Having been impressed with Electrelane when they opened for Ted Leo/Pharmacists last year at the Horseshoe Tavern, I decided to check out Electrelane again who were now headlining this time at the same venue. Not previously known to me, Breaker Breaker were up first. (I believe the original opener was suppose to be Scout Niblett.) Breaker Breaker, at least to my ears, mined the same territory as Death From Above 1979, all buzz-saw guitar(in this case, rather than bass guitar) riffing, ferocious drumming, and urgent vocals, but with the added bonus of wicked keyboards. The keyboardist most of the vocal duties but did hand over the duties to the guitarist for a song or two while their female drummer added some of her own "ba ba ba's" now and then. Honestly, I was only mild impressed although as their set progressed the melodies managed to bubble to the surface with greater frequency, making it a bit more enjoyable.Me and several others with the same idea, made our way up to the front near the stage for the girls of Electrelane's set. Of course everyone else quickly followed suit. While I'm not really that familiar with their music, I remember liking them a bit more when they opened for Ted Leo last year at the same venue. As I remember they had a bit more of a drone-y, Stereolab-ish quality than they did for this show. Last year the girls were touring in support of their album "The Power Out" and their current tour is in support of their new CD "Axes". I'll have to listen to both and see if there are any differences(Unfortunately, I decided against picking up a CD from the merch table because CD's were twenty bucks?!) From what I do recall, they started out their set with a energetic keyboard-driven instrumental number, that while enjoyable, was less droney and featured more classically influenced keyboard playing. Several other numbers featured the same sort of keyboard playing. Also, from what I do recall, the melodies seemed more subtle, and the emphasis was more on avante garde-ish/post-rock instrumentation. The keyboardist/lead vocalist picked up the saxophone for one number to contribute an avante gard arrangement while the guitarist at times displayed an affinity for Thurston Moore-like guitar sounds. Thankfully, their majority of the set featured more conventional instrumentation primarily from the drummer and bass guitarist, but also from the keyboardist and guitarist. Being up front did help me enjoy their set more, but I was only left mildly impressed due to the only subtle(rather than overt which I'd preferred) emphasis on melody and drone during their set. I say less on the 'Sonic Youth' and more on the 'Stereolab' next time. Both good influences, but I'd prefer the latter over the former any day. [Photos: mind you, the lighting was quite dark and I chose to use my flash only a few times.]
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That's it for today. It's a sauna outside. Air conditioned homes and malls beckon.
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