2 feet of snow? Check. 50 mile an hour wind gusts? Affirmative. Sounds like a perfect night for rawking out on the Lower Eastside of Manhattan Isle. The blizzard conditions did nothing to keep the crowd away though as a variety of fans infiltrated the Mercury Lounge to hear an eclectic offering of sound.
Kick starting the old V-8 engine was Apollo Sunshine from Boston, Mass who offered the most engaging set of the night. They played a schizophrenic tidal wave of noise, churning up currents of Ween, shells of Bill Haley and his Comets before crashing on the shores of a bizarre electronic version of Fat Albert’s Junkyard Band, complete with duck calls. Freakout goodness indeed-e-o. "Today is the Day" was the best-received sing-along that took elements of They Might Be Giants and elongated them, chiding you that ‘Today is the day to act like today is your day.’ The trio hammered on a variety of instruments reverberating like a old Caddy careering down Route 2. Fun seemed to be the name of the game when a mid-set basketball shooting contest, complete with human hoop, sprouted out of an extended guitar and drum vamp. Other songs such as "Flip!" and "Phyllis" are explosive workouts, accentuating these Berklee Grad’s chops. Extremely talented musicians, with not a care in the world for verse/chorus/verse these sunshine boys expanded a few mind’s on Saturday, present company included.
The flip side to Apollo Sunshine’s weirdness was The Comas predictability. This NYC based five piece plowed into their set actually sounding smaller then their numbers. Breathy, and muffled lyrics from both guitarist’s Andy and Nicole turned out to be nothing offensive but nothing particularly exciting either. They are currently in the studio working on a new album, and their songs may play better on disk than live, but tonight’s performance – while up to par technically – was forgettable.
With the show running late, the headlining Deadboy and the Elephantmen (the twosome from Louisiana, Dax Riggs and Tessie Brunet) didn’t take the stage until after 12:30. The crowd was an interesting mix of hipsters and older Metalheads, Dax’s previous offerings came in the form of the Death Metal band Acid Bath. His new project takes the low-fi route of minimalist singer/songwriter sporting a voice that warbles on command while a female drummer backs him. Remind you of anyone? It is virtually impossible to see Deadboy and the Elephantmen and not think of the White Stripes, but there are major differences between the two. While they both preach the garage ethos, Jacky comes from the Detroit soul upbringing and Dax is hiking back from the precision blackness of southern screeching metal. Where the Stripes seem to be on the verge of completely breaking down in the middle of stanzas, DB&TEM crash out perfectly executed changes on a dime. This really can be laid at the feet of their respective drummers. The mighty mouse Tessie Brunet is on point and smashing (in more ways then one), and, lets not beat around the kit, Meg isn’t all that great. The Stripes though have shown growth with lyrics and sounds; while Deadboy currently sticks to their guns, turn up the volume, and sing about despair.
Tonight’s music highlighted the differences, opening up with "Stop I’m Already Dead," where the roof shook with the loud-strumming-kick-drumming duo. The song was one of the better-performed mixing Doo-Wop’y “Na-na-na’” bone fragments and a pleading hook with ear bleeding riffs. Songs off of the duo’s debut album We Are Night Sky dominated, banishing the weak-kneed to the front bar. As a lyricist Dax shows a fondness for Bones, Blood, Black, and Death. Thematically these arise in various forms blending together and thus diluting the overall effectiveness of the gems with some lesser tunes ("Misadventures of Dope" and "Blood Music" being two examples).
Clad in a Syd Barrett shirt he sang about, ‘Envying the night/for its absence of Light’ with Tessie providing well placed backing vocals. Dax seems a bit hungover from his Death Metal days, relying on chorus heavy chants dealing with (what else) death and lost love in a dark, obliterateingly loud fashion. Certain songs stood out – "Stop, I’m Already Dead," "Ancient Man," "How Long the Night Was," and the brooding certainly works to a point. Their were brief glimpses of variety and even a little humor with the acoustic "Dressed in Smoke," signaling that the band is willing to venture out and experiment, this is a development to keep tabs on as Deadboy and the Elephantmen evolve.
The jet engine tone left heads ringing as people stumbled out into the much talked about night, slipping around on frozen asphalt trying to flag down taxis which proved to be futile. Looks like I will be walking/skitching/skating home in this atypical white night.
For more info see: deadboyandtheelephantmen.com and apollosunshine.com
