Went to the 9:30 Club on Monday for a concert featuring Helvetia, Camper Van Beethoven, and Built to Spill. We left too late to check out the first band, but caught most of the Camper set. Sadly, they're not very good. Sound like a poor man's Wilco with an overtly obvious sense of humor. With lyrics that emphatically demonstrate their appreciation for hippy chicks and bowling, their music seemed to force a sort of indie humor that's way too "get it" to really be interesting (much like their punny band name). Additionally, they had one too many instrumental pieces that had absolutely no point. There was no build to a climax, no interesting viewpoint; rather, just a redux of dissonance mixed with a no-fi country kick. Sadly, the one song that ELV and I enjoyed, a poppy McCartney-sounding diddy, was a cover and featured la's that were not a part of the studio track.Then came Built to Spill. If you haven't heard this band, then you don't listen to indie/college rock. Go to this link to read a review of their NYC show or to this link to listen to the NPR broadcast of THE show we attended in D.C.. The show featured a new twist compared to the show we attended a year and a half ago: a multimedia slideshow. Featuring simple and dreamy pictures, the band blew through track after track of tight, challenging rock songs. Doug Martsch, the lead singer, lead guitarist, lead writer...basically the band, writes excellent songs, and the execution of each song was flawless.
Great show, great band. Loved the cat video shown during "Broken Chairs."
1 comment:
Well, you've got to hand it to CVB for being among the first wave of old-school college rock bands, and one of the first to have a sense of humor, but it sounds like they've gone from being the intellectual class clown to the old hipster uncle who keeps telling the same jokes. David Lowery was arguable better in Cracker ...
Anyway, isn't it great that NPR plays shows from the 9:30 club? They don't often air them on Chicago's NPR, but I simply appreciate that they do it at all.
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