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Author:
Posted: 19 Jun 2004 |
Thursday night I went out to see a band I practically grew up with, Collapse into Reason. Now, I've known this band in various incarnations for about six years, but for one reason or another I'd never seen them play. They'd booked a show at a bar around the corner from Castle Awesome, so I really had no excuse. The show was being put on by this chick that I make no qualms about openly disliking. She's an idiot and any time I run across her online or in the real world, I cringe. Anyway, she'd put together this show with a couple other bands -- Malice in Leatherland and Lilac Ambush -- both of which had dreadful-sounding names. I imagined I was in for an evening of terrible goth crap followed by CN2R showing them what it was all about.
To begin with, the crowd was of decent size for the venue. Almost entirely spooky kids in top hats or fishnets. I haven't seen these people in ages, and I only actually recognized three faces. Fine by me. The bar itself was pretty cool -- a decent space with a featured stage, bar, and no gaudy crap on the walls. The only strike against the Skybar, actually, is its location. Being as it is on Somerville Ave, it's about a 10-minute walk from the Porter Square T station and has no parking lot. Not exactly convenient.
I got there as the first band, Malice in Leatherland, was playing. I ended up being pleasantly surprised right off the bat. They were some sort of energetic, fun death rock. In retrospect during the second band, when I started taking noted on Sasaya's PDA, these guys definitely have youth on their side. This was their natural element. They had a hot chick drummer, too, which was awesome. I always love seeing a girl rocking out. After their set I spoke to a couple of them outside and they're potentially down with a show if we throw one, so look forward to seeing them at some point.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, on to the second band, Lilac Ambush. Before they started, I was told that they're billed as "experimental noise pop." Well, I can think of three things wrong with that description. As an aside, this is where I started taking notes, inspired as such by their tepid performance. The band consisted of three older guys, quite possibly older than myself, and one lonely-looking chick on the keys. My guess is that she's sleeping with one of them, but I'm not one for rumor, speculation, or slander. The opening featured a guy in front of the sound board holding a projector on his head, sort of wavering, throwing against the wall something that looked an awful lot like a Front 242 video -- a sort of desert landscape with a white-on-black counter at the bottom, ticking off milliseconds of some mysterious counter. This image was eventually replaced by a real-time projection of the band itself, only backwards. I still don't get it.
On to the music! The day jobs these guys have obviously get in the way of constructing decent music or anything like a stage-show, especially when it comes to synchronicity. The whole band's sound was like a leftover from the ADD Summer Synthpop tour that came around in the late 90s. Passive, tedious electropop that inspired one to actively not care. Might I mention that, embarassingly, the only person dancing was the aforementioned promoter?
The singer has watched too many bad videos -- he knew all the sweeping hand waves, gestures, and head nods as though he'd been practicing in a mirror. And let me tell the guitar player -- an odd hybrid of WAxl and the guy who tends goal for my street hockey team -- something that he might not want to hear: pulling out an Ovation acoustic is not revolutionary in electropop. It's just tired. In fact, this guy clearly didn't know how to rock even when he had it. He had some comparatively ROCK ROCK ROCK riffs at times, and he just sort of grimaced as though he'd never held a distorted guitar before. Oh, and a Digitech pedal does not make one Prick, though it may sounds eerily so at first. In addition, turning to one another during instrumental parts, lustful gazes in your eyes, does not equal cool by any means. You're a crappy gothrock band, not The Captain and Tenneal. Oh, and one more thing -- red lighting is not very good for synthpop. It's supposed to be cold and impassive.
Their last song was called "Deadwood." Isn't that a WB show?
Well, friends, this brings us to Collapse into Reason. CN2R. First, I've gotta state that I'd completely forgotten that they were no longer the band I knew back in Western Mass. In fact, the only member I knew was J(ay) on drums. I used to sort of know Ian, the bass player, but I'd thought he left the band years ago. I'd also forgotten that without Nic Z singing, they now sound like the Cruxshadows. Only with a metal backing band. I don't know, honestly. I was confused. To top it all off, they played this song they had waaaaaaaaaay back when, when I knew everyone in the band and loved the music, and the song was absolutely, totally, and completely no longer rocking. Another point of confusion. How do you so absolutely kill a song?
While on that subject, the other song I remember is a cover of Tool's "Aenema," which was featured on Cleopatra Records' tribute to Tool compilation a couple years ago. I was looking forward to this, though I'd yet to hear it, but again found myself wondering just what was going on. It sounded vaguely like the original or like what I thought it'd sound, but it was just sort of muddled and bizarre.
Weird point: I saw Ian smile. A lot. That was disturbing, as when I saw him at the club years ago he sort of just sat at the bar with a perpetual smirk/scowl on his face. He also played a bright red keytar for a few songs, and I don't even know where to begin with that one.
I wonder if I was the only one that noticed the backing vocals with no one else singing. There's a veil that exists between what an electro (or half-electro) band presents and what the audience actually hears, but that seems like the kind of thing that's just a terrible idea.
Honestly, I spent most of the set enjoying J(ay)'s drumming. He's always been phenomenal, and he's still at the top of his game. I was puzzled over his double-bass stuff until he reminded me afterwards of the existence of double-bass pedals for a single head. It's been a while since I was around a metal drum kit, excuse me.
J(ay), if you're reading this, know that I write this stuff only because I have to. Don't hate me for bashing your band (though I did save most of it for Lilac Ambush), I was just sort of disillusioned. You guys are talented, for sure, but you ain't what you used to be back in the day. Not my stuff anymore, I guess. FWIW, Sasaya loved the set and bought a shirt and CD. I bought a shirt, too, though it's the MIDI IN plug symbol I've coveted for years.
One last thing, and only because I find this funny. Now, I mentioned earlier I was furiously taking notes on Sasaya's PDA during Lilac Ambush. Before handing it to me, she asked if I knew Graffiti and I said "sure, of course," referring to the fact that I sort of half-learned it about five years ago. To make a long story short, I "took notes" for about five minutes before I dictated the rest to her. For comedic value, though, here's what I managed to write:
1st ener. det. ... 2d thee od 9ux5 ... Tif9d 01d suxs not xp n013e p0p.
Do note that I was in no way trying to write in h4x0r l33t-speak. It just kinda came out that way when I tried making a letter.
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