Another evening of lovely Indie music at one of my spots to see bands- The Derby in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles. Mates of State were putting on two shows- one very early for all ages and the next later on for 21 and over. I planned on just showing up for the last two bands, but since the information on the recorder was wrong and they seemed to be running a bit late as well, I ended up catching all 3.
The club had closed between the two shows- so I ended up having to wait in a line outside (which I hate) and then to make matters worse, a very out of place 45 or so year old man in a suit behind me decided to befriend me. I am always the freak magnet for some reason, I guess because I am too friendly sometimes. He already smelled of alcohol, as he chatted away in my face. He asked what the bands were and what they sounded like. I had only heard of Mates of State, so I did my best to quickly brief him on their style. Of course he was unfamiliar with the term "indie", so I had to explain that to him too. Once we were finally let inside- I thought I could easily ditch him, but he found me very quickly, sitting at a barstool up in the front. He rattled on about jazz, swing dancing, and complained about how people never dance anymore. He offered to buy me a drink and I turned him down, of course. He continued to rattle on, as I tried to busy myself and wait for my friends to show (they never did, by the way).
Finally a young, very average looking girl appeared on stage with an acoustic guitar. Her demeanor was shy and a bit awkward. She had black framed glasses and was wearing jeans, a T-shirt and a plain sweatjacket, with dark brown hair pulled back in a short bun on her head. She had a guy sitting off to the side wearing a bright red shirt- waiting to help her out with a couple guitar changes and water, etc. Her songs greatly contradicted her look, as her voice was deep, confident and full. Her songs were definitely filled with heart and soul; it was almost like being presented with someone's personal diary of a young girls loves, opinions, and secret experiences. The crowd was a bit sparse, but very attentive and receptive. But it wasn't long before more and more people came closer up to the front, to experience the engaging and impressive bitter sweetness of her art. She reminded me a bit of Lisa Germano, even though most of her guitar playing was pretty basic and simplistic. She even perhaps had a bit of Lisa Loeb or Tanya Donelly in her style as well, and perhaps a little Jewelesque (but not so cookie cutter). Her voice was graceful and the songs ranged from Hippieish to Alternative Poppy to a slowish sadness, to really belting it out. The crowd seemed rather entranced by her sensitivity and I wished I had brought enough money to buy her CD. One sweet lyric I remember her singing went "dream of all the things you miss, like your first kiss" She had an electric guitar for about half of the songs, which was nice for bringing a bit of a change to the mood. More people began to gather and sit on the floor in front of the stage, like some old Hippie Love In- people swayed and smile- it was quite charming. That annoying man was still standing by me and made a few comments like, "She's good, " and blah blah blah. He was talking way to loud and it was embarrassing. Luckily he seemed to get bored of my being way more interested in the music than his drowning voice, so he asked for me to save his spot by the bar once Rachael had finished her set. I said, "Yeah, okay,"- honestly having no intention of caring whether others filled the spot or not and thankfully they did and I did not see him again. Gee, do I sound mean? Well, you had to be there and listen to his drunken, unintelligent mumbling to really appreciate my annoyance- but I do not want to focus on him anymore. On to the next band, please.
The second band was called Appleseed Cast, they said they were from Lawrence, Kansas and more than a few people in the crowd seemed to already be familiar with their music. Their were five of them and their music was really loud, though they had smart typical song set ups- building off of silent, but growing louder and bigger sounds. The drummer was distractingly cute and played very intensely- childhood flashes of Animal from the Muppet Show flew in my mind. They also had a very cool keyboardest coming in with all kinds of spacey and Pink Floydish sounds. The sound of the whole band seemed extremely overpowering, but in a good way- it created this hypnotic vibe that was hard to ignore. The club was filling up and many more had come of to the front- many of the sitters got up on their feet, as there began to be standing room only. They were rocking the club hard- with some serious soul purging lyrics and Kurt Cobainish angst ridden screams, but psychedelic/hard alt. Rock, mixed with ambient, swirly guitars sound. They actually remind me a bit of The Aphgan Whigs or even some of Sunny Day Real Estate's latest stuff. It was very cool when some guy in the audience began screaming out a request and even offered to sing it- and the singer actually stepped aside and let him. The guy was actually not bad, he came in on the verses and choruses a bit too late- but he was surprisingly good. The singer was smiling the whole time and seemed truly entertained by the whole event. The crowd grew very large and seemed to really be into their obviously tight, well-rehearsed sound. It was harsh and intense in parts, and then very pretty and melodic in others.
Though both openers were very entertaining and talented, I was growing tired and dying for Mates of State to play. I really wasn't sure I'd make it, so I went out side for a brief while to chat with the Derby's awesome door guy- Kiyoshi. He is probably one of the nicest and friendliest door people in LA.
