Once again, my music snobbery services were called upon tonight to check out local boys, White Rabbits, who opened up for Asobi Seksu at Mercury Lounge. Did they get their name from Alice in Wonderland, Jefferson Airplane or The Matrix? Hmmmmm, I wonder.
I sampled what they had to offer on their website and myspace profile, and I was impressed with their multi-layered sound. These days, I'm happy that a local band isn't another post-punk, new wave band that resemble The Rapture. The band takes their sound from more European flavors, a little early 80s ska-pop, some Spanish style flourishes -- a little tango beat, maybe some mambo.
Watching them tonight, I was impressed with their skills with creating distinctive rhythms and melodies. I kept on thinking of some of the non-ska songs of Madness, how they would take a worldly approach to pop music. If you take a listen to "Kid on My Shoulders," you definitely get that vibe. On their website, "Alarms" had me thinking of The Lightening Seeds.
On the downside, while I thought they had some excellent duel percussions and great bass hooks, they were definitely not-dynamic with guitars. I thought to myself, "Is the guitar even plugged in?" I give them a mulligan on that because there was an early show at Mercury that went late and they had to rush to get ready. I give them 3 or 4 more months of playing shows and after they finish their debut album (produced by Chris Zane, who's worked with Les Savy Fav and Ambulance LTD) and they'll sound better and more cohesive.
Even though they were some technical problems, I think they have something going. Whenever I'm in doubt, I look back at the crowd reaction in the middle because the front is always filled with the band's friends. So when I looked, I found some bobbing heads and not many people with their arms folded. Yeah, they got some catchy tunes to work with. I'll keep my eye out for them.
Since the schedule was pushed back, I didn't stay for Asobi Seksu, who I have seen before and they put on a heck show. It's just too late on a school night, especially with Keane tomorrow. That's going to be doooooooooope.
You passed up Asobi Seksu for Keane? Yikes.
Posted by: skilly | June 23, 2006 at 01:58 AM
You missed a good show! Though the amount of people who left because the sets were starting late made it possible to actually let the air conditioner cool the room.
Posted by: Gary | June 23, 2006 at 09:35 AM
Hi Chris, what time did Echo and the Bunnymen end?
Posted by: | July 06, 2006 at 08:43 AM