It's been a rough week for me personally and it will be a rough summer, so I'm trying to forge forward as best as can.
I had to rearrange the itinerary this week and had to forgo Si*Se at Bowery Ballroom and other blog related activities, but did catch Fields. When I got to the Mercury Lounge, I saw one of the opening acts was School of Seven Bells. I said to myself, "Do I know that name?" I walk in, I see the band setting up and I see Ben Curtis setting up his gear. Oh snap! It's his new band, duuuuhhhh. More on them later.
Fields have been milling about the British music scene for a couple of years now. I took wind of them with the "drop what your doing and listen to this" single "Song for the Fields," with its acoustic fortitude and build up of sounds. It's good to know that the song has as much power on record and it does live. It's pretty much energies the small Mercury Lounge and shakes the floor on which it stands. Even the evocative harmonies cut through all that musical chaos.
The five piece, who hail from England, Iceland and everywhere in between, have a unique blend of the epic and intimate. They've got that swelling and deflating of noise that you'd find in a Sigur Ros track punctuated with heavy doses of acoustic rock that you'd find in Muse or Coldplay. Give me a break, I have Storytellers: Coldplay playing in the background as I type this, everything is sounding Coldplay to me now.
Anyway, their debut album, Everything Last Winter, stretches all those boundaries and influences to make a diverse and enjoyable effort. Live, they made the end of the night so entertaining, that when they didn't play an encore, I wanted to grab them by the shirt tales and yank them back on stage. The duel lead vocals of Nick Peill and Thorunn Antonia are just so darn pleasant.
Speaking of big acoustic guitars, there's Page France, who are not to be confused with Sage Francis. When I first heard the band name, I wasn't sure if it was a female singer or the act of paging a country. I knew vaguely what they sounded like, but was pleasantly surprised how fun their music is. It's this indie hillbilly jam with sweet 70s singer-songwriter musings. Think the Magic Numbers meet Harry Nilsson.
I was pretty disappointed with Ben Curtis upon leaving the Secret Machines, being that the three of them killed live and they make some of the most energizing music in rock. They really could be a force to be reckoned with for years to come. Now, the Secret Machines are duo and I didn't see their Highline Festival shows, so I don't know what to make of them. So I sampled School of Seven Bells, who have been a band for maybe three-four months. My verdict: it's has a Secret Machine type substance, but being the major difference are two female singers. Exhibit A: "For Kalaja Mari".
What you'll find are those droning guitars that Ben is known for, but if you didn't know him from his previous band, then you would have focused more on their two leads. The one song on their myspace page that it's friggin' sweet is "Wired for Light" with those thundering drums, girl on girl harmony and Middle Eastern sound effects.
In the end, I need to give them a second listen around live and kind of forget the fact that Ben is in the band. You know, take them for what they are. I can say that I want to hear more from them and I support the guy's new direction. He basically has to start over again building up a new sound and identity. He even has to pack his own equipment. Poor guy.
I love SVIIBs. Yaaaaaayyyy
Posted by: MilaR | September 06, 2007 at 12:59 AM