SHOW OF THE MONTH

Nurses / The Ohsees / Citay
Café du Nord
San Francisco, CA
November 8, 2007

The crowd at Café du Nord got its money’s worth with a truly eclectic evening of local flavor, from dub/psych to folk/pop to psych/folk rock — and a CD release to boot. Kicking off the performances were San Francisco’s own Nurses, an energetic duo comprised of Antonio Miguel on drums and Gabriel Aaron on electric guitar. Though a guitar/drum act has the propensity to produce a very simple (but increasingly popular) effect, Nurses twist and turn dramatic guitar shreds paired with swift, rapid percussion and short, random bursts of heavily-reverbed vocals that are anything but lackluster. That said, the crowd at Café du Nord seemed to be divided in its reaction — some were dancing and getting lost in the music, others just seemed lost in general. Miguel’s back was also to the audience the entire time, making it clear Nurses’ focus was not out on the crowd but inwards; it was easy to see that they get lost in their music.

Up next were The Ohsees, who literally turned the mood around and had the entire room engaged barely one minute into their first song. Led by rambunctious vocalist/guitarist John Dwyer (formerly of Coachwhips), vocalist Brigid Dawson, bassist Petey Dammit, and drummer Mike Shoun threw together a folksy pop/rock frenzy, laced with slight elements of post-punk reminiscent of acts like The Fall. Their riffs and melodies often have an experimental lean and break the usually formulaic barriers of the pop genre. Yet their biggest asset is the quirky vocal pairing of Dwyer and Dawson, which added an almost creepy and mysterious element to their set. Now five albums deep, the band mostly stuck to new material from its latest, Sucks Blood, and there were seemingly no complaints. Fun music aside, The Ohsees are just fun to watch!

Finally taking the stage and celebrating the release of their new album, Little Kingdom, Citay topped off an already incredibly enjoyable bill. The largely instrumental post-psychedelic rock group is somewhat difficult to classify. The project of guitarists Ezra Feinberg and Tim Green (The Fucking Champs), Citay is like a mini-orchestra, with seven members utilizing myriad instrumentation from the standard bass, percussion and piano, to 12-string guitar, mandolin, synthesizer, flute and violin. Impressions of what could be considered “hippie music” or jam band fare were trumped by Citay’s lush, blissed-out sound. Their long, winding songs (most averaging 10 to 12 minutes) were like little adventures and stories in themselves. Most impressive though were the lead guitar duets by Adria Otte and Jessie Reiner who shred epic Allman Brothers-like riffs that really carried the rest of the music.
With their individual approaches to instrumentation, performance and sound, the bands had something to offer every varied appetite in the crowd and together made for a night that was anything but skimpy.

-Review by Nicole Sheikh; photo by Valerie Shoaps

The Weather Underground/ The Subjects/The Walkmen

The Independent
San Francisco, CA
November 13, 2007

Naming one’s band after a self-styled revolutionaries is a good way to get attention, especially when those revolutionaries fashioned their own personas in line with incendiary Dylan lyrics. But providing the content and attitude to back it up is another story altogether. Fortunately for L.A.’s The Weather Underground, the coalescence of form and function is hardly problematic.

With songs devoted to Beat Generation writers like Neal Cassidy and Jack Kerouac and a musical appreciation for greats like Otis Redding, The Weather Underground established a firm foundation not only for the evening’s entertainment, but for the counterculture roots of their namesake. Essentially a garage band with a strong current of soul coursing through their guitar-driven sound, they opened the evening with a Mexican folk song before charging through a set of jubilant rock. Singer/guitarist Harley Prechtel-Cortez played the passionate frontman well, even when the band flirted with its lighter side. As a whole, The Weather Underground was unafraid to vie for the crowd’s attention and adoration, which they surely won. If refinement of their sound does not erode their raucous energy, great things may be expected of this young band.

That kind of energy was one thing that The Subjects lacked. Playing second, the Brooklyn foursome shuffled though what seemed to be less individual songs than a brainy, shuffling indie rock opus built on idiosyncrasies and dynamic shifts. Their mild allusions to choruses over flourishes of trebly Telecaster and nasal vocals resonated with the audience, who gave them a head-nodding, analytical sort of appreciation. Unlike The Weather Underground, they offered little banter to woo the crowd. The closest thing to it might have been one guitarist’s brief, kneeling serenade of a pair of girls dancing close to the stage during a short Strokes-ish ditty near the end of The Subjects’ set.
Ensconced solidly behind walls of organ and reverby guitar, The Walkmen took the stage to a packed crowd. Led by singer Hamilton Leithauser, the band paraded itself before the crowd with an array of slick tunes. But the thing about being too slick is that nothing sticks. Whereas The Weather Underground dove into their fiery set and The Subjects burrowed into the rabbit hole of their collective concentration, The Walkmen seemed to put a lot of emphasis on looking as above their set as possible. There was a soulful resonance from their rendition of “Louisiana,” but a there were also moments of directionless noise which, lacking beauty or depth, seemed to provide only the backdrop for stage light tricks.

