Where: Summercamp: A punk rock house in Logan Square

When: Friday, June 11, 2010

Did you forget something? Oh shit! My parent’s anniversary was on Thursday night.

The writing is on the wall.  Discord, abuse, evil thoughts.  You can see it in their tired eyes, even on the first night of tour.  This band is not long for the earth.

“Don’t tell this to Pat, but the only reason Chris hasn’t fired him is because he looks like David Bazan.”

Was I supposed to keep that to myself?  No one seemed to care enough to hide their naked contempt; burying long, lingering glares in the backs of their band mates as they walk away from conversations.  Beyond the hatred, Joie De Vivre seems physically ill equipped for travel. Intrepid organist, Zach Staas, left Rockford with $200 for food.  His resolve broke quickly as he was seen buying sheets of blotter acid and began sending cryptic Facebook messages on his phone.  I woke up to one such message this morning, “Danger, send help,” He wrote, “Someone shot Stevie in the face.  Gore is dripping from the crumpled hole where his nose used to be but he doesn’t seem to notice.  Maybe someone would like to make a painting of it and declare its subjective quality. Haha. Fucking art.”

Horn player extraordinaire, Paul Karnatz, may be in even worse trouble.  Having taken to beginning sets by reading quotations from a Scientology text, he routinely fills quiet moments in the van by haranguing his bandmates for not joining him in ever frequent Thetan cleansing rituals. Despite these ever mounting problems, the music remains strong.  Joie De Vivre is still able to pump out songs that are unlabored and anthemic.  But for how long?  See this band while you can.  There may not be a next time.

Elsewhere on the bill we found Coping, a new band from the Chicago area.  Jagged and frenetic, Coping is straight up early to mid 90s Dischord Records(with the obligatory post hardcore nods to At The Drive In).  I’m going to pad my forthcoming criticism with the modifier that I heard the 2^nd half of their set through a closed door.  You see, I am not a strong person and it was really fucking hot in that basement.  Until the sun went down, I couldn’t stand to stay inside for more than 10-15 minutes at a time without worry of fainting. Yuck. With that in mind, it is quite obvious that Coping is a young band.  They clearly have the passion required for such music but have yet to figure out how to keep their sound from veering towards the overly loose and muddled.  Maybe they’ll have it down by gig 5.

There are two things I do not like about Empire! Empire! (I was a lonely estate).  The first is their name. It’s long and awkward to say and no one ever says the parenthetical addition (for those very reasons).  The 2^nd is that their composition does not have quite as much variety as I would hope for and can become slightly repetitive to listen to for long stretches.  In a past review I wrote, “They’re tight and it’s quite obvious why they share a label with Joie De Vivre. It is 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.”  I still agree with this assessment.  Also E!E! vocalist Keith *insert Keith’s last name* may or may not have broken the microphone.  He’s got a mighty wail.

What to say about The Please & Thank Yous?  Last time I described them as being, “Hopelessly shambolic in all of the right ways.”  This couldn’t be truer.  TPATY are a band of punk rock muppets.  Their bodies conform to Saturday morning cartoon physics and their music is fast, dirty, and simple.  They sing about girls, and friends, and everything feels right.

For more information about the ongoing Joie De Vivre/Empire! Empire! Tour visit: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=230675847&blogId=534153178

Here’s some video of JDV!

Sock Monkey Sound