Alberta Cross at Brooklyn Bowl

Alberta Cross have no connection to Canada but their lead singer sure does sound like a Brit (which he kinda sorta is). When he speaks, that is, not when he sings. When he sings he could pass for a guy from, say, Tennessee. Appearance-wise he could pass for Jack White's meaner cousin. Of course as the singer of a band which is most accurately labeled Southern Rock he fits in perfectly.

Alberta Cross are quite good at rocking out when they get around to it (e.g. "Atx") but these guys cover so much musical ground that it takes a while to get around to it. Most songs use all five instruments and have a full and complex sound but at times they strip down to two or three and get folky. They do everything from rockers to ballads but have plenty of mid-tempo and mid-volume material. They dabble a bit in psychedelia and even Brit-pop. Doesn't "Magnolia" sound like an Oasis song combined with the drum part from "Don't Come Around Here No More"? When the keyboard moves up front they can even get anthemic (parts of "Ophelia On My Mind").

As a side note I appreciate the fact that their keyboards sound like piano, organ, or other real instruments instead of electro-bleeps. One thing their music does not need is electro-bleeps. Somewhere in Brooklyn there is a Southern Rock band which uses a Macbook in their shows. This isn't them.

Mid-way through the set they covered "Always On My Mind", a song which was a particularly big hit for the Pet Shop Boys but which had previously been covered by Willie Nelson and Elvis Presley among others. It is a song with a proper country pedigree, sensible for a Southern Rock band to cover. Their take on it was pleasant enough and sounded like Willie Nelson's version, actually. However unlike the Pet Shop Boys they did not make the song their own. It was just a cover.

I think the same can be said for their music more generally. Listening to them perform I could not shake a sense of familiarity despite the fact that I had not heard their songs before. As broad as Alberta Cross's repertoire may be their music is not groundbreaking. They have managed to create a coherent style from a wider variety of musical idioms than most bands and managed to sound good doing it, but their individual songs fit into familiar stylistic categories. Perhaps they save the more experimental tracks for their albums? If so, I want to hear them.

Posted: 12/28/2012 at 5:03pm     Tags: Alberta Cross  Brooklyn Bowl 

Thee Holy Ghost at Don Pedro

Thee Holy Ghost are pure garage rock with all the musical energy that entails. They've got a "Thee" in their name and they played at Don Pedro so maybe that should have been obvious. They do seem to be of that old school type, more mod than punk perhaps, who mostly just stand there and play. C'mon guys, don't hide in the corner, rock out more. Your music is just begging for it.

In case you were wondering they are not the Knights of the New Crusade (or The Mummies). Not sure what inspired that band name but it probably was not Jesus.

This is the first time I have taken photos at Don Pedro since they put the new lights in. Actually, the new lights have been there for a year or so. They just don't bother to turn them on. Now that they finally turned them on... they look nice, huh? More of that would be good.

Posted: 12/24/2012 at 12:37pm     Tags: Don Pedro  Thee Holy Ghost 

A Place To Bury Strangers at Death By Audio

On certain occasions "Death By Audio" refers not only to a music venue on South 2nd street but also to a legitimate concern for the attendees of said venue. This was one of those occasions.

See, Death By Audio is kind of a small venue, or at least the stage area is small. As a result everything seems more concentrated. The huge speakers are right nearby no matter where you stand so you can't avoid being immersed in the sound. Back when people smoked in there it was oppressive, you couldn't avoid it, it was everywhere. It gets so packed that you can barely move sometimes. This was one of those times.

Not only was A Place To Bury Strangers absolutely pummeling, as usual, but the visuals were incredible. Of course their light show has always been impressive, but what did I say about things were more concentrated? All of those projectors were crammed into a much smaller space than usual. Imagine someone scribbling with crayons right on your Occipital Cortex. Yeah, it was like that.

Thankfully the band used their smoke machine more sparingly than usual. Perhaps because someone remembered how lungs work? Thank you.

Posted: 12/16/2012 at 9:50pm     Tags: A Place To Bury Strangers  Death By Audio 

Grooms at Death By Audio

Okay, this isn't exactly the band Grooms. I guess their usual bassist couldn't make it so Jay of The Immaculates, full of the Christmas spirit (probably Jameson), donned a Santa hat and made it work.

Posted: 12/16/2012 at 7:29pm     Tags: Death By Audio  Grooms  Jay Heiselman 

The Lost Crusaders at Cake Shop

The Lost Crusaders 2.0, now featuring 2.0 members!

See, The Lost Crusaders were at one point an eight-piece band. More if you count numerous "special guests". Their music had elements of gospel, blues, a bit of jazz, and rock-n-roll (as one might expect from long-time rock-n-rollers like these guys) but the orchestration was like a gospel group. They had an organ, several backing singers who occasionally stepped up to sing lead, and lots of tambourine. That line-up lasted for a couple of years and put out a great album. I guess it was just too unwieldy to last.

The new lineup plays the same songs plus a couple of new ones. Eight musicians to two, how does that work? Well first of all they sound less like a gospel group and more like a rock-n-roll band, though of course of a stripped-down sort. The single kick drum is reminiscent of one-man-bands like Mark Sultan, Bloodshot Bill and Bob Log III but with the guitar playing rhythm rather than lead most of the time. The result is foot-stompin', clap-along music. Their soulful lyrics about loss and salvation, catchy, upbeat rhythms and lots of tambourine (always lots of tambourine) embody a rather unique thing: a respectful interpretation of gospel music by a rock band.

Posted: 12/9/2012 at 12:38pm     Tags: Cake Shop  The Lost Crusaders