Neon Musical Insight

Sunday, August 8

There were tons of incredible bands that played Sunday morning, but because I’m an old person, I showed up after 2 to get close for Yeasayer. The Brooklynites came out for their own sound check, perhaps enforcing the idea that they’re still on the brink of really exploding. Their set was solid, and even though many of the people in the crowd were camping out for MGMT, tons of fans could be found singing every word to every song. Still, singer Chris Keating poked fun at the fact that they were not perhaps the main attraction. After talking about the band’s performance at Lolla two years prior, he said, “But I’m guessing a lot of you weren’t there. In fact, you’re probably standing there wondering, when are they going to play something I know? Well, here’s something you know.” The strains of “O.N.E.” rang out, and the crowd erupted in cheers. The set was mostly made up of song from Odd Blood, and “Ambling Alp” closed everything out with high energy.

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Saturday, August 7

Saturday morning, the sound of the Pixies’ “Where is my Mind” echoed through the trees, beckoning fans toward the PlayStation stage, where the Kissaway Trail were acing a cover of the song. It was their second-to-last, and they made me regret not showing up earlier to catch their whole performance. After their set ended, people gathered in preparation for the Wild Beasts. The group’s two vocalists, Tom Fleming and Hayden Thorpe, performed a free in-store at Chicago’s downtown Apple store, and the semi-acoustic set put the pair’s vocals front and center. At the Lolla performance, the vocals blended more in the sea of keys, guitars and drums. Thorpe’s unique countertenor is incredible to hear in person; its high pitch soars through the air and gives the Beasts’ songs an otherworldly flair. However, the scene-stealer was Fleming on “All the King’s Men” from the group’s sophomore album. He hits the opening “Watch me!” on-pitch, and then his voice dives down, coming out like rich, smooth chocolate. Both at the in-store and at Lolla, a few crowd members let loose howls and applause after Fleming hit his “Watch me!”’s for the second time. The Beasts excel in live settings, and unquestionably had a breakout Lolla performance.

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Review by Caitlin Wittlif

If I were forced to pick two words to sum up Lollapalooza 2010, they would have to be crowd surfing. I’ve attended four years of Austin City Limits festivals, and there has certainly been moshing and surfing, but never with the consistency and intensity Chicagoans possessed this past weekend. Kids leapt on top of one another with crazed eyes, like the end of the world was nigh. It was simultaneously terrifying and awe-inspiring, and set the tone for a high-energy weekend filled to the brim with unforgettable performances.

Friday, August 6

Friday was a battle of the female drummers, the most bad-ass of battles. The Ettes played the shady and cool BMI stage bright and early at 12:30, and drummer Poni was a sight to behold. When she rocks out, her full-bodied, curly hair flies all over the place, wildly accompanying her sharp punk beats. Between her and the sassy swagger of lead singer Coco, the band managed to get heads banging early on. They played a mix of songs from all four of their albums, plus some yet-to-be-recorded tunes with their signature lo-fi sound. The set was well-attended, and fans fist-pumped in time as they lip-synched lyrics.

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Review by Caitlin Wittlif

There’s a lot of apathy out in the world these days. Whether it’s political apathy, social apathy, or a general disconnectedness from life, there is a sense of deadness felt by many, particularly adolescents and young adults. Though political apathy has been publicly studied for years by all kinds of outlets, the general curtain of numbness hasn’t really been approached by the media. Enter The Suburbs, the third highly anticipated release from Arcade Fire. Though Win Butler, Regine Chassagne and crew didn’t hit the street to interview a mass of people about why they feel so bummed out, they seem to perfectly capture the current mood in 16 heartbreaking, haunting tracks. There are no warm fuzzies to be found in The Suburbs, no reassuring lullabies or “We can change!” anthems. The recurring themes here are stagnation, frustration, hopelessness, disgust, and hollow sadness. Yet, despite these heavy themes, The Suburbs is not self-indulgent; it is a beautiful reflection of suburban reality, and, in its own way, a warning call to arms.

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Review by Caitlin Wittlif

Performing with a retro style and attitude can be tricky business. Styles can be reinterpreted with modern perspective to come off sounding fresh, or they can be studied to perfection and pulled off in such a convincing way that listeners guess they’re actually listening to a band from the past. They can also read as homage, or they can come off as shallow. Although Best Coast never comes off as shallow, their full-length debut on Mexican Summer, Crazy For You, can be a little hit-or-miss. There are brilliant and bright songs of summer, but there are also a couple space-fillers that seem dim by comparison. Overall, though, Crazy For You is a hazy treat for lovesick warm-weather crushes and strolling along the beach.

“Boyfriend” is a stellar opener, setting the tone for the album perfectly. It introduces the lo-fi ’50s/’60s surf pop theme that follows throughout the album, and pairs it with cute lyrics. The title track follows, picking up the pace slightly to punch in its message in under two minutes. A chorus of “oohs” gives the song a dreamlike quality, and despite the music continuing on in the era of drive-ins, the refrain near the end of the song takes on a Cranberries-esque tilt.

