Review: Living Rooms, Beach Fossils & Here We Go Magic at The Earl, Atlanta, August 6, 2010

This evening, I went to The Earl in East Atlanta Village for my monthly dose of live music. The last time I was at The Earl, a nice little neighborhood bar that just so happens to have a room in the back that consistently books good music, was to see Owen Pallett, who coincidentally joined Arcade Fire on stage during last night's webcast show at Madison Square Garden. The Spoon/Arcade Fire tour that played MSG last night comes to Atlanta on August 11, a week night, and I doubt that I will go - the 11th promises to be a particularly busy day in a particularly busy week, and I won't likely have the time (or energy) to rock out at an outdoor amphitheater on a sultry, summer weeknight.

Tonight's show, however, opened with a set by Living Rooms. The band apparently is in a transitional phase: the Atlanta-based trio just released their first full album, House Kid (available for free download here), but the band that took the stage last night was a duo. The trio version of the band has been compared, not always favorably, to Animal Collective, but the duo on stage last night sounded more chillwave, more akin to Washed Out and Toro Y Moi, also both southern bands (Georgia and South Carolina, respectively) than the dense, complex sound of AC.

I'm not sure, but I think the lineup tonight consisted of Seth Bolton and Lisa Highfill. In any event, Bolton (?) announced that tonight was Highfill's (?) first time on stage as part of the band, "so go easy on her." In any event, they both alternated playing various combinations of guitars, synthesizers, and occasional drums and both sang, making effective use of loop effects and sequencers to expand their music into something sounding much larger than a duo. A very enjoyable set and a good start to the evening.

The next band on stage, Brooklyn's Beach Fossils, have gone through some recent transitions as well. There's a video of their bassist throwing his guitar into the river during a July 4th show in Long Island City - he was apparently either frustrated with the sound or was just trying to be rock n roll. A week or so later their guitarist left the band, saying, "I have nothing but love for the band and everyone in it. I just need to do my own thing," adding that, "If you are interested in playing guitar for Beach Fossils, get in touch via email ASAP and be ready to leave Friday." Apparently, guitarist T.J. Duke of Cloud Nothings sent them an email, as frontman Dustin Payseur introduced Duke during tonight's show, saying that Duke rose to the occasion and "really saved our asses."

The band played an energetic set of low-fi garage-surf songs. Their bassist wore a hilarious captain's hat and the drummer took pictures of the audience before the set started. His minimal drum kit consisted of only a single tom-tom and a snare, no bass drum and no cymbals, but he seemed to revel in the simplicity and beat out some basic but effective rhythms. The vocals were completely lost in the mix, at least from where we were standing (after all there years, bands still don't seem to have the technology for letting the vocals rise above the din of the band), but Payseur seemed quite earnest in their delivery. In interviews, he claims influences from improvisational jazz to classical music, and from Don Cherry to Stereolab, but in performance, he sounded more influenced by the 60s British Invasion bands and early punk than anything else.

That's not meant to be a criticism at all; in fact, it's a good thing. If you're curious about what they actually sound like, here's a little sample:

So on to the main event of the evening, Brooklyn's Here We Go Magic. In recordings, the five-piece band plays a sort of quirky, neo-psychedelic pop, with influences ranging from, well, improvisational jazz to classical music, but on stage tonight they rocked, and rocked a lot harder than anyone would have guessed. After performing the second song of their set, Fangela (one of my favorites), they went straight into the next song without a break, and ended with a long, sustained, wall-of-sound crescendo that just about blew The Earl's walls out into the parking lot. I thought I might have to pick bits of stucco off of my windshield before driving home if they got any louder.

At that point, the audience knew we were in for a special night. Frontman Luke Temple announced that this was only their fourth performance in Atlanta, and led the band through a set of his songs, allowing various members of the band chances to stretch themselves out at times. Just about everyone in the band sings and sings well, and the songs have complex structures and harmonies that set them apart from the compositions of others.

Special mention needs to be made about their bassist, Jennifer Turner. I couldn't take my eyes off her. She played well and sang back-up vocals, all while preening for two photographers who had elbowed their way to the front of the audience and also seemed incapable of looking away. She has a great combination of rock-star confidence and Hollywood glamour which, when combined with her musicianship, could someday make her a star in her own right.

Why is it that female bass players always seem to wear little black dresses? Reviewing their recent LA show, Molly Bergen wrote, "Luke Temple may be the face of Here We Go Magic, but bass player Jennifer Turner stole the show. Dressed up in a little black dress, it appeared that Turner felt every pulsation that went through that red bass guitar of hers to the very core. I've never seen a bassist rock so hard. Usually they just stand in a corner and strum, but Turner bent her knees and grooved to every single note. It was clear that she wanted the audience to feel every beat of the band's heart as strongly as she did."

Here We Go Magic closed their set with a rousing cover of Collector from their new album (the interesting video above for the song is a fan-generated effort, not the official video). The song starts with Turner's throbbing bass line and ends with a long section with enigmatic, numerical backing vocals that sounds like it could (should?) go on forever.

So I was disappointed, then, that when the song finally did end and the band left the stage, the audience provided only a modicum of applause and didn't show much enthusiasm to have them come back on stage. The stage lights went off and recorded music came over the PA after a mere 60 seconds. It's the first concert this year - in fact, the only one I can remember - where the headliner didn't come back on stage for at least one encore, and this is a band that I definitely wanted to hear some more.

The Here We Go Magic tour continues up the Eastern Seaboard until they get to play back home again at Brooklyn's Coco 66, and then they're off on a European tour. Beach Fossils parts ways with them after August 8, but will continue to tour the eastern U.S. with Warpaint and Javelin. As far as I know, Living Rooms are available to join a tour, and their music deserves the chance to be heard by a larger audience. They're worth checking out.