-Review and photo by Andres Jauregui

Minus The Bear / The Helio Sequence / Grand Archives

Crystal Ballroom
Portland, OR
November 8, 2007

Even though they played last and their posters were the ones bedecking the walls of the Crystal Ballroom, Seattle’s Minus The Bear were headliners in name only. The night really belonged to The Helio Sequence, the two-man rock group that were playing a victorious homecoming show, having spent three weeks circling the U.S.
The energetic response from the crowd gave their performance an obvious extra kick, as well as a number of chances for singer/guitarist Brandon Summers to lose a moment of concentration when recognizing a friend in the audience. Playing a show almost every night for nearly a month meant a flawless, shimmering set that leaned heavily on their forthcoming album, Keep Your Eyes Ahead, and ended with a knockout punch - a tense, pulsing rendition of The Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows.”

Minus The Bear was also every bit the well- rehearsed band, one that is teetering on the brink of the big time. The quintet wasted no time tearing into its set, giving the circuitous epics from its most recent album, Planet of Ice, a sharp edge that was only hinted at in the recordings. Yet there was something vaguely mannered about Minus the Bear’s performance at times. They have had a lot of time on the road to work out the right moments for guitarist Dave Knudson and bassist Cory Murchy to stand on the drum riser, or for drummer Erin Tate to play with one hand and steal some swigs off a beer with the other, but it seemed to go against the usual spontaneity of their high-energy emo rock.

The wild card of the night was opener Grand Archives, the new project from former Band of Horses member Mat Brooke. Their music, a bluesy, folksy rock reminiscent of ‘60s L.A. mainstays like The Byrds, seemed a little out of place alongside their tourmates, but their roughhewn songs felt right at home from the beginning. Although the five men in the band stood stock still for the majority of their set, no matter how fast paced the tempo, their music had an abounding energy to it thanks in no small part to their rich four-part harmonies, smart musicianship, and “aw, shucks” charm.

-Review by Bob Ham; photo by Jason Quigley


Jens Lekman / Throw Me the Statue / DJ Viktor Sjöberg

Bimbo’s 365 Club
San Francisco, CA
November 9, 2007

Bloomington, Ind. label Secretly Canadian welcomed the newest addition to its artistic stable with a buoyant triple performance at Bimbo’s 365 Club, home to the legendary Girl in the Fishbowl. Seattle’s bouncy lo-fi bliss hounds Throw Me the Statue, led by Scott Reitherman and Casey Foubert (Pedro the Lion, Crystal Skulls, Seldom), looked downright giddy to play to the sizable early crowd. Before giving a shoutout to his mom and dad in the crowd, Reitherman started in with the dreamy “Conquering Kids.” The song was swathed in four-part harmonies, fluid melodica and angelic glockenspiel and Reitherman’s vocals soared as he sang the lilting song about “the awkward locker kids looking brave.” Later “Lolita”, the standout track from the band’s debut Moonbeams, got everyone swooping to its chugging Long Winters-like charm.

During a keyboard flub, Reitherman quipped, “Sometimes we like to test the patience of the audience by playing the wrong notes.” Charming to the last, the lo-fi provocateurs actually played a highly professional set, assuredly silencing any doubts of their infectious headphone pop not bringing the bombast on stage. As evident by their performance, Throw Me the Statue have already found a good home along the likes of other off-kilter pop craftsmen like Richard Swift, Danielson and The Earlies. And they made sure that their music found a good home in the crowd, handing out their single “About to Walk” with a knowing wink.

The musical joy continued when the fifth sexiest man in Sweden, (according to Elle magazine), walked onstage with his white-smocked crew of lovely ladies. Viktor Sjöberg provided the lovely samples during, before and after Jens Lekman’s melancholy pop set. The night then switched effortlessly from intimate solo guitar affairs (“Shirin,” “It Was a Strange Time in My Life”) to bombastic explosions from Night Falls Over Kortedala. Delivering the annotated version of “Postcards to Nina,” complete with anecdotes about the bus to Berlin and the absurdity of vegetarian German food, Lekman proved to be just as amiable as his new labelmate. Those who stuck around for Sjöberg’s closing DJ set were greeted by Lekman in a big red parrot sweater - an apt closing to a rather humorous night where pop music prevailed.