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Another Village Voice curated Siren Festival came and went, and though the lineup wasn’t quite as boastworthy as it’s been in the past, bands came with the jams and gave it their all, making it a memorable day full of loud, eclectic offerings equally met with enthusiasm from the fans and bands alike.

I made it out to the Siren festival a bit on the late side and the first band that I was able to check out was the Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Due to my shitty location, I wasn’t able to get any shots of the band. Their performance was probably the most you can get out of the five-piece Twenty-somethings – which really wasn’t anything to write home about at the end of the day. Being in an outdoor venue didn’t exactly flatter their sound either, with most of the vocals/guitar riffs/solos getting muddled down in the amplification. If you weren’t familiar with their songs before, then chances are, you’d have no desire to seek much further — which truly is unfortunate, because their recorded work is superb. Their set was a bit heavy on the new material, but it wasn’t too extensive, and they did still manage to play fan-favorites like “This Love is Fucking Right” and the prodigal 80’s child “A Teenager in Love”.

Deciding who to see next was probably one of the more tougher decisions that I’d make during the day, but I opted for the guitar-heavy sound of the young Cymbals Eat Guitars over the more mature Ted Leo (even if he is a Jersey hero.) Do I regret it? Possibly. Granted the Siren festival is free and a great way to offer new material a first listen, yes, but CEG took it a bit too far – most of the new cuts were slower jams that didn’t build to any sort of climactic breakdown like almost all of the tracks found on their phenomenal debut Why There Are Mountains. They did play some songs off the record, and D’Agostino did shred like it was nobody’s business – especially on the amazing “Wind Phoenix (Proper Name),” which the closed the set with – but I didn’t leave with that irreplaceable taste in my mouth like I did when I caught them at last year’s CMJ.

To close out the night, fans had the option of checking out Matt and Kim at the main stage or Holy Fuck at the alternate stage. The choice was clear, I went with the latter, and they easily turned out to be my favorite performance of the night. Their weird, intellectualized sound came to the forefront for the masses to witness firsthand and it’s quite the process. With film reels rolling and making glorious sounds, lead singer Brian Borcherdt sporadically took the mic, shoved it between his teeth, and danced just as hard as any of the onlookers. It was clearly the most-lively show of the night. Holy Fuck as a satisfying headliner for the bill was a question on many people’s minds, so the band had some expectations to live up to, but they totally thrived on those exact expectations and exceeded them tenfold. Even though the event was fully sponsored/curated, Holy Fuck performed in all aspects with the heart of any DIY performer.

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Review by Caitlin Wittlif

Artistic concept albums are not normally associated with accessibility, so the fact that /\/\/\Y/\ is a difficult record to synthesize should be unsurprising. However, after two albums of solid, political hip hop-meets-dance pop tunes, M.I.A.’s latest offering can be a little hard to swallow. There are imposing industrial buzzes and whirs, skipped beats, auto-tuning, and layers upon layers of other technological masks.

This is completely in line with /\/\/\Y/\’s cover art; you can just see M.I.A.’s eyes peeking through a barrage of sound bars, and 3D art covers the rest of her. Still, one of M.I.A.’s strengths is her ability to punch listeners in the gut with her reality. Here, the artist’s heavy reliance on wild, cacophonous noise leaves her identity a bit lost in the mix.

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Review by Caitlin Wittlif

Each summer, music lovers begin a quest for the perfect summer jam. It’s got to encapsulate the light-hearted and carefree nature of the season, it’s gotta be catchy, and it’s got to play in the spectrum of positive emotions people can feel. So for all of you looking for a peppy summer jam — you might wanna scour an album other than the Roots’ How I Got Over. However, if you’re looking for an honest summer album, bleak and unforgiving in its observations about the state of the union, an album that reflects an oft-overlooked summertime perspective, there’s nothing better than what ?uestlove and company have crafted over 14 sweltering tracks.

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Kicking things off for this year’s L Magazine Northside festival at the Knitting Factory the right way, the baby faced Boston natives DOM graced the stage a little after 9 P.M. Two additional members were added to the roster, no longer making the band a trio — but still no bassist! DOM looked like a retro-act straight from the 60’s, and pinning their sound down became a bit difficult at times. “Burn Bridges,” one of their more well known songs, sounded like a Bowie b-side circa 1980’s, while “Living in America” cries power-pop, with a monster riff that seems to have a lot in common with Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’”.

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DOWNLOAD MP3: Wolf Parade – “Little Golden Age”
DOWNLOAD MP3: Wolf Parade – “Palm Road”

Review by Caitlin Wittlif

The thought of the Flock of Seagulls and the Boss back-to-back on some bizzaro ‘80s mix tape is jarring, but these disparate influences coexist cohesively on Wolf Parade’s latest release, Expo 86. It’s the band’s third release, and is incredibly dense­ – not only are the songs long (most clock in around the five minute mark), but they each contain evocative, but often seemingly unrelated, imagery. On this album, Wolf Parade feel somewhat like an angsty version of the National for a younger demographic; revivalists with equal regard for Springsteen and Ian Curtis.

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