lot. I’m a 90s kid, so the Vivian Girls are my kinda nostalgia.

At that point, the batteries in my camera died, so I had to run down the street to OfficeMax and pick up some more AAs before we got in line for Patton Oswalt at the Charlotte Martin Theater. I’ll just say this – I haven’t laughed that hard in…well I don’t remember the last time I laughed that hard. And I’m so glad I got to see him Sunday, because his set on Monday is during Franz Ferdinand – which is the one band I’m not missing for anything.

The last act of the night – Jason Mraz, I went merely to appease the wishes of my sister. I own one Jason Mraz album from when I was 14, and since then, my musical taste had changed a bit, so I wasn’t nearly as excited to see him as the thousands of girls and frat boys packed inside Memorial Stadium. It’s almost insane how much ladies go crazy for Jason Mraz. He has the appeal of a younger Dave Matthews, certainly with the instruments he works into his live performance. Even though it took me awhile to warm up to him, he’s awesome live. He’s way better than on his record, without a doubt. But it took him a long time to get to the more upbeat, crowd-pleasing songs. At the beginning, I was almost bored, as the songs didn’t fit the enthusiasm of the crowd and the greatness of the venue. This is where I questioned the scheduling again.

His beachy, surfer-dude, chill persona didn’t fit at 9:30 p.m. Chill music doesn’t work well with people who are already tired. But once he got to the second half of the show, and busted out with some Lionel Richie, everyone sang along to “party, karamu, fiesta, forever!” It didn’t make much sense to me, but I sang along as well. He played some more upbeat songs, “The Remedy” and “Coyotes,” which kept the energy up. By then, I was having fun, but what made me and the rest of the people around me extremely frustrated were the constant stream of people leaving. Now, we were towards the front of the crowd, and people who were much closer than we were left 20 minutes in. And they kept leaving throughout the show. I ask you – why squeeze your way to the most crowded area of the venue if you’re just going to leave halfway through? I don’t get it. The father with his 3-year-old standing right in front of me stayed all the way through. And it was adorable, especially during “I’m Yours,” when the 3-year-old sang all the words. That’s how big a spectrum Jason Mraz appeals to. You’ve got middle-aged women, frat boys, boy-crazy teenage girls, and fathers and their young sons.

By the end of Jason Mraz’s set and he played a wicked version of “Butterfly,” I was dancing along like the uber fangirl standing right next to me. From starting slow, to picking up the tempo and getting the crowd more involved, and ending with a bang – Mraz did not disappoint me. At that point, the scheduling made more sense having him as the headliner – because his fans love him.

I’ve still got one more day of this. Yes.

Bumbershoot: website | day 1

Written by: Abby Williamson