Guess who just got back today? Them wild-eyed boy and girl that had been away. Haven't changed, haven't much to say. But man, I still think them cats are crazy ... The Tings are back in town.
Sorry that song has been stuck in my head today.
Yes, K + J are back in NYC, post-SXSW. Now that the word is around that they are a band to check out (thanks to me, ah-hum), they can finally fill a room. At Glasslands last November, it was me, Adam Green, a lot of Columbia Record people and that old, silver-haired guy who makes bootleg concert tapes. Now everyone can join in the Ting Ting parade.
I knew they've been keeping their sets to a handful of songs, so I was hoping to hear some new material. Luckily, we got one, "Be The One."
The setlist:
- Great DJ
- Fruit Machine
- Keep Your Head
- Traffic Light
- Shut Up and Let Me Go
- Be The One
- That's Not My Name
Be the One is a big, dancey number similar in vein to Keep Your Head, with a nice, punchy synth line that chimes in at certain times. Also, Jules takes the majority of the vocals. It's good stuff. I think I just have to be patient so that Katie and Jules fine tunes some new material before unleashing it live. The album is titled We Started Nothing and it will pop in the U.K. on May 19 (on iTunes the next day) and July 22 here. Not bad for a band that's been a band for just about a year.
To compare tonight's performance to November, Katie is becoming more comfortable in her role as rock star front woman. She's much more active around the stage, unleashing her inner-Karen O while strutting around the stage and just feeling the beat. The Merc crowd let out some yelps when she went over to the bass drum so she can bang the hell out it. I was impressed how she went wild for That's Not My Name, really yelling out the words, stomping her feet around the stage and knocking crap over. Watch out gang, we have a rock star in training. If only she'd find a new hat. Heck, if she looses that hat, the band might be over. Same with Jules and his aviator sunglasses. Buy those bad boy sunglasses in bulk.
As I've said before, they've made a fan out of me. Those ultra-catchy, ultra-hip and super poppy nuggets of BritRock is just tailor made for me. I'm glad I caught on early so I can see their progression from their demos to their final version. They took "Fruit Machines" and amped up the sound effects. Keep Your Head is a song I'm most looking forward to a final song. It's got that fun Blondie meets Devo meets Talking Heads vibe to it.
Anyway, they got a full plate of festival appearances after this U.S. visit. Obviously, I'll keep an eye out for future dates. My buddies are going to be all over the place. It's a far cry from their apartment parties they had last year at this time.
Video of Traffic Light: http://uncutvideo.aol.com/videos/66c6243a0cf17c997fa53b36d4f6884d?index=0
Posted by: SPF | March 19, 2008 at 04:03 AM