-Review by Kyle Lemmon

The Quiet Ones / Southerly / Little Champions
Seattle, WA

The Sunset
November 16, 2007

A Friday night at The Sunset in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood meant a casual, convivial atmosphere for three bands from the Pacific Northwest. Veteran Barsuk Records quartet Little Champions started things off with a lengthy instrumental that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on The Meat Puppets’ third or fourth album. Husband and wife Becky and Scott Harbine traded vocals, at times harmonizing like Exene Cervenka and John Doe. She’s a powerful bassist with a strong alto that’s somewhere between the croon of Jenny Toomey and the warbling yelp of Corin Tucker, and the two of them displayed good humor. Scott Harbine and fellow guitarist Eric Wolfe traded push-pull riffs, and new drummer Chris Shymko fit in seamlessly. The band’s set consisted mostly of songs from its forthcoming album Fire Let Me In, Lava Let Me Out, its first release since 2001. Scrappy and no-nonsense, Little Champions are a welcome throwback to the indie rock and post-punk of the late-’80s and early-’90s, and their unpretentious set was the unexpected highlight of the night.

Southerly singer/songwriter Krist Krueger started the Portland group’s set on solo acoustic guitar before being joined by his bandmates onstage. Krueger has a skillful fingerpicking style and a somewhat uneasy demeanor (the hood of his sweatshirt was pulled up the entire time); Southerly’s other guitarist seemed to be playing in a different band mood-wise, grinning goofily throughout the set. Their instrumental third song ended with Krueger thrashing so violently that he took out a stool, a can of beer and his E string, which flew into the audience (without putting out an eye, fortunately). While Krueger’s guitar was restrung backstage, the loaner from headliners The Quiet Ones refused to stay in tune and by the time he got his own back, Krueger had already moved on to keyboard.

Like Little Champions, The Quiet Ones are a family affair, counting three brothers among their five members. Whether a coincidence or a gesture of band solidarity, every member wore a full beard. Frontman John Totten switched between a Spanish-style acoustic guitar and a beat up Fender Mustang; brother David Totten had better luck keeping his guitar in tune than Krueger did; and brother Chris Totten contributed guitar and keyboards, including a nice little Realistic Moog Concertmate MG-1 synthesizer. This Seattle (via Knoxville) group was also showcasing songs from an upcoming record, Better Walk Than Ride Like That, though the set’s highlight was when Dave Totten took over vocals on the super-catchy “Hard to Explain” from 2006’s Nite You Surprised Me EP. The Quiet Ones’ recordings capture more mood and nuance than their live show did, but their set of shambolic, Americana-tinged power pop was energetic and likable, capping the night on an upswing.

-Review and photos by Mike Baehr

N. Lannon / Built for the Sea / Minipop

Rickshaw Stop
San Francisco, CA
November 3, 2007

San Francisco indie pop lovers gathered at the Rickshaw Stop on a Saturday night to support local bands and celebrate the release of Minipop’s new album A New Hope.

Opener Nyles Lannon, formerly of Film School, and his backing band of local musicians bore the burden of getting things started. Tall and lanky, Lannon physically resembles Pavement’s Stephen Malkmus, and his indie-pop sound, filled with lots of guitar and reverb, could be compared to the likes of Pinback and Elliott Smith. Luck was not on Lannon’s side for this show, with a dying keyboard and overall poor sound quality. Yet despite the obstacles, Lannon managed to showcase his songwriting skills with “Hesitation” and “Reaction” standing out from the pack.

Built for the Sea took the stage next and put on the night’s most impressive performance. Fronted by singer Lia Rose, the four-piece band which includes a standing cello has been compared to Mazzy Star. Rose’s vocals, which could hold their own next to Hope Sandoval’s, were its not-so-secret weapon. For this show, Rose told the crowd that they “decided to change things up a bit and go a little more acoustic.” While this approach might have lost some of the more rowdy and intoxicated members of the audience, the band’s tight instrumentals and the strength of Rose’s dreamy vocals and lyrics inspired a call for an encore at the end of Built for the Sea’s set - pretty impressive for a middle slot.

Headliners Minipop had a hard act to follow and the equally daunting task of warding off the sleep that was starting to claim the crowd as they took the stage at 11:30 p.m. Their spacey, electro dream pop, layered with guitars, keyboards and reverb, was bolstered by a fog machine, special light effects and a projection screen, and made for the night’s most visually stimulating set. Having already played with bands like Tegan and Sara and Tokyo Police Club, the fairly new band (formed in 2005) has a polished look and a whimsical stage presence that matches its wistful lyrics and sound. Fronted by Tricia Kanne, whose style and femininity resembles Metric’s Emily Haines, the quartet performed mostly songs off its new album, including the single “Like I Do.” On the catchy track “Someone to Love,” Kanne prettily sang, “I wonder what you’re thinking / I want to give you someone to love.” With a new album in stores and a strong live show, Minipop surely have given San Francisco something to love.

-Review by Jackie Miehls; photo by Joshua Uziel