"On The Spot", The Twees

A good-old New York (circa the Strokes era) rock band, The Twees, sing about the evasive balance between bachelorhood and commitment in the city. Perfectly suited for their endeavor, Jason Abrishami’s monotone voice is seductively warm around the edges and the plucky guitar keeps things light. But if The Twees don’t create the most unconventional sound with their song, they know how to give you exactly what you want out of pop rock: a catchy tune seeped with a deepened, distorted interlude that says, our songs are pretty but we’re still bad-ass. And they’ve got the perfect aphorism to prove it.

Broken Bells & Karen Elson @ Irving Plaza

As part of the Yule Rock Holiday Concert Series – something that involves the lighting of Christmas trees between sets and a lot of Vitamin Water product placement (including free "shots" of the stuff that we were handed tickets for in attempt to control the riot that free, melted virgin Jello shots might produce before a concert) – the Broken Bells and opening Karen Elson performed at Irving Plaza.

I had never been to Irving Plaza and thought that maybe the venue, or the exceedingly expensive price of the tickets (starting at fifty-five dollars) explained the older, tamer crowd. But then Karen Elson came on and I thought, okay, I guess this crowd is here for her. Because I feel like I'm collecting bad karma by being negative, I'll say something positive first: Karen Elson is also part of a political, cabaret troupe (awesome!) called The Citizens Band, which is definitely worth checking out. What isn't, however, is her performance of her debut solo album, The Ghost Who Walks. Perhaps a product of the influence of her career as a model, Karen Elson's band was way more interesting to look at than to listen to. Each musician was picture perfectly dressed up in folk/goth gear (imagine Victorian Royalty meets the Adams Family) and adorned with beautiful, one of a kind instruments. It's a shame though, because those awesome instruments, which included a slide guitar, could have had a maddening effect. But each member stood as still as figurines and the only thing that produced any real movement was Elson's vocals. All in all, I was surprisingly bored.

But on came the Broken Bells, and within the first three seconds they captured my undivided attention. The Broken Bells have what you call presence. The slightly less than ten musicians took over the stage, immediately jamming away and teasing the audience with their extended prelude building up to their first song, "October". During the course of the concert, the bassist was jumping up and down, Brian Burton (aka Danger Mouse) alternated between the keyboards and the guitar, and lead vocalist James Mercer, although unassuming in stature, tied it all together with his unwavering tenacity. To wrap it up (before they did the on-off-on skit that bands tend to do) they played, fittingly, “Vaporize” – a song preaching a similar message to MGMT’s “Time to Pretend” but through more poetic, retrospective lyrics. They address the effects of resigning to a “typical life”, the kind MGMT boldly refuses to give in to (“what else can we do/Get jobs in offices, and wake up for the morning commute.”) But at its core, “Vaporize” has an optimistic message. “It’s not too late”, Mercer sings as the music takes on an ethereal quality. And when the drums start to kick in again as the lyrics reach the title of the song (“vaporize” being a euphemism for "death") the Broken Bells bring home the message and leave you feeling “a little more alive” indeed.

"Christmas Wrapping" by The Waitresses

I find most alternative takes on Christmas songs to be as depressing as the sight of my wilting baby X-Mas tree. This 80's tune however, will have you pumped and ready to face the crowds and frosty wind for last minute gifts.

Cee Lo Green covers Band of Horses

Decidedly different in tone than his latest single "Fuck You", Cee Lo's cover of "No One's Gonna Love You" reminds me of the good old Gnarls Barkley days. It's hard to say if I like his version better than Band Of Horses' original (I'm pretty sure I do), or if it's the music video that's winning me over. Too bad the couple doesn't get into a beer bottle bashing showdown. It would have been a nice shout-out to BOH's clip.

Dominant Legs @ Mercury Lounge

I love small venues. I especially love small venues when they surprise you with a great opening band that is just as excited to be a part of the audience as they are to play. But if the Mercury Lounge was packed that night, it was all for the Mystery Jets, because a) they’re awesome, and b) their first show scheduled the night before was canceled due to visa issues. As a foreigner myself, I have great sympathy for frustrations caused by visas/customs/homeland-security shit. But when 9 p.m. rolled around and the lady working the door mentioned that they had yet to land, I started to side with the anxious individuals complaining about how they had to wake up for work the next day.

Lucky for me, that wasn’t the case. I had found a spot up front by the entrance to the stage and was happy to be out and in good company (w/ my cousin who had just moved to NY) when I saw a cute guy sitting on the steps air-drumming away. Due perhaps, to a mixture of our induced proximity and my dinner of beer, rum, and coke (afraid tickets would sell out, I had arrived at seven only to find out that the Mercury Lounge has not yet invested in a stamping system and instead has a bizarre no-exit policy) I gathered my cunning wit and said to him: “Let me guess. You play the drums?”
His answer: the accordion, actually.
That pretty much shut me up. But two seconds later he was up on stage, drumming (aha!) for Dominant Legs. (He plays the accordion for another band, so he afterwards explained.)

This was Dominant Legs’ first show in New York City, and while the drummer, Rene Solomon, wore plaid and backup vocalist/keyboardist, Hannah Hunt, wore those old school really high waisted jeans and a black belly shirt, the DLs are too fresh to be clustered into the hipster category. With three individuals behind three instruments – lead singer Ryan Lynch plays the guitar – DL’s pop music has a welcomed purity to its sound and sophistication in its restraint. Their songs are catchy but they are also soothing, not least because of Hunt’s seraphic “ohhs” and “ahhs”… actually they're just “ahhs”, offered as harmony. And the steady beats of their songs left each member vibrating in his own aura. While Dominant Legs’ music will not impress you with a capacity to blow you away, it’s their ability to spark that fuzzy feeling of familiarity that will win you over.

For a little sun on this cold, cold day check out "Young at Love and Life"

"Cabin Fever" ; The Brian Jonestown Massacre

If you didn’t know Matt Hollywood, singer/guitarist for the Brian Jonestown Massacre, was so rock & roll, you would think he was super emo, whining the way he does in this song about depression. But Hollywood wrote the song when he was only eighteen, which might explain the abject accent to the simple sing-along tune. Released in an album five years later, Hollywood probably felt differently about the emotions driving him to write the song in the first place. But if the singer’s voice conveys belittlement (the way humor often masks truth) the high pitch of distorted guitars that precede the verses, along with the screeching feedback that loiters over Hollywood’s singing, relentlessly reminds us of just how consuming these emotions can be: monsters haunting our heads.

But is there any resolution for our melancholic neo-psychedelic musician? Well, half way through the nearly eight-minute song, he becomes sedated, his voice shifting to a lower register, the instruments slowing down their beat – like that of his heart. Ironically, in an interview, leader of the band Anton Newcombe confessed that hitting his lowest point (having said his good-byes in front of eight-hundred dollars worth of smack) is what ultimately saved his life. And that’s exactly what happens here: hitting the highest note of the piece, Hollywood declares that he’s “too fucking young to say goodbye”.

Suffered and conquered. It’s only fitting that “Cabin Fever” should appear in an album entitled Take it from the Man.