the finest kiss

Lightspeed Champion @ Chop Suey, Seattle | 17 June 2008

I walked into Chop Suey last night expecting to hear the summery beach (boys) sounds of South Carolina’s Explorers Club, but instead it was the unknown sounds of the Train Chronicles. Apparently the Explorers Club were exploring Billings, Montana where they were awaiting the repair of their van after hitting a deer. The Train Chronicles is the endeavor of Lightspeed Champion bassist Martin and he was accompanied by Lightspeed violinist Mike Siddell. He only played a very short 15 minutes, but it was one of those times where you walk into a place and even though you have no idea who’s up on stage playing, you stop in your tracks because it’s so good. His songs reminded me a little of the Wave Pictures but Martin’s voice is not as reedy as David Tattersall’s. In talking to him in between sets I found out he plans on recording some songs with a full band and putting out an ep when he gets back from touring with Lightspeed Champion. It’s not often that I’m so blown away by the random opening act, what a pleasant surprise.

mySpace: Train Chronicles
mp3: Lightspeed Champion - Devil Inside Your Soul (Train Chronicles cover)

Dev Hynes, who is the mastermind behind Lightspeed Champion, is an interesting character, with his big black rimmed glasses, furry Russian hats, and love of Star Wars. He’s come up with a winner of album in his debut Falling Off the Lavender Bridge. It’s got gorgeous country-esque pedal steel guitar, beautiful harmonies from Emmy the Great and best of all, songs that are tinged in country and folk styles meshed with a theatrical flair. The album is subtle and often sublime, so I was curious how the sound would get rendered in a live setting. For starters there was no Emmy the Great, no surprise there, but drummer Anna Prior ably provided backing vocals. Vocals aside, this incarnation Lightspeed Champion is much different from the album, it rocks out a bit more with a more straightforward guitar-bass-drums complemented by violin. So I was a tad disappointed by the delivery, but the songs and Dev’s gregariousness more than made up for it.

A talkative fellow, he had something to say between each song, covering the Euro football tournament, and asking where the ‘original’ Starbuck’s was and then telling everyone to meet him there in the morning. Humor wasn’t only in his stage banter, the Star Wars theme was tacked on to the beginning of No Surprise/Midnight Surprise as kind of a send up. Though with the Star Wars sticker on his acoustic it could have been serious. He also played a handfull of new songs which sounded just as good as the stuff they did from Lavender Bridge, but like everything else a bit more rocking. The highlight of the set for me was the the rendition of Devil Tricks for a Bitch, with it’s plucked guitar and violin accompaniement. It started out with just Dev and his acoustic guitar, but built up with the violin and then slowly adding bass and finally the full ensemble for the finale. It was the perfect combination of the subtle that is indicative of the record and the more rock direction he seems to be taking on this tour.

mp3: Lightspeed Champion - Devil Tricks for a Bitch (from Falling Off Lavender Bridge)

And because I need very little excuse to bring up Jason Falkner, how much does Devil Tricks sound like this Jason Falkner song from his first album Author Unknown?
mp3: Jason Falkner - Before My Heart Attacks (from Author Unknown)

As for Flowers Forever, the second band of the night, I endured their set. I’m not a Bright Eyes fan to begin with, and so their unimaginative immitation of that band didn’t do much for me.

Ruby Suns at Chop Suey, Seattle | 1 April 2008

There are some bands that have to be seen live to be truly appreciated, their recorded output just never quite measures up to what they produce live. Then there are bands that seem to create magic in the studio, but have trouble recreating that magic live. The Ruby Suns (formerly known as Ryan McPhun and the Ruby Suns) unfortunately fall into that latter category. I was really looking forward to seeing them live, their first album made my 2006 best of list , and their new album is even better. Sea Lion expands on the the trippy Beach Boys thing and adds in some world music and 80’s synth band influences to catchy effect.

