popwreckoning updates |  |
- Sailor Sequence @ Daveys Uptown, Kansas City MO
- Tiësto “Kaleidoscope” World Tour Diary
- Motion City Soundtrack Name 4th Album
- Starfucker @ The Echo, Los Angeles CA
| Sailor Sequence @ Daveys Uptown, Kansas City MO Posted: 20 Oct 2009 11:06 AM PDT Speechless. That’s what I was after the local show I caught recently at Kansas City’s Davey’s Uptown. I wish I could say that the performance was so spectacular that the music left me speechless. Unfortunately, it was a weird chain of events that led to my loss for words. Before I explain the strange events, I must say that the music was in fact, quite good. The more local shows I go to, the more respect I have for Kansas City’s local scene (There’s a lot more here than the Get Up Kids!) The young O’Giant Man opened. These guys have shifted their line up around recently, so this was one of the first (if not the first) performance for the latest and hopefully final lineup. The group has a lot of potential if they can stay solid and practice defining their sound. They do some great harmonies and nice instrumental solos, but they had a tendency to test out too many ideas in a single song. This is a problem that many young and eager bands have, but it is something easy to grow out of it. I look forward to seeing them again when they’ve had a chance to refine their sound.
The lone out of town band It’s True was next on the bill. They easily could have been remembered as the best band there had the singer non-gone and fucked things up later in the show. The Omaha indie pop group had a solid sound and harmonies to rival the Fleet Foxes. Considering they’re an Omaha group where warbly vocals are popular (Conor Oberst, Tim Kasher), they’re a refreshing sound for that scene. Graceful keys provided the perfect compliment to their tunes. Aside from the incident that happens later (I’m getting there! Just wait), my only other criticism is that they got to be a little predictable. Sing, then keys, then instrumental breakdown where the singer sits in plays into the monitor. It was cool the first time, but come up with a new movement or song structure. It loses its charm with time.
Lawrence three-piece Cowboy Indian Bear continued the impressive with their full sound (hard to believe there were only three of them!). All three contributed to vocals and percussion. A recent trend in Kansas City area music is filling out your sound with some pre-recorded electronic beats and effects (see Republic Tigers), which CIB has embraced. I’ve noticed many groups tend to over-endulge in their use of the computer, but CIB was tasteful. They were joined by a friend for their final number titled “Colour Music,” I think, but not to be confused with their “Mathematicians/Colours” played directly before it. They said was this their largest KC audience, which kind of surprised me. With their Postal Service instrumental vibe and smooth vocals, I feel it won’t be long before they gain a large following. They just released an EP. Go check them out.
Sailor Sequence has been described to me as the best band in Kansas City on more than occasion. The trio reminded me a lot of Snow Patrol from the Final Straw era. Perhaps a cover of “Run” is in their future. The difference between them and Snow Patrol is that the Snow Patrol guys have a more pop tendency, while Sailor Sequence leans toward shoegaze without fully embracing that sound. Now while I’m not sthe full Sailor Sequence converts that my friends are, I do agree that they are quite good. They just lacked in the stage presence category, which might hurt them getting bigger past KC. It just felt distant. Now I told you that this show left me speechless and I’m finally ready to explain why. Toward the end of the Sailor Sequence’s set, a guy in a hat walked up to the front of a stage and started drinking a random beer pitcher left on the edge. Weird, but just the sort of weird that you chuckle and roll your eyes at and forget about. But when he put the pitcher down, he proceeded to climb on the stage, stumble over to the microphone by the keyboard and then sang an “Oooh” bit into the microphone when the band was in a big instrumental breakdown. “Omaha!” yelled someone from the back. I looked again. Sure enough, this was the Omaha band’s lead singer Adam Hawkins. The audience was confused. Was this part of the act? The answer: no. Sailor Sequence tried to laugh it off, but when they started another song and Hawkins tried adding notes on the keyboard, the guys in Sailor Sequence just quit and stormed off the stage, incredulous that some drunk opener would ruin your set. Hawkins wasn’t done there. He fell on the floor in the room by the main bar and attempted getting in a fight. A strange ending to what could have been a perfect night. I wouldn’t go so far as to say he ruined the Sailor Sequence’s set. For what they did play, they sounded great. But Hawkins did ruin my opinion of his band. Like I said, they could have been remembered as the best band of that night, but that bit at the end was just rude.
O’Giant Man: myspace Related Posts |
| Tiësto “Kaleidoscope” World Tour Diary Posted: 20 Oct 2009 10:03 AM PDT |
| Motion City Soundtrack Name 4th Album Posted: 20 Oct 2009 09:00 AM PDT Motion City Soundtrack have announced My Dinosaur Life as the title of their fourth studio album and Columbia Records debut. The album should be available in 2010. Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus is producing. He first teamed with the boys for Commit This to Memory. While waiting, the band wants you to enjoy a new song “Disappear.” “Disappear” is their first new studio song in two years and it is available as of today, Oct. 20, on iTunes. The band hopes to release a video next month. The band also has planned a special 3-night Chicago performance for fans to catch their first three albums in their entirety this December. We’ll keep you updated as more news becomes available about My Dinosaur Life. The quirky and smart release full of moogs will be something you won’t want to miss. Motion City Soundtrack: website | myspace | @ liberty hall Related Posts |
| Starfucker @ The Echo, Los Angeles CA Posted: 20 Oct 2009 08:00 AM PDT Before I delve into the infinite amount of praise I have oozing out of every orifice for Starfucker, I would like to emphasize the brilliance of this particular show. Sure, the Echo is somewhat small (a hole in the wall to be more precise), but the energy was incomprehensible. It was quite possibly the only show that completely captured my attention since I began writing for PopWreckoning almost a year ago. Even the openers were inappropriately enthralling, which is difficult to find amongst relatively unknown indie acts. And Starfucker is no exception, considering their sizeable "hipster" following is quite impressive for a band with a mere two years in the music industry. Starfucker was preceded performance-wise by fellow Oregonian act Deelay Ceelay. Their set was startlingly unique, and was comprised of two drummers, layered over eclectic electronica, intensified further via artsy, psychedelic slideshow and flashing strobe lights. It seemed quite ironic for the Echo to have been one of the initial venues for the underground rave scene because Deelay Ceelay completely and totally captured that essence in their trance/drum and bass vibe: a vibe that could possibly be referred to as a melodically induced narcotic. The highlight of their performance was an up-tempo trance remix of TI's "Whatever You Like" that energetically and climatically set the stage for the entrance of our beloved Starfucker. Despite the heartbreaking news that the boys will soon be shifting monikers, their reason for doing so is feasible. With the recent onslaught of exposure (Target commercials, Weeds, etc) a mellower name wouldn't send the wrong message to an ignorant audience (even though their name is absolutely perfect for them). The change was imminent though, these boys have a lot of potential that obviously has not been taken seriously by most as of yet, and their name shared a good portion of the blame. Enthusiastically charming, Starfucker presented us with a radiant array of indie/electronica ecstasy coupled with a ridiculously charismatic stage presence. What more could you ask for? Their next show is scheduled for their hometown, Portland, Oregon! on Halloween, and will probably be twice as epic as my experience at the Echo. If you're in the area, you should definitely check it out. The band leaves for the European leg of their tour at the end of November after a show in San Francisco on November 7th.      Starfucker: myspace | @ sxsw | @ manhattan room Related Posts |
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