Modern Rock Retro Rebels

Modern radio is an absolute wasteland. Current rock music is made up of junk like Imagine Dragons and dozens of crummy bands that name themselves <something> the <something else>...Cage The Elephant, Young The Giant, Walk The Moon. It seems the only real rock bands getting any radio play are Foo Fighters and The Black Keys, and the latter get way more credit than they deserve.

Even on Sirius it's difficult to find modern rock music that is listenable. I've started listening to Garage, or more exactly Little Steven's Underground Garage, regularly. It's a mix of classic 60s rock tunes with bands that take their inspiration from those classic 60s tunes. The songs here are as straight-forward as the name implies: it's music you would expect to come out of the countless garage bands that were inspired by The Beatles and The Stones and all their imitators both good and band.

Last night at DC's The Black Cat I saw three such bands. I have not heard them on Garage but they would be well at home there. The Black Angels, supported by Allah-Las and Elephant Stone. I saw The Black Angels a couple years ago on a bill with Black Mountain and came away impressed. When I saw they were hitting DC touring behind a new record, and after getting goaded by my neighbor, I snatched up a ticket before it sold out. The other two bands I hand't heard of so I checked them out on my new best friend Spotify. Elephant Stone I really dug...the Allah-Las were what I like to call "meh" (but that will change!!!).

Trust me they have a guitar player...he's just too far to the right. 

Elephant Stone are a four piece from Montreal. When I listened to them I liked the sort of Starfish-era Church vibe they gave off. Then I noticed the sitar coming in and had a Kula Shaker moment, thinking the Indian vibe was a bit much. When they hit the stage last night I realized where this particular influence came from: the keyboardist and the singer/bassist/sitarist were both Indian. After seeing white kids spend effort trying to emulate George Harrison this was almost refreshing.  

The name Elephant Stone reminds me of The Stone Roses. These guys are more like a catchier Tame Impala. The singer guy started out on the sitar but then moved on to a sweet blonde Rickenbacker bass. He would jump back and forth as the music required. His bass lines I really liked...very groove oriented. Listening to it now my head is bouncing and my foot is tapping. Halfway through the set a little girl who must have been their biggest fan in the world nudged her way in front of me and proceeded to jump and twirl and pump her fists for the next 15 minutes. She wasn't annoying, I was just worried that she would break my jaw. I gave her a couple gentle pushes in the back when she got a bit too close and only got my foot stepped on twice. No complaints she was just having a good time and I can dig it.

What do they sound like? Here's "Setting Sun" the lead track off their latest, self-titled record. I happily left with a vinyl copy. I bought it from the guitarist. My voice is shot from my allergies in overdrive right now, so I just smiled and gave him $20 and happily shook his hand.

The Allah-Las hadn't impressed me much on Spotify. Live it was a very different story. They blew me away. They are from California. They have a very heavy 60s American garage band vibe; very chimey surf-like sounding guitars. They had the proverbial "bitch seat" of the bill. They had to have all their gear set up after Elephant Stone tore down and it took a bit of time to get the sound right; poor guys had to stand there waiting for the sound guy to get to them. Happily the crowd didn't get restless and incite revolution and take it out on the band. It did do harm to the set because they got cut off one song short. That was a drag.

60s revivalists Allah-Las. This is a good thing.

Music-wise, like I said, they blew me away. Here's a band where my initial listen to them, granted through my iPhone while at work, didn't really impress me. But live all their charms and talents came shining through. What struck me beyond the retro 60s vibe was the fact that many times all four of them sang together and that it sounded great. Great harmonies and great vibe made the songs come alive. They did a couple instrumentals that in general I am not a fan of but in this case worked because the music was so good. The retro thing was topped off by the gear: the guitarist in front of me played an old-school Murph while the bassist rocked a Danelectro. I hadn't planned on buying their record but I dug the music so much I felt I couldn't leave without it.

Here's the video for "Tell Me (What's On Your Mind)" from their self-titled LP. Dig the suits.

The Black Angels are from Austin and are the most experimental of the three bands. They have a modern take on the 60s psychedelic sound thing. The stage show included the trippy looking lights and colors and shapes broadcast on some white board they had strategically set up on the stage. They also had two left-handed guitarists, which must be some kind of record.

The Black Angels. Trippy, man.

Strangely enough the band I mainly came to see wound up leaving me the coldest. It didn't help that after I took the above picture I had to move to the back because they were SO FUCKING LOUD. The mix wasn't right because when the third song started it was like an icepick into my ear. It also didn't help I was positioned right in front of the speaker. And it finally didn't help that two douche bags decided to push themselves right in front of me. Unlike the dancing Elephant Stone fan, these guys were assholes. I didn't make a deal about it because a) I can't really talk; and b) when the girl a couple people down from me did make a deal about it he called her a "fuckin bitch" and told her to "shut the fuck up it's a concert." Here was another case where I didn't feel like getting my jaw broken, this time from the fist of a douchebag. This plus how LOUD IT WAS sent me to the comfort of the back of the room where the volume level and personal space situation was just fine.

What about the music, man? Oh yeah, right. They are the least tuneful and catchy of the three bands, which explains why they are on the top of the bill and the most likely to get radio play. Sorry was that out loud? Don't get me wrong, I really like them. I ordered their record (Indigo Meadow) so it came the day after it came out (what's up with that, Amazon Prime?) Their music is almost like a carnival. It swirls and it growls and it's like what an acid trip is described as by someone who has never come close to an acid trip. There is something disconcerting about the front man; he doesn't look like a front man. He looks like the guy getting me another PBR. He has a kind of whiny, nasally voice but it works for the songs. The other band members, except for the good-looking blonde drummer lady, didn't really register, but the guitarist in front of me before I high-tailed to the back played a nice natural hollow-body and a black Rickenbacker that looked weird because he held it left handed and thereby upside down.

Here's the lead single "Don't Play With Guns." Steven Hyden, one of my favorite rock writers, shat all over it for Pitchfork. To each his own. He gave this song a special shout out in not liking because it was written around about the Aurora shooting business and the lead singer guy said some things about this song in that context which should have probably been left unsaid. 

So all in all, and despite douchebags taking my spot, a really enjoyable evening at The Black Cat. Whenever I can go to a show where all the acts are especially good it's a great time.