I wasn’t overly familiar with Mono in VCF before attending this show. I’d heard a few tunes on the radio and had noted strong vocals with a fun, airy/psychedelic sound—interesting and perhaps a good subject for this my first show review.
Dressed all in black, Mono in VCF got right to the point, opening with "Escape City Scrapers," the first track on their new, self-titled album. Instantly catchy, "Escape..." has a keyboard-produced string-sounding intro that sets up the vocals of Miss Kim Miller. I can easily say I was impressed. Miller has a very effective style about her: her sultry tone alone allows the slow vocals to balance the up-tempo keyboard and drums on many of the pieces. She didn’t move around on the stage, but stood holding her microphone, smiling and calmly singing out to the crowd.
While definitely the visual focal point of the group (she is the only woman among the 7 piece performing group), Miller does not take the entire spotlight. Writer/composer Hunter Lea (guitar, keyboards, synth, vocals) has worked a nice balance between the music and vocals: some songs it seems as if the music is accompanying the driving lyrics, but on others, Miller’s voice and words are just another sound in the mix. I also appreciated that, on the instrumental pieces, Miller stepped back, no longer illuminated by the spotlight (apparently, she too wanted to enjoy her wine).
This drew my attention to Lea, whose vocal talents are complemented by playing organ, guitar (including a nice slide intro) and skillfully playing his magic box of sounds with the top of his guitar.
A few notable songs:
"There’s No Blood in Bone." One of my favorites. This track can easily take the listener to a darker place, with heavier vocals bordering onto a scream (that is, if Miller were to scream. I couldn’t really describe anything she did as so discordant). It clearly echoes Mono’s influences (e.g. The Beatles and various psychedelic bands of the 60’s). Att times, Miller sounds alternately like Grace Flick and, oddly(?), Madonna.
"The Only One" has a somewhat haunting tone to it—Miller sings with more angst in her voice (although she still continued to smile). This is the type of song you would play to break up with someone if you really wanted to make them cry. I was reminded on more than one occasion that I could be listening to the soundtrack of a James Bond film, and I half-expected the band to cover Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit.” A few of the longer instrumental jams might have lost some of the listeners with the heavy distortion, but I can see the experimental sound Hunter Lea was going for.
Listening to Mono in VCF in the car the next day, I noted that while the album is solid, they are a band that is better felt, better experienced live.
A quick note of distinction for the Triple Door: it’s much classier than the average concert venue. Instead of having to arrive early to assure a spot at one of a few tables or shove up to the front, we were politely led to our pre-assigned table by the maitre d'. A waiter arrived shortly thereafter to pour our water from the bottle on the table and take our order: a nice syrah, Indonesian beer, peasant chicken, and the wild ginger fragrant duck. Throw in some great live music, and it’s not a bad way to spend an evening.
The SETLIST, which as Miller noted, they played straight from the album. Perhaps that’s what you do at a CD release party.
1 - ESCAPE CITY SCRAPERS
2 - SPIDER ROTATION
3 - MASHA
4 - KEY TO THE HOUSE
5 - IN LOS ANGELES/MUMMIES
6 - THERE'S NO BLOOD IN BONE
7 - CHANTEUSE
8 - DEATH OF A SPARK
9 - THE ONLY ONE
10 - CINCH RING
11 - WE COULD'VE OWNED THE WORLD
