I'm convinced that the xylophone or glockenspiel is the new cowbell. Both bands utilized this instrument to create their music landscape. Ahhhhhhhhhh.
Okay, you might have to adjust your eyes because tonight's headliners are American, not my usual NME/Anglophile band du jour. Menomena hail from Portland, a city where the dirty, stinking hippies who eat pot brownies and drink PBR for the taste go when they are tired of the scene in Seattle.
Although, I came tonight to check out Field Music, I knew Menomena had the chops to be worthy headlines. If it's good enough for Barsuk Records it's good enough for me. First off, their drummer, Danny Seim, is killer. He gives the band's often experimental and avant-garde pop music some consistency and a pulse. You see him wailing away on his simple drum set, with sweat spraying off his forehead -- you know he's die-hard.
Justin Harris and Brent Knopf are the ones who give the music that "anything goes" quality, utilizing keyboards, guitars, bass and saxophones to make, as Danny called, "art rock euphoria." I knew some of their songs going in, and figured out that they don't want to be pigeonholed to one sound. I like that you can expect anything, a melody dropped in from left field or a goofy sample of whistling.
As the title suggests, tonight is Justin's 30th birthday, which was honored with a sheet cake and constant yells of "happy birthday." It was also pointed out that Kurt Cobain died at 27, so that he's 3 years overdue. That's nice. Anyway, my thoughts on turning 30 for a man who's been there. Thirty is the new 21. For guys, you have two roads, you can go on the road where you settle with your loving wife/parter, have a few critters you can be proud, drive around in your mini-van and have a fulfilling life. The other road is where YOU CAN DO WHATEVER YOU WANT. My words of wisdom from me to you, Justin.
The new Field Music album, Tones of Town, is a thing a beauty. I did an interview last week that you'll see here in a couple of weeks, where me and my guest talked for a good 3 minutes about how much we enjoyed the album. I wasn't even a fan of their debut effort. They got it right on this one. It's obvious they have a love for The Beatles and Steely Dan, but they give their own unique twist by giving each song a start and stop quality. Nothing is straight forward, time signatures are changed often and melodies are switched in and out. What you get is a pure pop album full of warm vocals and bouncy rhythms that is very different from the music coming out of the U.K. now.
The live act is a pretty good representation of the album, with the guys from Sunderland playing perfectly together as a band.
I wish them luck because their future is uncertain. Although they are with the genius record label Memphis Industries, they're not making much of a living from the records or touring. They canceled their Philadelphia gig to head home for a TV show, which will hopefully give them more exposure.
Setlist:
- Give It Lose It Take It
- Sit Tight
- Tones of Town
- You Can Decide
- Working to Work
- If Only the Moon Were Up
- Pieces
- Shorter Shorter
- Tell Me Keep Me
Love the site.. very sharp and entertaining writing. Would you like to consolidate on some concert dates? Our upcoming calendar is on our site, and maybe you can use some of our pictures.
Til then
SM
Posted by: Doons | March 29, 2007 at 02:39 PM