This past Friday, the Mercury Lounge hosted a packed night of impressively diverse sounds.
First up was Autodrone, a 4-piece that I quickly noticed was missing a bassist. Soon after though, I switched my attention to Katherine Kennedy, as she swooned over her microphone, reaching deep into her gut to pull out the vocals. As she sang, she raised her arm and her hand shadowed her darkly eyelined eyes as she mussed jumbled hair that fell long over her face. Her voice was bold, reminiscent of Patti Smith. The music, as their moniker would suggest, droned out of a long ringing keyboard as the electric guitar swirled amidst Kennedy’s projecting voice. Kennedy consistently curved her body downwards and sang to the stage floor.
The second-to-last song they played attracted me the most, chock full of catchy riffs. It had a beat you could dance to, unlike their others that had induced more of a sway. It was catchy, but decorated with tweaking keyboards. They ended the set with a new song, “Lay of the Land,” which gave the audience a little preview of what to expect from the band’s forthcoming release.
When Gregory and the Hawk pulled her chair up the microphone more people shuffled into the venue. Contrary to the name, Gregory and the Hawk is neither a Gregory nor a hawk—just the kind of name devised to mess with us media-types. It is, however, Meredith Godrea, a singer/songwriter who finger-picks lullabies that sound like the ocean on a starry night in the summer. This evening, she plucked her guitar as she sat in a chair, romancing her microphone with her soft, child-like voice. Her melodies floated delicately throughout the venue and the lyricism was dripping with saccharine.
Love is a good catalyst for creativity, and Godrea’s songs were packed with emotion. She twisted in her seat and stretched her fingers to hit the chords, occasionally pulling the back legs of her chair off the floor as she leaned closer to the microphone. Eventually, a few people sat down right next to the stage and Godrea introduced her band-mate, Mike. She played the rest of the set with an added layer of acoustic guitar, infusing some texture into minimalist compositions.
Switching the mood in the venue drastically once again, Takka Takka took the stage next, jolting the crowd with spiraling guitars and booming drums. As if one would not supply enough tweaked-out guitar riffs, there were two electric guitars, and sometimes three as Gabe Levine switched from moog to guitar, never missing a lyric in the process. Levine would close his eyes and extend his hand, as if exhorting the crowd to really drink in the shifting rhythms.
“Fever,” with its jumpy chorus, heated up the venue nicely, with rumbling drums, chiming and crashing cymbals, and crisp guitar. Regularly changing both tempo and mood, the band focused on cuts from Migration, full of faraway sounds and pulses.
Ever the multi-tasker, Levine added hints of xylophone and tambourine as the band twisted guitar lines between kick-drum beats. Always retaining a danceable quality, the set was full of instrumental interludes, thunderous drums, escalating electric guitars, and touches of dreamy moog. Simultaneously airy and catchy, you could easily dance one minute and zone out the next.
The Swirlies finally took the stage, and by that time the small venue was completely packed. The set began with a heady guitar riff that led into loud drums, laced with electric guitar. As the beat slowed, vocals entered from stage left, everything drenched in heavy reverb. Loud and brash, the set didn’t vary much, but it did provide a good dose of shoegaze nostalgia.
All in all, it was an unexpectedly interesting combination of bands to hear all in one night. From the soft musings of Meredith Godrea to the keyboard reverb of Autodrone, and finishing up with the energetic art-rock of Takka Takka and the poppy shoegaze of The Swirlies, the show was anything but boring.
Since you probably didn't forswear music purchasing for lent . . . why not purchase The Swirlies' They Spent Their Wild Youthful Days In the Glittering World of the Salons!
Or, if Takka Takka might suit your fancy, why not buy Migration or We Feel Safer At Night?
