Shows at Death By Audio are always the most fun. Even when I’m alone on a rainy Monday, I don’t feel out of place just plopping down on one of the couches and reading a book in between sets. Of course, seeing quality bands always makes for a good night, no matter what the circumstances. The evening began with Love of Everything, a Chicago twosome that’s mainly the project of a man named Bobby Burg. The set was extremely stripped-down, and the songs are a lot more filled out on record, but his tunes were still filled with pop melodies, surrounded by fuzzy post-punk trappings. He made some really neat sounds with his guitar’s volume knob and a loop pedal. I sincerely doubted that he would be able to turn the noises into coherent pop songs, but I was surprised every single time. A simple, but captivating guitar player. Drums were taken care of by whom I thought was maybe his wife (I don’t know, they were both wearing gold bands on their left hand), and it seemed like Burg had taught her how to play drums just for the purpose of playing out in this band. The sounds were rudimentary and her rhythm was a little shaky, but they fit the project’s theme well and gave off a ramshackle, DIY vibe. Simple tom and snare hits complemented the guitar and catchy melodies, and the last song was played by bouncing tennis balls off the snare, a delightful gimmick I’d never seen before.
Drawlings, a one woman noise project on Paw Tracks, was up next. I was worried at first; I thought we were going to be in for a half hour of someone who listened to The Knife way too much and decided to imitate her point-blank. I was wrong, though, and the set wore on with some interesting highs and lows. She layered a few really exciting sounds, but oftentimes let sections of vocals run on too long, and generally stuck to a basic formula of neat sounds-vocal part-neat sounds. Still, there were some good moments, and some of those vocal lines were pretty cool.
City Center went on around 11:30. They must have played for about 25 minutes, but it felt like two minutes and I could have listened to them for about two hours. I don’t understand how more people don’t know about City Center and Saturday Looks Good To Me, both projects of Fred Thomas. SLGTM’s Fill Up the Room is straight-up pop gold, with Thomas aping various rock styles, putting his own spin on them. It’s completely accessible and should have been #1 on all the college radio charts. City Center is a bit less accessible I suppose, but no less pop-tastic. Most songs begin with some healthy button/pedal pushing, eventually culminating in blissful drumming and guitar solos, with think-about-life lyrics. I was going to write that the band really straddles the line between noise and accessible rock, but I think a more apt way of putting it is to say that the twosome uses less traditional musical ideas to cushion lovely post-punk rock nuggets that they’ve written. In their live show this is all done with surprising energy and warmth. I wish more synth-heavy bands could see them play; that’s how you make all that button-pushing compelling. Really, City Center is one of the smartest, most interesting bands I’ve seen since moving to Brooklyn, and I hope they start to get the recognition they deserve. They’re heading out on tour, so check out their website to see if they’re coming to a town near you.
As per usual, it was dark at Death By Audio and, as per usual, I didn’t bring my flash. I did my best and decided to try something different this time, to varying degrees of success. I promise not to be so Photoshop happy very often. Photos and MP3s below. Not the most accessible City Center track, but one of the only new ones I could find, courtesy of The Great Pumpkin, as is the Love of Everything track.
Love of Everything:
Drawlings:
City Center:
Yeah. City Center definitely deserves more credit. Definitely check out their website. Fred often posts downloadable MP3s both of his music and of fun mixes.
I love your blog by the way. You go to all the shows I think about going to and then wimp out at the last minute (and later regret not going to).
you should come out and say hi! the hardest part is always getting out the door for me. staying home and watching tv is always such an appealing option, but it’s true that i’ve never regretted going out to see music. anyways, thanks for the kind words!