Pale Young Gentleman is one of the Midwest’s best-kept music secrets. Hopefully the secret will soon be out, as they’re currently embarking on their first national tour. Boston, however, is still somewhat in the dark. The Sunday night crowd at their Middle East Upstairs concert filled in less than half the room, despite three local opening acts. Seeing just a few fans singing along, it appeared that only a handful of people present were familiar with their music (coincidentally, some of these were friends of mine who I didn’t know were fans). Nonetheless, the sparse crowd was certainly won over by Pale Young Gentlemen’s blend of folksy storytelling, subtle orchestration, and charming, whimsical, and sometimes emotional performance.
Singer and songwriter Mike Reisenauer (who is shockingly tall) writes from another era, with each piece feeling like a fairytale or a soundtrack to a leisurely walk through an enchanted forest. Though their recent release, Black Forest, has some spirited, body-moving pieces, what shines are their dreamy, contemplative musings. The most concise way I can describe the band is Andrew Bird less ambition and whistling. And I mean that in the most complimentary way. Don’t miss these guys. Their tiny Madison, Wisconsin based label Science of Sound is also worth checking out, as they’ve handpicked a diverse group of interesting and talented artists.
It’s been ages since I’ve been impressed by a local band, so I was pleasantly surprised by opener Hands & Knees. I’m definitely going to check these guys out again, so expect a review some time in the future. They have a sort of 60’s lo-fi garage rock sound to them-like the recently popular the Dutchess and the Duke, but far more compelling.
M.G. Lederman, who in the past has performed as part of Thalia Zedek and Victory at Sea performed an opening set of introspective, passionate piano pieces. Providing the most endearing moment of the night, during one of his solo performances, two thuggish looking guys standing against the back wall belted out the emotional chorus along with him. They then jumped on stage, which I first assumed was a hostile takeover, until I realized they were the fiddle player and drummer. It was a little surprising, but very sweet.