Finally Mates of State came on and if you are unfamiliar with them, they are a young husband and wife team (from Lawrence, Kansas as well, though they now live in California) and he sings and plays drums while she also sings and plays keyboards. But don't be fooled- their sound is very full and it is amazing actually to see them live and realize that it is only two people up there making all this lovely noise. I say noise in a very complimenting way, as the music and vocals are just very loud and all encompassing. The club was packed and people jumped and bounced up and down, singing along and having a genuinely good time. Their vocals chime in back and forth, in a very confident and confessional exchange. It's a lot like watching a tennis match of words. She had medium length pulled back blonde hair and he had dark, Mod-style short hair. Their sound was flawless and very two person Imperial Teen, but with deeper lyrics. The keyboards play everything from fun pop to mystical to circus sounds to pipe organ sounds to cartoon sounds and his drumming is tight and steady. You can also hear bass and guitar- coming form the keyboards programming perhaps? They stay completely focused on each other and kind of make you feel voyeuristic in a way- but you love it and can't take your eyes off of them. They played many of their crowd favorites and KXLU college radio hits. They have really great energy and look like they are always having fun- that is beautifully infectious to the crowd. They kinda of remind me of children playing, but with brilliant talent and admirable chemistry. They also played a couple of new songs, and even when she messed up a bit and laughed in acknowledgement, it was utterly charming. This is a band that no matter what type of music you may think you are exclusively into can be enjoyed by anyone who likes to smile and have fun and be truly entertained. Yeah Mates of State! I hope you remain mates forever (okay, okay- that was kinda cheesey, but it was sincere.)
OH! For those of you wondering where my creepy friend went- thankfully I have no idea! He told me he had been kicked out of a bar before The Derby, so maybe his fate followed him. Fine with me. And all innocent young thangs!"Tee hee!"
(Mary Bond is a contributing writer for No-Fi "Magazine" and LOVES it when you say BOND,... MARY BOND. L-O-V-E-S IT! )
The opening act, Reigning Sound, felt eerily similar to the time Diana Brown's dad played with his "band" back at her fifteenth birthday party. I felt bad for these mediocre musicians who, despite their hip fashion sense, somehow managed to strike a chord with the members of The Hives, resulting in an invitation to open on the tour. I spent most of their set looking up at the Roxy's projection of the Dennis Woodruff short film library. I couldn't help but wish I were listening to the audio for the projection instead of the embarrassing Reigning Sound. Next up was Mooney Suzuki with their 10 minute guitar solo during the last song of their set. I wound up sitting out in the lobby visiting with the others unwilling to invest the effort to stand during another mediocre band. People watching proved uneventful despite the arrival of Kelly Osbourne, with skater pal, Glen, and Pat O'Brien. The lead singer of The Hives, Pelle Almqvist, offered a great review of Mooney Suzuki, when taking the stage. "We'd like to thank Reigning Sound, a fantastic band that you Record executives out there should take advantage ofí...and Mooney Suzuki. Those guys try real hard." While his assessment of Reigning Sound was far from the mark, his observation of Mooney Suzuki seemed fairly accurate, "they tried real hard."
Let me back up. While waiting for The Hives to take the stage, the projection offered the mute presentation of David Lynch's "Mullholland Drive." Just as the movie made its way to the good lesbian sex, the image went black and the lights went out. The curtain rose and then the stage exploded with the massively exhilarating quintet from Sweden. The fine-dressed gentlemen glowed with the back light of the light-bulb covered letters of the "The Hives" sign, reminiscent of the Weezer "W." Pelle Almqvist, the illegitimate reincarnation of the young Mic Jagger on speed, informed us, through his Swedish accent, that we had entered "The United States of The Hives" and "America, you love us. We've come to take over your country and change everything. History starts today." The crowd ate it up and asked for more. As the mob rhythmically gyrated, they sang along with all the words and carried the choruses on a number of tunes. The whirlwind of black dress shirts with tucked white ties rocked the foundation of the fragile Roxy theater. Pelle slithered around the stage like lightning, offering scissors-kicks, Jagger-lips, hand gestures to punctuate the lyrics, and microphone tricks one would expect from a lasso or a baton. At one point, he hung from a suspended speaker with one arm while pressing the mic to his lips with his free hand. "The way it works is, in between songs you let us know how much you want us here by clapping and cheering. You need us, but we don't need you." The mock Oasis-esque arrogance shtick contributed to making the performance that much more fun. In the wake of the recent seventies style hard-rock/ punk-rock revival (White Stripes, Strokes, etc.), The Hives stand out as the creme de la cÆeme.
The set was more than twice as long as their album. In the shortest fifty-five minutes of my life, they reminded me what a kick-ass rock show should be. As all good performers should, they left us all wanting more.
(Roger Boxx is a contributing writer/artist guy and has nipples on his pajamas!)