The Takeover UK Played Hotel Utah - Pictures, Review

There's a difficult contradiction that's emerged in rock and roll. While there's an undeniable quest for authenticity and legitimacy as musicians, there's also a bizarre skepticism turned towards bands that wear their hearts too much on their sleeves. It's as though one should be legitimate, but not care about being legitimate. It manifests in many ways, from Pavement's slacker-rock aesthetic, to Radiohead's Thom Yorke lamenting the trappings of celebrity. Here at HAD we tend to think of ourselves as skeptics in this regard. Sure, a band with some legitimacy doesn't want to sell its songs for deodorant commercials, but at the same time, there's nothing wrong with being successful. What's more, there's nothing wrong with wanting to be successful and trying hard.

And yet, as we entered The Takeover UK's show at the Hotel Utah last week, we found ourselves inadvertently siding with Yorke and Malkmus. As the band blasted out a killer set based around their record Running With The Wasters, our mental checklist was subtracting points just because the band was so tight. The songs were perfectly constructed, the vocal harmonies dead on, and the guitar tones immaculate. What's more, the members were painfully earnest in their delivery. The show was a bulletproof delivery of completely legit rock and roll. And we were skeptical.

Huh?

It was after this mental wrestling match that we realized that we had descended far too deep into the indie rock abyss, and had perhaps taken our high horse of musical legitimacy a little too far. We felt like a Bowie fan in 1977, looking down our nose at the glam rock world of Marc Bolan. But here's the thing: despite the fact that Bowie had moved on musically, he certainly didn't forget Bolan, much less scoff at his earnest rock sensibility. It was then that we realized that being exposed to more music, more complicated music, doesn't obviate that which came before. It just allows you to appreciate it that much more. Because, in many ways, successfully delivering a completely earnest rock record is the most difficult thing a band can undertake.

By now, if you're even somewhat sober, you realize where we're going with this. The Takeover UK are successfully delivering a rock and roll record, and one of the best unabashed rock performances we've seen in a long time. We already sang the praises of their debut album, and its vibe is only further solidified by the band's live show. Granted, it helps to know what you're in for: four dudes who are totally on top of their craft, delivering a set that is so well bound together that you find yourself doubting if it's real.

But it is in fact very real. These four guys have clearly worked long and hard to create a set and an experience that represents their very earnest desire to play rock and roll. What's more, they present their work unabashedly, with soul, and their hearts very much on their sleeves. Sure, you could be a skeptic and wonder why they care so much about being great. But the reality is that the rock music landscape is wrought with bands that are incredibly busy not caring. To see one band who so clearly wants to deliver, well, it's great.

More pictures at the HAD Archive

An Horse And Wintersleep Played The Hotel Utah - Review, Pictures

It's extremely awesome when you catch a band that you've never seen live, and they truly deliver. What's even better is when you get there early enough for the opener, and they not only deliver, but do so with enough uniqueness and poise that you end up walking away feeling like you caught a double bill. At the Hotel Utah, that's exactly what happened: not only did we get to catch An Horse's incendiary live set, but we got to see Wintersleep deliver an awesome set of noisy rock as well.

Wintersleep took to the stage, and we'll be honest with you: we were feeling slightly shallow, and highly skeptical. The band's appearance seemed to scream default-indie-rock, and we were mentally preparing for something of a middling, mediocre set. Thankfully, what we got was completely the opposite. Lesson learned: book, cover, do not judge.

The band delivered a set that was a fantastic blend of uber-tight instrumentation and noisy dischord. At first we weren't convinced that the vocals were our style. Yet as the set progressed, the tunes were just so solid and the delivery so adept that we were completely won over. The band's style (we hate saying this for another Canadian band, but it's true) had strong echoes of Broken Social Scene for us, but with a bit more straight ahead rock and roll vibe. Still, comparisons are seldom conclusive. Let us just say that Wintersleep is definitely worth your time and attention.

An Horse followed soon after, and we have to say that it was everything we expected and more. The same ice cold energy that came across in the Letterman performance was equally, if not more, apparent in the band's delivery. Kate Cooper's vocals simply take on a more poignant tone in the live environment, and the effect is one that resonates with the listener long after. In short, this is a band who represent so well live that it transforms the way one listens to the records. They're the sort of band who exemplify just why we go to see live music.

On top of really delivering in a live setting, the band is also remarkable technically. At times it was tough to believe that all this noise was coming from only the two people on stage. Cooper successfully used an array of pedals to beef up her guitar sound to seem far more populous than the one guitar that was actually in attendance. Similarly, drummer Damon Cox managed to lay down a drum track that was remarkably polyrhythmic for such straight ahead rock and roll. On top of all the instrumental talent, the band also managed some awesome harmonized vocals throughout the set. To be frank, we were pretty stunned at the level to which it all came together.

If you haven't gotten the idea yet, we're really digging An Horse. A lot of it has to do with an almost unquantifiable feel that we get from their live show. The thing is, with music that feel is definitely enough to go on. We could (and did, it seems) list the things that make An Horse great on paper, but the reality is that they deliver a spark that we can't really define. All we can do is strongly recommend you check it out for yourself.

More pictures at the HAD Archive

The Takeover UK: New Album, Hotel Utah Tonight

Okay, we'll admit it. We're suckers for catchy guitar rock. The bottom line is that if you combine sweet riffs, snarky lyrics about love, and a solid dose of garage influence, it's pretty tough to go wrong. The thing is, it seems that it's inordinately difficult to get the right balance to make it work. There are lots of bands out there that are taking the pieces, putting them together, and yet it somehow doesn't add up. We're pleased to report that for The Takeover UK, it's adding up just about perfectly.