Live though it just wasn’t happening. Having only three people to replicate the menagerie of sound was a real disadvantage. McPhun manically jumped from drum to guitar to keyboard, to looped drum pad and back again throughout the set, and it made me tired just watching him. He had two women assisting on bass, keyboards, flute, etc., but he really needed at least one additional person for guitar and maybe another for drums. I doubt it would have recreated the symphonies from the record, but add two more players and simplify the arrangements and it would have been a much better show. They weren’t terrible, Amee Robinson’s There Are Birds was nice and Oh, Mojave came close to capturing a good vibe. Just don’t go expecting to hear anything close to what is on the record.

mp3: The Ruby Suns - There Are Birds (buy Sea Lion)

I had a bunch of good excuses for not going to see the Foals last night: it was a free show, so getting in could be a hassle, I’m not a big math rock fan, the album though good, is a bit same-y sounding, I was tired, etc, etc. So I wasn’t planning on going until my friend Bill over at Sound Bites emailed and said they killed it in NYC and I should go or else. So I put my lame excuses and reservations aside and trekked down to Chop Suey to catch the second date of the their minute two city tour of the US.

As they were doing their sound check, plugging in their guitars and stuff, they kind of started an impromptu jam, that sounded so good, I thought they were just going to start the show right then. It was like listening to a symphony warm up, that slightly disjointed organized chaotic sound that I find so soothing. But, no they stopped playing after a minute or two and filed off stage. Live, these guys come across as a band that has got it together. Their sound demands precision, and live they deliver that precision in manic spades. Timing must dictate that they stand around in circle on stage facing each other most of the time ignoring the fact that they’re playing to people. Both guitarist and the bassist wear their instruments high around the chest like a lot of jazz musicians. It’s a little geeky looking, but cool at the same time. They may wear their instruments a little funny, but they spaz out the entire time, jumping, swinging, pogoing around the stage, constantly upping the pace of each song until squeeze it to it’s breaking point. The crowd was totally into it dancing and even pogoing and singing along to a lot of the songs. The band’s spastic energy even brought them out into the audience, when without warning both guitarists jumped off stage, barreling into us. Watch out for those guitar necks, man they hurt!

Where songs seem to run together on their record, the live versions take on lives of their own. And though I’d be hard pressed to tell you what songs they played or the order, the delivery is so engaging and manic that it makes you forget about whether or not it was French Open you just heard or Cassius. They even add in new bits like the cool bass solo on Two Steps, Twice that sounded like Andy Rourke on the Smiths‘ Barbarism Begins at Home.

The Foals certainly have a Gang of Four thing going on, but they’ve got a much wider pallet of influences than just that Leeds band. Last night I was reminded of Josef K and the jagged guitar that ran through their songs crossed with Heaven 17’s new wave funk. Throw in a little post rock like a sped up American Analog Set and you’re getting close to their sound. Don’t get me wrong the Foals album Antidotes is a good record and after seeing them live, I’m really looking forward to seeing what these guys come up with next. After being on the fence about these guys, I’m definitely glad I went and am now firmly in their coral (you didn’t think I could go an entire post without making a horse joke?).

More pictures at my flickr page linked over on the right.

mp3: The Foals - Two Steps, Twice

buy: The Foals - Antidotes (released 8 April on Sub Pop)

mp3: Josef K - Heads Watch

mp3: Heaven 17 - (We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thing

mp3: American Analog Set - Like Foxes Through Fences

Maximo Park | Chop Suey, Seattle | 22 July 2007

photo from chona kasinger’s flickr page

Newcastle, UK band, Maximo Park’s sophomore effort, Our Earthly Pleasures has been getting less than stellar reviews from a number of places including Mojo and NME, and Pitchfork, all saying that it doesn’t measure up to the powerful debut, A Certain Trigger.  I think these publications are nuts, Our Earthly Pleasures is a more mature, solid and consistent record with great songs all the way through it.  In fact, it’s such a strong album, I would argue that the second half of if is as good if not better than the first half, which is an anomaly in today’s world of front loaded records.  After last night’s show I would also say that the band also favors the new record and live, the songs from it are even better!

Chop Suey is one of my favorite venues in Seattle, it’s not too big, there are no obstructions (meaning pole in front of the stage) and the sound is usually pretty good.  Oh, and they made it an early night, which is always a plus for me.  Maximo Park came on at 10:00 and were finished by 11:15, so I was home and in bed relatively early.  The show wasn’t quite sold out, but it was comfortably full.  Paul Smith appeared on stage with the band in Slint t-shirt, black blazer and a derby hat, which didn’t leave his head for the entire set.  That’s pretty amazing considering how much he moves around, with jumps, wild arm moves, and dancing.

