Coming Through The Eye Of The Storm

The Kills @ Webster Hall 5/1/2008
U R A Fever / Pull A U / Sour Cherry / Tape Song / No Wow / (break) / Alphabet Pony / Wait / Last Day Of Magic / Kissy Kissy / The Good Ones / What New York Used To Be / Cheap and Cheerful / Fried My Little Brains / Goodnight Bad Morning // Love Is A Deserter -> The Search For Cherry Red / Drop Out Boogie

Between “No Wow” and “Alphabet Pony,” the Kills were forced to stop the show for about 10-15 minutes while fire fighters investigated some kind of problem high above the stage. This was a very odd experience, and obviously, it damaged the momentum and aura of their show. It snapped us out of their spell, and though they could conjure it all up again with a flick of the switch, something was lost. But hey, it’s not their fault. When they were on stage, the beats were so loud they shook the floor, and Jamie Hince’s guitar bled precise, highly stylized noise. It was brilliant, and there were many times in the set where I just felt — well, just angry and dismissive towards all the people who just don’t seem to get them, or prefer vastly inferior, and far less thoughtful bands.

The Kills “Last Day Of Magic” – The Kills specialize in conveying romance and desperation, and perhaps no other song in their catalog does that trick as well as “Last Day Of Magic.” It’s the sound of real-life drama playing out simultaneously in one’s head as a story; at least on some level it’s about an inability to shake off the expectations built into us by fiction. It’s not a critique of narrative, though — the Kills embrace artifice, and shun the mundane. In their world, there’s nothing worse than a lack of drama, and a life without romance is no life at all. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Telepathe @ Webster Hall 5/1/2008
Gee Thanks Animal Collective / Buying Equipment / Glowing Apple Logo / “You Should Get That Haircut” / Tribal Drooooooone / Why Do We Write Lyrics? / Tone Deafness / Oooooooooooh Laser Sounds / Back Issues Of Vice / Bushwick Open Mic / Baby Panda Dance / No One Needs Talent / Not Adorable / Let’s Buy More Equipment / Awkward Legs / Seriously, Let’s Just Destroy Brooklyn

Ugh. Just read this, okay?

The Child Ballads @ Webster Hall 5/1/2008
Where Teardrops Fall / “Doubles” (recital of a poem, not sure of the author) / Stewart Hassle / Cheekbone Hollows / Laughter From The Rafters

The Child Ballads “Where Teardrops Fall (The Rain In Betsy’s Car)” (Live on Fair Game) – Normally when people come in to record sessions for Fair Game, they get to use the big studio, but Stewart Lupton got stuck with this tiny little room that simply was not built to accommodate any sort of musical performance. He was wedged into a corner, and given about a half hour to knock out four songs. He couldn’t really get anything to go his way — he kept trying to explain a particular effect that he wanted on his microphone, and we had to settle for a typical sort of slap reverb. He explained that he didn’t want to sound like a singer-songwriter, a “truth-teller.” I can understand why he’d feel this way — there’s a long line of absolutely terrible male poet-singer-guitarists out there, and who would want to be mistaken for one of them? Lupton appropriates the hell out of Dylan these days, but he’s too smart, self-aware, dysfunctional and genuinely rattled by the circumstances of his life to be anything but this odd, fascinating misfit.

This was his solution for the “truth-teller” problem last night: He sang into two microphones, one with a harsh reverb, and the other with an extreme delay that warped his voice so much that at some points it sounded backmasked. He indulged in jokes and monologues that largely presupposed that the audience was aware of his existence and history. The songs were extended, and he seemed to make up much of the lyrics on the spot, particularly in the 13 minute version of “Laughter From The Rafters,” which included exclamations such as “Fuck Robert Christgau, I don’t need him to tell me I’m intelligent” and “I wanna be a pirate!” The entire set was sloppy, rambling, and probably incoherent to non-fans, but as far as I’m concerned, Lupton was thoughtful and compelling, particularly in the way his entire act is a tightrope walk on a line separating self-conscious academic irony and heart-on-sleeve gut-spilling. (Click here for the full Fair Game session, and here to buy the Cheekbone Hollows EP.)