Deerhunter, Times New Viking, Nite Jewel
The Loft
December 1, 2008
Better than: Going to Vietnam, only to return with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. (Get it, movie buffs?)
Deerhunter's Bradford Cox, with bells on. (Mikey Harris)
With
the bitter cold, little advertising and a post-holiday Monday for a
booking date, the odds were stacked against this show before it even
began.
But by the closing of Deerhunter's final song at last night's Loft performance, it's hard to remember
these were ever even factors to consider.
As a few dozen stood with arms crossed in front of the stage, Los
Angeles-based Nite Jewel used her first couple of songs to iron out
some soundboard issues. But, after tinkering with wires and knobs, the
pint-sized Ramona Gonzalez and her equally tiny band mate trudged on
with their electronic arsenal--which included an iPod, a Casio
keyboard, and a sampler. Her songs varied from the futuristic and
Kraftwerk-esque, like "Artificial Intelligence," to the spunky and
echo-heavy, like "Heart Won't Start". And if Vicki, the adorable robot from
the 80's TV show Small Wonder, released her own version of
Madonna's 1983 debut album, it'd sound a lot like Nite Jewel's
performance of "Full House".
But the crowd didn't sign up to hear
cutesy android-pop. They clearly wanted the next two bands, which was
rather unfortunate; Nite Jewel had an intriguing sound that could've won more
appreciation if opening for a different band.
Times New Viking, a noisy lo-fi trio from Ohio, would begin with a
bang, continue with a bang, and end with a bang. There would be no
rising action or denouement; just a series of back-to-back climaxes
testing the limits of The Loft's sound system. And yet, as if his ruckus wasn't
loud enough on the opening song "Teen Drama," drummer Adam Elliot
yanked his vocal microphone down from the stand, and held it to the
crash cymbal as he repeatedly pounded the sin out of it.
Throughout the
set, Elliot was gracious enough to inform the audience which songs were
and were not about drugs. And the respective synth and guitar wails of Beth
Murphy and Jared Phillips reached their greatest levels in "Skull
Versus Wizard", as Elliot sang with the microphone literally inside his
mouth while drumming. If necessary, Times New Viking could've headlined
this tour on their own; last night proved they certainly had the chops.
Finally, with an almost palpable anxiousness in the air, the much-anticipated
headline act, Deerhunter, took the stage. And guitarist and lead vocalist Bradford Cox was
welcomed as a god as he walked onto The Loft's stage--a stark polarization from his appearance. With
skinny jeans somehow appearing baggy on his lengthy, skeletal frame,
it's easy to imagine him once as the butt of high school teasing. But
once Cox stomped on his ever-present delay pedal, the ambient cacophony
muffled any remarks on his looks.
A good portion of the audience
squealed and whooped along as they recognized upcoming songs. On "Octet," a
crowd favorite, many fans chanted along, "I was the corpse that
spiraled out!" as drummer Moses Archuleta delivered a steady gallop on
the high hat.
Later, by the close of the set, Deerhunter must've employed every pedal,
effect and filter in their vast collection as Cox hammered upon his
trusty glockenspiel. The applauding crowd was rewarded for its
loyalty with an amazing encore, too, featuring "Agoraphobia," one of the
flagship songs on Deerhunter's new album Microcastle.
But the final
song of the night was "Twilight at Carbon Lake," which guaranteed a
little trauma for every eardrum in the venue. And, for the big finale, the
song's harmonies devolved into visceral mayhem. Guitars were
deliberately thrown out of tune, buttons were mashed on laptops, and
Cox did his best Townshend impression by shoving his glockenspiel to
the floor.
Still, bassist Josh Fauver trumped the rest of the band by handing
his instrument down to an audience member, mouthing the words, "Here: You
play this!" Then Fauver walked away to tweak on the bass's effects while the
lucky teenager in the crowd plucked nonsense up and down the strings.
(After the show, Fauver admitted, "We really hate playing that song. By
the end, we're sick of it, and that's just what happens.")
Save the incredible grand finale, it's difficult to classify
Deerhunter as 'noise-rock' like many do. Sure, they're loud--they're
very, very loud.
But it's not just offensive 'noise' that the act gave
300-or-so fans last night in downtown Dallas. Bradford Cox and his
cohorts placed energy with virtuosity, and heavy rhythms atop haunting
echoes. In a venue as intimate as The Loft, the huge wall of sound
produced by Deerhunter was deafening--but definitely not noise. --Mikey Harris
Random Note: Nite Jewel performed wearing only black leggings and a
giant flannel shirt... Is that supposed to be sexy? (Because it kind of
was.)
