Last night the Paradise ROCK Club was pretty full for Deerhunter et al, and I'm sure no one left disappointed. I'd never seen them before and it was a solid, solid performance. Honestly I'm still in shock at Bradford Cox in person. He didn't seem real. His bones were too visible, his skin stretched tightly over his sparsely-muscled body. After some applause to greet Cox, he joked "I'd blush, but I don't have any blood." Also, he claimed he almost didn't play the show due to nausea, but since Boston's a bunch of good sports he persevered. All the band started off looking bored and aloof, Cox whispering into the microphone. All the songs were hypnotic, trance-like, as the lights rainbow-flashed and strobed. They played nothing but great songs, inclding "Octet" from Cryptograms and more recent jams like "Microcastle," "Little Kids," and "Nothing Ever Happens." Before the encore, when the band initially left the stage, Cox left some feedback looping extremely loud from some sort of sound-making equipment. They came back and played "Hazel St." and "Cavalry Scars."
Before Deerhunter was Times New Viking, who really weren't that fun. The only thing I took away was the humor in that the guitarist consistently created blaring feedback noise every time the drummer tried to make banter. I heard about three words he said all set (which was only, like, 25 minutes), whether he was babbling or 'singing.' Most every song was prefaced with the fact that the song was either about or not about drugs, a sentiment which I'm sure provoked some laughs but as otherwise useless and self-satisfying. Each song sounded relatively the same, as they did when they played with Titus Andronicus over the summer at Great Scott. I'll see them again once they promise to include variation in their repertoire. Until then, they're not worth paying to see.
However, Vivian Girls rocked. I have such a soft spot for them, I can't help it. Maybe it's the extra-cute bassist (I don't have stage-crushes often). Maybe it's the immense pop hooks. Maybe it's the bored, wilting harmonies. Maybe it's the vast washes of guitar noise, who knows, but I really can't get enough of em. After waiting for the guitarist to come back from smoking a cigarette they played "All the Time," "I Can't Say," "Such A Joke," a new song I didn't catch the name of, "Wild Eyes," and "Tell the World," among others. It's silly to see audience member guys swoon over Vivian Girls, smiling broadly, glistening eyes, dreaming of what a romantic encounter with them would be like. I noticed at least 5 males doing this.
Unrelated: I'm diggin this video/single from Apache Beat. Only thing I've ever heard from them, but it's got my attention.
Alice in Chains
Vivian Girls
No Age
Black Dice
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