It seems like Maximo Park really knows how to script a show, starting things out with a fair amount of vigor, but not overdoing it.  They opened with Graffiti from Trigger and  Our Velocity, the first single from Pleasures, came early in the set.  The band seemed to build on their own energy, sticking mostly to songs from the new record throughout the set.  Hearing these new songs live really shows how strong the new record is, sure the older stuff like Apply Some Pressure and Now I’m all over the Shop got big cheers, but the new stuff is what got everybody dancing and pumping the arms in the air.  As I said they know how to pace themselves, and they totally peaked by the end of the main set with The Unshockable and Going Missing with guitarist Duncan Lloyd doing freak-out guitar over his head, Smith with his mic stand up in the air and keyboard player Lukas Wooler hanging from the ceiling.  After those two songs, they didn’t need to come back for an encore, I would have left a happy boy after that.

Observation: I’ve come to expect a lot of people with camera’s at shows, especially those with UK bands for some reason. I’m one of those people with a camera too, but last night there was this girl in front that kept sticking her camera up into Smith’s face and snapping flash pictures. If I was Smith, I would have grabbed the camera and smashed it with the mic stand. Why do some people have to do crap like that? I was annoyed, so I’m sure Smith and the rest of the band were.

Brakes aka BrakesBrakesBrakes
with Pela, Electric Soft Parade and The Hands
Chop Suey, Seattle | 4 June 2007

It’s Monday night in Seattle, and people are not in Chop Suey.  The last couple shows I’ve been to in this town, make me feel like I’m back living in San Diego, where nobody goes to shows.  One benefit to a sparsly attended show is that the band usually hangs out, giving one the opportunity to pester them with conversation/questions.  I was hanging out outside between sets and had the opportunity to bother Eamon.  I got to ask him about Brighton (his home town), Electrelane (heard about your band), Camper Van Beethoven (they do a cover) and getting stuck at the border coming back from Vancouver earlier in the day.  Apparently the band got detained by the US border patrol for having tour shirts that were made in  Haiti.  I later found out that they were also driving a Winnebago.  That’s probably a red flag to the Border Patrol, English guys in a Winnebago with t-shirts made in Haiti.  A guy was telling me how they got this Winnebago off of Craigslist (it’s quite nice, as I saw it parked on the street on my way out after the show) instead of a van or bus.  They’ve totally mapped out their cross country tour/road trip doing gigs in Salt Lake City, Denver, Omaha, Minneapolis, Chicago, into Canada and ending in NYC.

Eamon Hamilton, has this stage persona that gives you the impression that he could be a mad man, or at least a man possessed.  You can tell he is a guy of conviction, not by just his delivery, but by his songs too.  The band have an intensity in their playing, but keep things a bit silly with the between songs bantering back and forth between themselves and the audience.  Brakes songs seem to fall into one of three categories, they’re either punk rock like Chenny and  Porcupine or Pineapple, country like If I Should Die Tonight and On Your Side and straight ahead pop like Beatific Vision and All Night Disco Party.  There’s also a fourth which is a combination of all of the above.  The band handled all these styles with aplomb, easily shifting mood from the smart-ass punk of Heard about Your Band to the beauty of No Return.  Eamon brought up a girl from the audience to sing with him on Jackson and they even threw in another cover,  Camper Van Beethoven’s We Saw Jerry’s Daughter. Which I thought was a perfect choice of a cover that totally fit their personality. 

Brakes songs are not long so we got a good helping of both albums.  They even did Cheny three times, getting members of the audience to count the start each time.  If you havent’ heard that song, it’s about 10 seconds long and consists of Eamon shouting Cheny a bunch of times and at the end yelling ‘Stop being such a Dick!’  It’s funny in a elementary, low brow way (right up my alley).  Tom and Alex White of Electric Soft Parade did double duty playing a set as ESP and then playing Guitar and drums respectively for Brakes.  Tom likes his guitar turned to eleven, because my ears are still ringing.  At one point during the ESP set, his brother asked him to turn it down a bit, but to no avail. 

The Electric Soft Parade set was something of a disappointment with them only playing 6 songs, one from their first Mercury Prize nominated first album and the rest coming from the new record, No Need to Be Downhearted.  The Whites didn’t seem to be in a good mood and the set suffered from it.  Too bad, because I like their stuff and it’s rarity for them to play the US.

I missed local band the Hands, but you can read a review of the set they did last weekend at the Georgetown Music Fest over at Sound on the Sound.  I did see Pela, who hail from Brooklyn and remind me a bit of the National and Buffalo Tom.  They seem to be getting a lot of play from KEXP right now, but don’t see the infatuation.