Celebration, Kill Me Tomorrow, Dead Science @ the Crocodile

Celebration’s latest album The Modern Tribe is a vast tonal departure from their self-titled debut. Where the latter was all edges— frenzied manouche rhythms and a sonic palette reminiscent of a chandelier in a hurricane— their latest is lush and reflective with organ tones reverberating from a rotating Leslie cab and Katrina Ford’s vocals settling into a subtler and richer range of expression. Last night’s show at the Croc started off a bit tepid with the song, “Evergreen” before steadily picking up momentum as the band and Ford’s vocals had a chance to warm up. By the time they hit “Pressure” and lit into an audience requested “New Skin,” the band had fully entranced the crowd with dense rhythms and Ford’s dizzying vocal presence.

The highlight of Celebration’s set was a frenzied, family-jam version of, “War,” one of the starkest and most striking songs from their debut album. With members of the Dead Science, Kill Me Tomorrow, and the Blood Brothers joining them on stage— the glassy menace of the song was transformed into a pulsing, convulsing old time revival. The band left the stage briefly before being goaded into an encore and I can’t help but think that the audience ruined what was a perfect end to their set with their greed for more band for their buck. Whatever prompts compulsive encore-seekers in this town will forever mystify me. (The encore for the record was fine, but underwhelming after the dramatic climax of “War.”)

Eric missed openers, The Dead Science who are easily my pick for under-appreciated-local-band-most-deserving-of-your-attention. Even if I didn’t consider the band my friends, I would have no hesitation in lauding their formidable talents. High-minded but never without a sense of groove or melody— the Dead Science craft music that incorporate the improvisational spirit of jazz with the fractured catharsis that rock music can promise. Apparently the boys are in talks with some different indie labels to release their forthcoming album and I hope that the band gets the distribution and attention they truly deserve.

I found Kill Me Tomorrow’s set to be just o-kay. This is a band that I’ve seen a number of times in support of other bands that were my main draw. Their dark rhythmic vibe reminded me of other bands I liked (the Fall, tourmates Celebration, et al.) but never matched those other bands’ sense of menace, dread, tension or more extreme distillations of mood. While I wasn’t super stoked on their set, I have to say that many of their circular riffs and repetitions resonated in my head for the rest of the night in surprising and pleasing ways.