Newmarketers Tokyo Police Club stopped into Daytrotter recently in support of their sophomore record Champ. All and all it's a good session - the mix is clearly off and the playing feels a bit rushed, but TPC's undeniable live talent makes up for production issues.
The session includes an interesting, unreleased song called Top Five!. I'm undecided about this track. It's a just composite of the many stylistic faces of Tokyo. Same synthy garage instrumentals, same simple structure...it just doesn't feel like anything special or progressive. Despite this criticism, it's still a very likable song.
A few days ago on Wednesday, I saw The Drums, Surfer Blood, The Dewars & Young Friends play Webster Hall as part of the CMJ Festival that's going on in New York now.
Young Friends:
I came in right at the end of their set. Can't really recall what they sounded like (that's not a very good sign).
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Next up was this incredibly weird band called The Dewars. Like, they've got to be the oddest band I've ever seen live. The group is fronted by the Dewar Brothers, who had matching glasses and excessively geeky looks. Their most notable backing members included a Rasputin-esque maraca shaker & an insane keyboard player who moved like a nerd version of Peter Murphy, throwing bedroom eyes and sweat at everyone.
Video was the only way to capture this odd group:
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After that, Surfer Blood. I watched a few minutes of an MTV stream they did the night before and was incredibly underwhelmed by the performance, so the bar was set pretty low for them. Fortunately, they cleared it by a mile, pretty much stealing the show from The Drums. People seemed to be a lot more into them than any other act of the night.
They played some new songs, most notably the still-untitled one below. They've been playing it quite a bit on the road..seems pretty promising as a single or a well-liked track for their next release, whenever that may be.
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The Drums came on shorty after to a super receptive crowd. Clad in a red satin varsity jacket and incredibly slim pants, Lead singer Johnny took the mic and staggered everywhere on stage, slurring almost every word. Backing was tight, even though the mix seemed a bit off.
There's really not much to say about them, actually. The setlist (below) was conducive to buzz kills (starting with It Will All End in Tears? / ending with Down By the Water? Really?)
The drummer was the moodiest, most pissed off looking thing on the stage, and the guitarist looked like he wanted to kick something (and like TBP from That Thing You Do!). It was a bit disappointing, since the LP is so "clear and happy and stuff."
Here are two strikingly different songs that are available for free and on constant rotation right now.
First is Bullfighter Jacket by local (Brooklyn) act Miniature Tigers. The song is from their newest LP F O R T R E S S, but the Daytrotter Session they did earlier this month yielded a far better cut of the originally over-produced track. A cute love song like this the deserves simple, organic production that DT provides.
The second is a great track by Toronto kids First Rate People. They just did a five date run with my friends Born Ruffians, and they really stole the show (well, to an extent!) with their multi-vocal, mildly electronic jams.
The track I've got picked out is Gentleman's Club, a collab with Luke of said Ruffian band. It's catchy, super danceable and essentially all vocals with a bit of synth backing. All around a great little track to have.
I've got so much to write about: Caribou, Belle & Sebastian and all about another crazy Born Ruffians weekend. Lots and lots of good things coming your way soon.
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