Last Night RE: Battles, FCS North @ The Crocodile
posted by on July 6 at 13:50 PM
FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now that that’s out of the way, unpaid intern music section demi-god Jeff Kirby did a pretty good job here of geeking out on Battle’s sweaty pedals (the Suessian phrase “sweaty pedal Battle” comes to mind), as did CHristopher Hong here (where’s your recap, Donte?), so I’ll just add a few notes about last night’s sold-out show at the Crocodile:
I’ve decided that you can tell how serious a guitar player is by how high they hoist their axe. The guys in Battles were all practically playing in their armpits. Serious.
The simultaneous playing of guitar and keyboard Kirby mentioned is indeed an impressive feat, and it’s one that Ian Williams and Tyondai Braxton pull off in more songs than just the joyously bouncing anthem “Atlas.” But the coolest thing about it is the look of total calm on their faces while pulling this off—finger tapping guitar with one hand and playing keys with the other—no big deal, right?
John Stainer’s cymbal is perched six, maybe seven feet up in the air on its stand. Another critic observed that they plant that thing on stage like a flag, and that seems about right. In a way, this positioning seems to be a reminder to not overuse the cymbal—Stainer only reached up and hit it when it was absolutely called for—in another way, it seemed like just a fun demonstration of dude’s athletic reach. In any case, when he stood up to sound it at the end of “Atlas,” it was a fine finish.
Andy Sells of openers FCS North observed that Battles is clearly a band that is just playing for themselves, and if it pleases the crowd, that’s fine. You get the impression that this is exactly how they play at a practice session, and that it’s exactly how they’d play in front of five people or 5,000. (This vibe was apparently infectious—FCS North, lately adhering to some pretty tight electro grooves, seemed to open up their playing to allow for little improvisations and musical goofs; they were clearly having a good time).
There was a lot of discussion last night about whether or not Battles constitute a dreaded “jam band,” and how exactly that differs from “math rock” anyway. A friend suggested that math rock is what rock musicians make when they get good enough to be bored by indie rock but not good enough to play jazz. (This would make jam bands, what, hippies that are too good to play reggae but not good enough for jazz?) I think this conception places a little too much mythic importance on the jazz man and assumes some pretty defined limits to what can be achieved in rock, but whatever. I think two things, at the very least, keep Battles from falling into the jam band pit: One, they play with entirely too much gnarly snarl, and two, I get the feeling that jam bands noodle and fuck around and then converge on big, hooky parts, but Battles seem more prone to divergence—their most brilliant moments occur when they unravel their grooves and fall apart. This could all be totally wrong—what I know about jazz and jam bands could fit in a dime bag.
Battles is a musician’s band for sure. Pretty much everyone I knew in the crowd last night was a musician—aspiring or otherwise. The audience included members of Kinski, Minus the Bear, These Arms are Snakes, the Divorce, as well as DJ/producers NAHA, Scratch Master Joe, and Scientific American. And I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone else there was a musician of some stripe, too. School was in session; Professor Battles was at the lectern.
you can't just call me "intern Jeff Kirby," or "freelance writer Jeff Kirby?"
Thank you, Christopher and Jeff too, for the Battles recap. So good. I couldn't go. But I can relive through your recaps.
For Battles, I too say a 'Fuck!!!!!!!!' Even a Holy Fuck?
I think if Frank Zappa mated with an Ewok and made music with Albert Einstein, Battles is what would happen. Music once again, has probability. These layers of cut and jut infra-rock need multiple plays to comprehend.
The stratosphere of my Battles headphone context is in multi-dimensional disbelief.
The vocals or vocalist impressions sound like Ewoks chanting and calling. If and when you play Battles on your I-pod repeat and go for a walk, you would end up in Yelm without even realizing it.
There, in Yelm, WA, you would channel the pagan warrior, Ramtha with JZ Knight, a Yelm resident. Battles would be the perfect warrior channeling soundtrack. Ewoks will do all the conquering though.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JZ_Knight
No relation to our own JZ, or is there? I mean, he's a big fan…
At least he spelled your name right, Jeff!
you can tell how serious a guitar player is by how high they hoist their axe.
Seconded. I had a musician boyfriend tell me this about six years ago, and I've seen the theory in action numerous times since. All those shoe-gazing, low-slung guitarists couldn't hold a candle to Battles last night. I was especially mesmerized watching Braxton's deft fingers snake up and down the frets. That damn pillar was blocking my view of his right hand, so to me it looked like he was playing his guitar just like he did the keyboard.
hopefully, since you wrote about battles, seattle fire marshall will show up and shut down that awful band.
well four years of waiting or three...? i dunno. thank you croc for ruining my show. i would love to have seen battles with actual room to dance. do you know what pre sales are? why was there only one night booked? The audience had a chip on its shoulder, funun. at least for teeth and hair and fcs north, people enjoyed themselves. this show was more comprised of people that wanted to be seen or revere the band to much actually enjoy it. new rule. if you are in front, dance. you're not in front leave way for those of us that want to dance, up front. what are you new? the crowd was weird. there was more than the show on stage and more than a few of us noticed it. sometimes venues and bookers forget about aesthetics and theatrics, design. these things actually do matter.
the two funniest things i've heard so far. people dancing and having fun, being told to stop. girl trying to get to the wc, told not to come back. what's that about? anyway going to the croc is always a trip to to the late 90's. yes, we know all you street walking cheetahs are cooler than us, so prove it by having fun and not being so grouchy and elitist. 'your genres got a hold on you'. truer words.... but omg maybe mines got a hold of me and i should planet myself like a tree when i see a show...
btw - in montreal battles played w/ uncut. that would have a much, much better show.
NLSL: fuck you. get over it.
c bangs....what if, you know, people didnt WANT to dance. what if they wanted to watch in amazement at what Battles were doing with their instruments? would they need to make way so you can have your fun? does the front row exist so you can flail around? why do you need to be in front to dance? i can understand why people would want to be in front if they were there to WATCH the band play, but if youre just dancing and all about having a good time, wouldnt you be able to dance wherever you were? im tired of the silly assumption that if people are standing there WATCHING the band, that theyre too cool to dance, or theyre out to ruin peoples fun. get over it. some people dont like to dance.
No. I find it more polite to leave the back 3/4 of a venue to the punters that would prefer to stand in amazement. Generally if you do start dancing within audiences of the type I speak of... they react most unpleasantly. Dancing is not about being cool. It's just about dancing... that's it...pretty simple really.
Oh and somehow whilst I dance, I can still see the artists I am there to see. When I dance I am extremely courteous to those around me.
...and no it was quite difficult to move at all let alone dance, but thank for your insight.
cheers!
I can't believe I missed this show. Asleep at the wheel.
Math rock and jam bands are almost nothing alike, except that both require a higher level of musical skill (not necessarily talent, just skill i.e., practice) than the average garage band that rulez Seattle.
Math rock is an offshoot of prog rock, like more approachable metal. It's very precise with weird time signatures, but songs are played the same way every time. In fact, that's a matter of pride. It need not have groove or be particularly soulful. As long as it appears to be complicated.
Jam bands play songs differently every single time. But the beat is pretty consistent. The groove is king, you have to get all those sweaty hippies doing the sweaty hippy dance.
Jam bands are closer to jazz because jazz most often involves some improv. But unlike jazz, jam bands usually feature (a.) bad-to-horrible singers singing bad-to-horrible lyrics (b.) much simpler chords, time signatures, and arrangements (c.) nobody of African descent on the stage or in the audience.
Battles is more math-prog, but really they're like a weird Butthole Surfers/Test Department offshoot. Psychedelic weirdness.
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