LimeWire Music Blog

Friday night’s show at Brooklyn’s Bell House (one of my favorite venues, but consistently burdened with somber crowds, no doubt due to its location sandwiched between the family-focused neighborhoods of Park Slope and Carroll Gardens) was a thickly mediated rock ‘n’ roll experience. At no point did I feel the electricity of any of the night’s bands, but rather merely observed it, as if from outside their closed circuits.

Fresh & Onlys were tight, surprisingly so, but lacked energy; the complete opposite of what I expected from this particular garage-rock band. While the band sidestepped the common pitfall of recreating carbon copies of songs from their records (All of which are enjoyable, if unremarkable, listens, perfect for the background, but rarely forcing one to stop what he’s doing and say, “wow, this is amazing.”), their live set was overblown with effects and felt overly mannered. Fresh & Onlys’ recorded output is, predictably, lo-fi, which does the band a serious injustice. Songs like “Peacock and Wing” (my favorite song, and unfortunately absent from Friday’s set) have a great pop quality and push up against the lo-fi wall as if it were made of prison bars. Live, the band’s sound is fuller and more layered. Layered to such an extent, though, that instruments are lost in the mix. The singer’s keyboard stabs were buried under waves of guitar and reverbed vocals; a second guitarist added an unnecessary layer of feedback. And now, thinking back on their set, each song was indistinguishable from the next. Not terrible, but I had higher hopes.

Maybe Golden Triangle were siphoning energy from The Fresh & Onlys? Golden Triangle are stalwarts of the New York scene and perennial show openers for many of the best bands that roll through town, and it’s easy to see why. Their show is raucous, fun, and full of energy. The driving force of Golden Triangle is their dueling female lead singers. Ritualistically dancing and rolling around on the floor as if possessed by the very demons they seemed to be summoning, they instantly grab the attention of anyone in the audience attempting to divert their gaze elsewhere. And though overshadowed by the performance aspect of the band, Golden Triangle are musically proficient, especially the rhythm section. Unfortunately, the band’s energy did not transfer to the audience, who stood observing the band like spectators at the zoo. This problem is a death sentence for some bands, especially punk groups whose very existence is predicated on attitude and energy. When the crowd isn’t feeding them, they shrivel and die. And so Golden Triangle weren’t killed, but they were sapped of much of their life force. Next time I’d like to see them in a more volatile environment.

Thee Oh Sees suffered a similar fate. On this, my fourth time seeing the band live, they seemed content to play the punk role to a crowd of curious onlookers and college-aged hipsters; they’re safer-punk and at a distance, which isn’t all bad. Thee Oh Sees leader John Dwyer, having been in bands and on stage for years, is smart enough to sense what a crowd wants out of a band, and he delivered. Whereas sometimes Thee Oh Sees play on the floor in a crowded and chaotic room, a stack of post-apocalyptic amps ready to fall on the nearest bystander, Friday’s crowd wasn’t at The Bell House for that kind of show. Instead, the band offered superficial examples of wildness with extended jamming and the inclusion of a second drummer (via Fresh & Onlys) as a climax. Controlled, but still fun, Thee Oh Sees represent the best that contemporary garage-rock has to offer, and Friday’s display of versatility only reinforced their status.