With Builder on the other side of the country and Kyle rarely at home, 186 is like a barren wasteland fit for me to trash. On yesterday’s return trip, God decided to heap insult on my Valentine less injury by pissing on me the entire way home. Luckily my mailbox had some love waiting for me. Mom sent me a sweet card, as she always does, and Whitney sent me a package. This care package contained a four disc mix titled Useful Timber Jargon Vol. 1-4 (which is simply amazing), a bitching drawing of a unicorn and a rainbow done in markers and a VHS copy of The Experts starring John Travolta. Check out this summary to realize how awesome Whit is for finding this:Near the eastern edge of the USSR is a village populated by Russians who speak and act American, where KGB trainees go to practice. The town is mired in the 50's, and the new KGB hotshot fears his agents will fail to learn real US culture. He goes to New York and hires two young hipsters to come to "Nebraska" to open a nightclub. He drugs them en route to Russia, and they think they've awaken in the Midwest. There they turn a tiki lounge into a hip club, teach townies to dance, and introduce pop culture. Both flip for local chicks. Things get dangerous when the townsfolk taste freedom, a KGB faction tries to kill our heroes, but will the guys figure out they're not in Nebraska?
Point is: when you have family and friends like this, being a loner on Valentine’s Day isn’t a difficult task. Thanks guys! I spent the few free hours of my day working on some Loose Record issues and helping my little sister put together her resume. It was a productive little window in time. By 8pm it was time to get to the Mercury to catch an early set by Blue Sparks. As I rolled into the club, Greg was checking Ghory’s I.D. so we stepped in together. After a quick couple hellos, we were in the backroom hanging out with Denise who was working the backroom bar station. Beach joined us as Blue Sparks took the stage.
Last night was the first time I had seen Blue Sparks, and my ears liked what they heard. Mike Dos Equis (formerly of The Realistics) has taken over on bass in the new lineup that also includes the addition of Ken Larkin on drums. Though their lack of playing live shows together showed just a bit, I was thoroughly impressed by their sound. First of all the vocals are right up my ally. There is some nice back and forth harmonizing between Phil and Kerry who both wield guitars. Those two are like a double helix in that they are completely intertwined throughout the course of the set. They play off each other in an oddly romantic fashion, (think of your aunt and uncle at a family reunion). Phil’s vocals are tough to pin down, but my take is he must be a big fan of Ian Curtis and Lou Reed. As Ghory and I discussed, they have some interesting rhythms set behind some herky-jerky rock riffs. Mike rocks in his usual spastic fashion; bouncing around the stage like a possessed wielder of the axe. Check these kids out when they play a Tsunami Benefit at Crash Mansion on March 2nd with The Fever, The Natural History and Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah.
Speaking of Clap Your Hands and Say Culkin, they were second on last night’s bill. This band has been climbing the radar since their Pianos Residency which is the first time I saw them. They definitely made a better impression on me at the Mercury. Their sound was a lot crisper. It had the punchy attitude that got lost in the mix at Pianos. Their style is a solid mix of minimal beats, Violent Femmes sounding vocals, a little CAN droning and an all around Talking Heads boogie. My one critique would be for the lead singer to put down the harmonica and loose some of the smugness. He seems so uninspired by what he’s doing that it made me upset. Take a lead from your multi-instrumentalist who bounces around while looking like he actually likes what he’s playing. CYHASY had one song that sounded like Joy Division’s Atmosphere which basically rounds out all the necessary influences needed for me to like a band. They also have this track which is probably called Satan which is will be prime for remixing so DJ’s get your tables ready. Check them out at the Tsunami Benefit listed above, and stare in amazement at how much the lead singer looks like Ghory.
During changeover I caught up with kids like DJ Del, Mike, Audrey, Daylen, Sarah, Gigs and Bridgette before settling into the back corner for a healthy dousing of Brit fever. As the Kaiser Chiefs hustled past us on their way to the stage, The Beatles called them to arms from the house speakers, (Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except For Me And My Monkey, Thanks Del). As they took the stage, the lead singer introduced the band and they ripped into an energetic set of rock. They look like a bunch of misfit rude boys looking to cause trouble in their dapper suits and ties. The bass player did have a ridiculous black and red striped suit on which made him look more Zoot than rock, but he pulled it off with his best Silent Bob / Tumblehawk impression. The music was loud and raunchy, but it was held together by some solid work on the keys. The lead singer bounced around like a monkey and even worked in some cowbell. Despite his Diego Elefant like arm movements, I was digging his vibe. They were called back for an big encore that made me want save the queen, but I did no such thing. The Kaiser Chiefs will surely dominate overseas, but I don’t know if the rest of America will bite on this next big thing. They do have songs that remind me of The Fall and if that isn’t enough to get you out to their show on March 25th at Bowery with Morningwood, then you my friend, have no soul, (tickets for that show go on sale Wednesday). Check out Brooklyn Vegan for some pictures of the Kaiser Chiefs.
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