The Pittsburgh band just released their new record Running With The Wasters last week on Rykodisc records, and it's been in heavy rotation here at HAD all week. The record is just about as close as you can get to guitar pop perfection. Each song is full of painfully catchy riffs and choruses, and the album flows so continuously that it blows by before you know it. Even more impressive is that despite the catchy accessiblity and fast play time, the record begs for you to listen again as soon as it's finished. It's that good.

Now, it is worth saying that this record isn't exactly breaking any creative boundries. It's definitely a work of straight shooting rock and roll, and it wears its influences firmly on its sleeve. Between the handclaps, singalong choruses, and crunchy guitars its clearly the product of a band that is well schooled on the wonders of garage rock from both sides of the Atlantic. At various times the band recalls rock bands from the Stones to the Libertines, and everything in between. That being said, they manage to use these influences to their advantage to create a record that sounds immediately familiar, but also carves out its own distinct persona and sound.

We got hooked on this record listening to a free album stream at Spinner, and immediately went to go pick it up. Needless to say, we're pretty stoked for this band, and it's definitely our latest fave. Given that, we were psyched that the band is touring this spring in support of the record (along with Gliss), and that they'll be at Hotel Utah tonight! In all honesty, it's worth getting there for both bands. We've been digging the Gliss record, Devotion Implosion, as well. Although their heavy shoegazing vibe didn't rope us in quite as much, they've got a solid sound and it'll be interesting to hear how it plays out live.

mp3: The Takeover UK - Distant Shores
mp3: Gliss - Beauty

The Takeover UK / Gliss Spring Dates 2009
3/31/09 San Francisco CA Hotel Utah
4/02/09 Portland OR East End
4/04/09 Eugene OR Sam Bond's Garage
4/05/09 Seattle WA El Corazon
4/06/09 Spokane WA BLVD
4/07/09 Boise ID Bouquet
4/08/09 Denver CO Soiled Dove
4/09/09 Davenport IA Redstone Room
4/10/09 Lincoln NE Box Awesome
4/11/09 Chicago IL Beat Kitchen (early show)
4/13/09 Lawrence KS The Jackpot
4/14/09 St. Louis MO The Firebird
4/17/09 Pittsburgh PA Brillo Box
4/18/09 Nashville TN The French Quarter Cafe
4/20/09 Atlanta GA Drunken Unicorn
4/25/09 Hiram OH Hiram College *Takeover UK only
4/28/09 Chapel Hill NC Local 506
4/30/09 Richmond VA The Camel
5/1/09 Thomas WV The Purple Fiddle
5/4/09 NY NY Mercury Lounge
5/5/09 Philadelphia PA The Khyber
5/6/09 Brooklyn NY Union Hall
5/8/08 Hartford CT The Warehouse

Girls Played Hotel Utah

On the Saturday after the 4th of July, San Francisco band Girls played a release show for their new seven inch "Lust For Life". They were backed by LA band Soft Boiled Eggies, and played the show to a packed house of eager listeners and (unfortunately) apparent "groupies" from a hastily constructed "scene".

Soft Boiled Eggies opened the show with a decent dose of droney synth pop. While it didn't do anything to grab us, it didn't do anything to offend our ears either. The video backdrops did a good job at setting the stage vibe, and the band was on top of things technically.

Girls followed up with the headlining set for the launch of their seven inch. Figuring out what that means to us is still difficult even now, a week later. Let's start out with the good: The band played a tight set to an adoring crowd. The instrumentation was great, frontman Christopher Owens' voice was in good shape, and despite the addition of new band members everything seemed to fall into place. We stand behind Girls as one of our local picks: mark our words, these guys are going somewhere.

Now, here's the other side of the coin: the band appears to have signed on to be a part of some sort of manufactured "scene". "Their guy" took over from the Utah sound guy (always a bad sign), there were scores of pushy girls up front, and moreover despite it being a release show, no one seemed to be able to sell us a slab of vinyl. Now, we know bands just starting out need to be given there fair share of leeway, but come on guys - get it together....please?

Girls' next San Francisco show is at Cafe Du Nord on August 27th.

More pics over at the H.A.D. Archive.

Girls MP3 Available

Photo from the H.A.D. Archive

Some of you may remember that we were fawning over Girls when we saw them open for Port O'Brien last month. You may also remember that they're playing a gig at Hotel Utah on July 5th, and that there weren't really any mp3's available for the taking. Well, now the band has decided to post one, and we're loving it. We really recommend you come to the July 5th show, but if you have your doubts, give this a listen.

mp3: Girls - Lust For Life (click through to download)

Local Music: The Blank Tapes

We here at H.A.D. have been digging The Blank Tapes ever since their 2005 release Landfair. The band is the brainchild of local musician Matt Adams (who also does the album art!) and a rotating cast of guest musicians. Their records offer up an awesome blend of 60's rock sounds, low-fi prowess, and pop charm. A new release last year, Daydreams, slipped under our radar, but we managed to discover it last week.

While we were enjoying the free mp3's the band has on their website, we were psyched to see that they're playing two dates in March. The first is next Monday, the 10th, at Cafe Du Nord. The second is on Sunday March 23rd at the Hotel Utah. We recommend you check them out - you won't regret it.

mp3: The Blank Tapes - Oh My Child