Fuzzy Trio at Brighton Music Hall Leads to Musical Confusion

Just before Foster the People exploded to become one of Summer 2011's hottest acts, Common Ground's Michela Smith saw the band, along with the electric Royal Bangs and hippie Grouplove, at Brighton Musical Hall in May. Here's what she thought of the night:

This article originally appeared on Boston University's, The Daily Free Press

By: Michela Smith

The Royal Bangs, Grouplove and Foster the People proved a triple threat at Brighton Music Hall last Thursday, pumping out a night of low-fi excitement, eventually fizzling out in a monotonous wait of equipment setup hell at the end of the night.

The Knoxville trio Royal Bangs took the stage first, a surprising opener as the band is far more eminent that the other two they were sharing the bill with.

The Royal Bangs were just named as one of Spin Magazine’s “Best New Artists for April” and made their television debut on Letterman this month.

Schaefer Bangs on the Keys.

Indicative of their MySpace discovery by Black Keys’ drummer Patrick Carney, the Royal Bangs weave techie flourishes with guitars and voices bathed in effects.

While this layered technique works on record, it seemed to hinder the trio on the Brighton stage as they promoted their latest LP Flux Outside.

The electronic overdrive on all the instruments blurred the individual instrument lines into a cacophonic tangle rendering lead singer Ryan Schaefer completely unintelligible.

Schaefer mirrors the Doors’ Ray Manzarek on keyboards and synths, simultaneously pumping out a bass line and synth lead while guitarist Sam Stratton and drummer Chris Rusk are equally powerful in their corners of the stage.

The Royal Bangs would do well to tone down the fuzz and gel their individual talents into a more coherent sound. While they work on this, pick up Flux Outside to hear their best “Back Then It Was Different.”

Next came Grouplove, a five-piece harmony of lazy surfer ambience pierced by the solid lead voices Christian Zucconi and Hannah Hooper.

Sharin' the Love.

According to the L.A. Times, the five met while all vacationing on the island of Crete and formed out of “ love for one another,” which certainly shined through the shadows at Brighton Music Hall.

Still giddy from their SXSW performance, Grouplove brought fervor as they danced, stomped and jumped about the stage, pumping out instrumentals.

The band’s backing tracks are witty anthems, mixing charming acoustic guitar with catchy hooks.

Grouplove does, however, need to grow lyrically; some tracks sound a little too close to other West Coast acts, many of which perform on the Disney Channel.

Slated to perform next was Foster the People (FTP), a LA-based foursome projected to be the next MGMT. Yet, the dragging forty-five minute wait until FTP finally finished their set-up demolished any eagerness for their performance.

Sean Cimino of Foster The People

FTP echoes MGMT, but lacks the same charisma that strengthens the latter.  While FTP only has one EP, they’ve gathered quite a following with “Pumped Up Kicks,” a heavily-layered piece that features Gorillaz-like vocals.

“Kicks” was the best of FTP’s set and certainly moved Brighton. The potential power of the rest of the night, however, was lost to over-effect that clouded the vocals and instrumentals, especially after the long wait.

While Thursday ‘s show was frustrating in more ways than one, the three groups have promise for the future. Until then, we’ll just have to wait.


Photo Credits: Michela Smith

This Is A Music Review Of "Brothers." "Brothers" Is an Album by The Black Keys

by Lucien Flores

January 10, 2010

The Black Keys, Brothers, Nonesuch, 2010

2010 was the year the two-piece blues-based rock outfit, the Black Keys, burst through their garage door and cemented their reputation as premier indie rockers. While guitarist and vocalist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney of Akron, Ohio were certainly not unknown after amassing an impressive career of five albums, two EPs, and one collaborative hip-hop experiment, the Black Keys now appear to be gaining the most mainstream success they’ve ever garnered after releasing their latest album, Brothers - and the accolades keep on coming.  Their hit single, “Tighten Up,” reached number one on the Billboard Rock Songs Chart and has since been nominated for the Grammys’ “Best Rock Song.”  The band has additionally been nominated for three other Grammys including Best Alternative Music Album and has earned Rolling Stone’s second best album of the year title.  Furthermore, one cannot turn on the TV, go to a movie, or boot up a videogame without hearing a new track from the Black Keys.  Is this praise deserved?  Well in a word: yes.

Brothers continues the Black Keys’ musical growth where 2008’s Attack & Release left off.  Prior to that album (produced by Danger Mouse), it was fairly easy to identify any Black Keys song as most sounded remarkably similar; the Black Keys never left the realm of dirty and riff-tastic blues-rock.  With Brothers, the Black Keys weren’t afraid to take risks; Dan Auerbach experiments with a whispery falsetto that provides the perfect counterpoint to his ever-raspy howl and the band utilizes more keyboard and bass than ever.  These changes are certainly welcomed and make Brothers sound much more soulful, complete, and polished than any previous effort, making it arguably the Black Keys’ best outing yet.

Dan Auerbach Turns His Swag On

“Everlasting Light” opens the album with Auerbach’s beautifully crunchy guitar and Carney’s deep drum beat driving the song before Auerbach unveils his shiny new falsetto.  This song is a total throwback to late 60s and early 70s blues rock, yet doesn’t sound like any previous Black Keys song to date.  “Everlasting Light” is a perfect opener for the album, showing the listeners that Black Keys have indeed grown.  The strongest tracks on the album continue this arrangement of crunchy guitar and messy drums, from “Next Girl” to “The Go Getter” and “Sinister Kid” and the aforementioned “Tighten Up.”  The latter is incredibly catchy, beginning with a light whistle hook before Carney’s fill-heavy drumming and Auerbach’s soulful vocals kick in.  About 2/3rds through the song, the music melts apart before being revived with an even hazier and messy sound for the last minute.  The bonus track “Ohio” may actually be one of the better songs on the album; after its sing-song opening and bluesy verses, Auerbach delivers a powerful, Neil Young esque solo for over a minute to close out the track in what sounds like an unintentional homage to the great guitarist whose song of the same name is a classic.  Another great track, “The Only One,” has a gentler feel to it, yet sticks with the sonic theme of the album.  This kinder, gentler sound is continued with the last four songs of the album as compassion and passion drip from Auerbach’s grizzled mouth. 

Patrick Carney Pounding Away

While the tracks on Brothers depart from the typical Black Keys sound, the album itself does not change up that much.  The album clocks in at just under an hour (not including the bonus track) and a little diversity would do the album wonders.

Ultimately, Brothers is a very promising album for the Black Keys.  The band has grown considerably from their early days as garage-rock rockers who would churn out albums in a day and it will be very interesting to see what the band does from here.  Will they continue growing or stick to their tried-and-true methods?

Overall Grade: 8.5 

Other thoughts:

This isn’t necessarily a criticism of the album, but of the band’s live shows. While, they are certainly very energetic live, they tend to have very repetitive set lists. Minus a few of the new tracks, the set list for the Brothers tour was basically identical to a show of theirs from the Attack & Release tour.  I would love for them to diversify their sets.