Thursday, November 20, 2008

More of Tonight's Music!

Posted by Megan Seling on Thu, Nov 20, 2008 at 12:29 PM

I already posted about tonight's Rafael Anton Irisarri show with Tom Brosseau at the Triple Door. (Click here if you're interested.) But I neglected to include all the other stuff mentioned in this week's music section that's also happening this evening. So, without further adieu:

The Hold Steady - "Chips Ahoy"

The Hold Steady, Drive-By Truckers
(Showbox Sodo) Drive-By Truckers and the Hold Steady share enough in common for them to make sense as a package tour. Both bands mine the sounds of Americana—Southern-accented roadhouse blues for the Truckers, E Street bar-cum-arena rock for the Hold Steady. Both deal with similar themes—alcohol; the road; tragic romance; religion and its failings; the dark, sometimes criminal underbelly of American life. But their handling of these themes is a study in contrast. Drive-By Truckers plow into things head-on, or, if you prefer, no ice; the Hold Steady, on the other hand, approach their subjects with the gift of Craig Finn's literary remove and considerable lyrical wit, lending their down-and-out narratives as much sincerity as the Truckers', but also a winning mix of enthusiasm, grim humor, and a rewarding serial continuity and self-referentiality. Both shows should be great, but I know whom I'd pick as a headliner. ERIC GRANDY

White Rainbow live in Atlanta

White Rainbow, PWRFL Power
(UW HUB) The folkie formula is tried and true. Man, often bearded, hears the call of nature and writes a plethora of songs about spirits and being one with nature. See: Devendra Banhart, Animal Collective, and a smattering of Northwest groups. Because he's toured with Banhart and hails from the natural mecca of Portland, people may be inclined to pigeonhole Adam Forkner's solo unit White Rainbow into the influx of indie bands going green. But that would be misguided, as the versatile Forkner deftly experiments with sounds and effects to create complex and pulsing noise soundscapes one second, and touching, relatable love songs the next. To consider White Rainbow a simple tree hugger would be your first mistake, and missing this rare Seattle performance would be your second. CASEY CATHERWOOD

Icy Demons - "Spywatchers"

Yeasayer, Icy Demons
(Neumos) My first exposure to Icy Demons was via Pink Skull's remix of their song "1850." It was not exactly a representative introduction. More helpful is the knowledge that this band share a key member with carny spazzes Man Man and now defunct free-form freaks Need New Body. Icy Demons' latest, Miami Ice, scans from faint, tropically inflected chill-outs ("Summer Samba," "Jantar Mantar") to coolly sedate electro pop ("Centurion") to cartoon psych pop (the aforementioned "1850"). Overall, I think I'd stick with the remixes. Yeasayer combine soft rocking vocal harmonies, gospel chants, creeping flashbacks of new-agey psychedelia, and the frail/anthemic interplay of contemporaries like TV on the Radio or Arcade Fire, only in service of less immediately catchy songs full of vague apocalyptic dread. ERIC GRANDY

And the Score also has a couple suggestions, and you can always find all the rest of tonight's listings in our online calendar.

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Comments (2) RSS

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1
keep on neglecting local bands for a bunch of washed-up has been ex-hipsters, ya turds!
Posted by rave music still sucks on November 20, 2008 at 4:40 PM
2
Trenchant criticism as always, anonymous troll. I am totally wearing my candy necklace to go to the Hold Steady rave.
Posted by Eric Grandy on November 20, 2008 at 8:57 PM

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