What: Joie De Vivre, Empire Empire, etc etc etc

Where: The Beat Kitchen, Chicago, IL

When: January 16, 2010

Why is this Significant? Joie Motherfucking Headlined The Beat Kitchen!

So last weekend I made my way up to the Beat Kitchen on the scenic north side of Chicago. Yes, last week. I don’t work fast, I work smart. Ok, I don’t work very smart either. And to be honest, someone beat me to posting a review. She had that shit up before I even woke up on Sunday. You should go read it here (http://reviewsic.com/2010/01/17/in-review-the-beat-kitchen-116/). It’s pretty good, save one glaring disagreement (more on that later). Since the other writer covered most of what I have to say about music, I’m gonna ramble a bit.

If anyone has ever encountered me at a Chicago show, they’ve probably had a conversation that went something like this,

You: Hey man. How are you?

Danger: Fantastic! I got lost for a little while but I totally made it here!

You: That’s great.

Prolonged awkward silence

Danger: How are you?

You: Oh I’m good. I…

Danger: Cool. I’m gonna go get another beer.

My ability to get lost knows no bounds. But I totally figured out a system for which to mostly combat it. First I grab a yellow post it note and write out comprehensive directions courtesy of Google Maps (including special alternate directions in case I start walking in the wrong direction when I get off the train or bus). Then I write out a second set of directions to get me home from the club and place it in my wallet as a backup in case I can’t decipher the reverse order of my original lyrics because of certain consumptions that may have occurred.

Because of such precautions, I made it to the Beat Kitchen in a very timely manner. Mountains for Clouds played first. Their name is of a rare variety that gives an almost complete description of the band’s sound. Their brand of ambient instrumentals was quite impressive. Their playing was notably tight (I was very surprised when I later found out that they’re a relatively young band) and properly restrained. This was especially true of guitarist Andrew Stefano. He used looping and finger tapping (both tools that are notoriously abused) in a way that was both deliberate and unique. Kudos to Mountains for Clouds.

Empire Empire (I Was A Lonely Estate) has a band name that is too long by half. That’s my only real complaint. They’re tight and it’s quite obvious why they share a label with Joie De Vivre. Classic Emo that falls into the same description that bloggers seem to love. This band could have been on Jade Tree 12 years ago. I say that without owning any actual Jade Tree releases, but I understand what the reference means.

The Field Auxiliary is the only place where my reaction was drastically divergent from that of the Reviewsic’s writer. She found them to be mostly excellent where as I was left with mostly negative to indifferent feelings. I totally got what The Field Auxiliary was going for. It seemed clear that they were aiming towards a shoegazey power pop vibe. One part Weezer, two parts My Bloody Valentine and Ride. They have the swirl, but they need to work on the pulse. The secret of shoegaze is that you need to have at least one of the instruments playing clean to form a background for all of the swirling business to build on. Without that, the whole affair just seems motionless. Also, the singer set up a 2nd synthesizer on a stand above his electric piano and (by my count) never played it. That’s lame.

I don’t have a lot to say about Joie De Vivre. There are a couple of reasons for that. This band gets a lot of (deserved) press and I’m close enough to them that I feel kind of weird saying anything overly praiseworthy. They don’t need another drip in a plaid shirt raving over Local, Local. They’ve grown to be quite good but I feel much more comfortable giving them shit. Also they may go on tour soon, and I’m hoping Stewart Oakes will have to work so JDV will ask me to go along as an instrument tech/merch guy. Anyway, I was briefly in a band with two members of Joie. You should check it out because it was mostly better (http://www.myspace.com/wsdown).

There are two bands that I haven’t seen recently but would really like to mention:

Geronimo

I’ve never written about Geronimo and I feel really badly about it because they’re probably my favorite local band. I’ve started at least 3 reviews of gigs that Geronimo played only to trash them for other reasons. So here it is now. Geronimo is really really good. They are noisy and heavy in ways that many current bands are just too afraid to approach. These boys are loud and their mastery of dynamics suggests a skill in their playing that, once again, sets them apart from the pack. One review said that they sound like, “Violent Femmes on crank after they stole Cobain’s distortion pedals.” That’s just incredibly cool. I hope they find a way to record an album with Steve Albini. He’ll know what to do. http://www.myspace.com/thegeronimoband

The Please & Thank Yous

Unlike Geronimo, TPATY don’t have any clue about what the fuck they’re doing. That is what’s great about them. They’re hopelessly shambolic in all of the right ways. Classic, cartoonish pop punk. Nice. http://www.myspace.com/tpaty