Show In Review

The Alligators, David Williams, Headlights and Evangelicals at Kilby Court 3/26/08

The Alligators
Local Utah openers, The Alligators caught me off guard. They looked like old LoFi Cafe fans, complete with the hippest apparel and ultra styled hair cuts, attracting high school scenesters from all corners of the state. Then they played, and somehow I had heard their opening song from somewhere. I am still trying to figure out where that could have been. Anyways, what we heard was sugar coated upbeat pop that had infectious beats and forced an honest smile from my critically hardened lips. It wasn't amazing music, but it was enjoyable, and really sometimes that is all a band needs to put on a fantastic show.

David Williams
David Williams has surprisingly decided to go electric! His little folk tunes have taken on new life as of late in his live performances and have rocked the house down. It's the same great songwriting you have come to accept from Williams but with an little more pizazz.


Headlights
Recorded Headlights are all right, but have failed to keep my interest long enough for me to want to make it through a full album. The forced hazy male vocals just kill me. Most the crowd was there to see Headlights and seemed to be enjoying their simplicity. I thought they would be fun enough live, but I was ultimately bored and couldn't wait for them to get off stage after about 3 pleasant syrup songs so that I could hear the real reason I came to the show.

Evangelicals!
After about three fourths of the crowd left, a lengthy set up, a broken monitor and an exploding light bulb, Evangelicals raped the Kilby stage and left the remaining fourth of the audience unable to do anything but rock out in live music satisfaction to the fullest. If anyone deserves to act like rock stars it's these fellas, but they only brought the swagger on stage and left it on stage once they were done playing. They were very humble, very nice, and soooo glam! Just imagine eyeliner, glitter, strobe lights, fog machines, capes, nail paint, walking on the drum set, hanging on the rafters, wailing on the guitar so hard it brought them to their knees rock and roll! The Evening Descends is one of the most amazing albums, if not the most amazing album of 2008 thus far and was given complete justice and then some performed live. Everyone who left - What were you thinking!?

-Sassigrass

Goodies!

I haven't done a goodies post forever! There are so many awesome things to waste your time with!

First off, The Arcade Fire continues to push the boundaries of what a music video should be by yet another interactive music video. This time around you control the audio rather than the video. It's for the song "Black Mirror," and although it takes a while to load it is well worth your time to experiment with the music that fits nicely with the beautiful black and white hazed imagery. Even if your aren't a fan of the regime, you should still try it out. My favorite combination was turning off all audio except #'s 1,5, and 6, which leaves you with only distorted vocals and strings. So haunting! Go ahead, click the link.

Next off, some killer videos!
First is Evangelicals "Midnight Vignette" which I personally think is hilarious.


Now The New Pornographers new video for "Myriad Harbour"


Enjoy!

Evangelicals - The Evening Descends

Evangelicals
The Evening Descends
(01.2008, Dead Oceans)
Verdict = Magic in epic proportions

It seems that a dammed stream of viable indie rock has been unblocked in the opening month of 2008, releasing an array of solid albums each with their own wonderful quirks. Of the quickly flowing lot, Evangelicals’ sophomore release, The Evening Descends, is undoubtedly the cream of the crop. If the record were a super hero trading card the stats, spanning ratings from one to ten on the back, would run something like this: Melodic Agility – 10, Loveable Charm – 10, Quirkiness – 10, Astral Beauty – 9, Indie Rock Danceability – 9. Essentially the stats speak for themselves: Evangelicals are a band to be reckoned with (playing card wise). But what makes the band so sugary delicious is that they aren’t fighters; The Evening Descends is an album for lovers. That’s right (!), Evangelicals are pulling on heart strings here. These aren’t really romantic heart strings though; they’re strings that resonate of the fresh beauty of life. It seems almost impossible not to just absolutely love life when you are listening to this album. Seriously, the United States could become infested with a ravenous zombie infection, mad scientists could accidentally release a pack of wild man eating rabbits and Hilary Clinton could win the Democratic bid for President and I could still just feel like baby puppies and flowers when listening to this album. Yeah, it’s a life affirmer and though it isn’t a rookie card, The Evening Descends definitely deserves one of those super thick plastic cases to keep the whole thing mint and perfect for your fireplace mantle. I don’t know if there is much more praise I can heap up on to this thing – it just contains the perfect amount of pure indie rock, charming experimental quirks and a good ‘ole fashion dash of surreal diamond dust that allows the whole thing to just float you as if it were Tinker Bell’s magical powder seeping out of your headphones. It is only February and Evangelicals have already secured a spot within my top ten of 2008. (PS – Favourite album cover for a long time too.)

-Mr. Thistle

Evangelicals - "Skeleton Man"