Review: Titus Andronicus @ the Bowery
Words: Daniel Schneier
Titus Andronicus played one of their most high profile gigs to date recently, celebrating the release of their sophomore album The Monitor
At the core, Titus Andronicus is the brainchild of frontman Patrick Stickles, a slight, stern-faced New Jersey native with a taste for English literature, a proclivity for long onstage rants and a massive black beard that summons the image of a guitar-strapped suburban sorcerer. On opener A Pot in Which to Piss, Stickles rips through feedback-heavy guitar solos while keyboard player Dave Robbins cuts through a sheen of reverb and distortion, delivering a bluesy barroom style piano solo as a mosh pit takes shape in front of the stage. READ ON for more of Dan’s review of Titus Andronicus…
While the band certainly boasts many of the punk elements and sounds that makes fans want to careen into one another, the music in the live setting, as on the album, is manically eclectic with influences ranging from Black Flag to Buddy Holly to Bruce Springsteen and Neutral Milk Hotel. Introducing The Monitor’s A More Perfect Union, Stickles takes a cue from the Rivers Cuomo playbook of pithy references to ’70s hard rock bands, casually declaring, “In the immortal words of Cheap Trick this next song is the first track on our new album”.*
As The Monitor is an album loosely based on a Civil War battle**, tonight it is General Stickles leading the charge, serenading his band with a cover of The Replacements’ Treatment Bound and shredding the neck of his Gibson ES335 on the post-apocalyptic No Future Part II. Songs like Richard II and Titus Andronicus are played fast and frantic, packing a potent mixture of searing shoegaze and punk along with power-pop riffs and raucous chorus lines. Amy Klein’s violin adds a layer of folky Aaron Copeland-esque Americana to a number of songs including the powerful, 14-minute Battle of Hampton Roads, while drummer Eric Harm made sure the arrangements stayed air-tight throughout the night’s genre-blurring setlist. Whereas many indie bands have fallen into oblivion after delivering promising debut albums, Titus Andronicus’ powerful live show suggests they won’t be abandoning the scene any time soon.
*- See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Zhul9E6arw
** – Specifically, The USS Monitor is a destroyed, sunken battleship that helped successfully defend the Union fleet in the aforementioned Battle of Hampton Roads, but was later lost in stormy sea swells off the coast of Cape Hatteras
Titus Andronicus
Bowery Ballroom
2010.03.08A Pot In Which To Piss, Upon Viewing Bruegel’s “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus”, A More Perfect Union, Joset of Nazareth’s Blues, Richard II, Fear and Loathing in Mahwah, New Jersey, No Future Part Three: Escape from No Future, Titus Andronicus, My Time Outside The Womb, The Battle Of Hampton Roads, …And Ever, Four Score And Seven, Treatment Bound*, No Future Part II: The Day After No Future
*The Replacements
Titus Andronicus continue their tour tonight with a show at 529 in Atlanta, GA which wraps with a “hometown” sold out show on April 24 at Maxwell’s in Hoboken before they head overseas for a string of European dates.
I picked this album up a couple weeks ago, having heard a lot of glowing reviews, but I can’t stand it.
I admit I haven’t listened to it much, but what I heard sounded like total crap with the majority of the singing completely out of key.
Solid review btw. I think these guys just aren’t my cup of tea.
I think both albums definitely require a few listens to really get into. In my experience, the melodies at the heart of many of the songs have a kind of earworm effect, while the disparate wall of sounds and noises provide interesting texture that merits multiple listens. Stickles’ lyrics also are quite bizarre and highly articulate, and I think that warrants some of the Jeff Magnum comparisons. That all said, I can definitely agree that they won’t be everyone’s cup of tea.
A lot of the fans at the Bowery show were REALLY into Titus Andronicus, so it’s also possible that the sound is polarizing for people. I absolutely recommend seeing this band live and deciding for yourself.