11.02.2006

Let's have a flashback moment, shall we? all the way back..... to 2006.

On this day 3 years ago, me and my then-roommate, Angela, went to go see The Wrens and The Walkmen play a show at our then-school. I went cause I was getting really into music and heard that these bands were good, she went because we'd seen a guy dressed in a waffle costume handing out fliers the day before. Good reasons both, as far as I'm concerned.

We were in the front row for an electrifying (if crazed) performance by The Wrens.

As you can see, the frontman played a sawed-off bass and wore a parka. Then he started pulling kids onto the stage.
It turned into a amp-climbing, mic-screaming dance party (though nowhere near as epic as the one Broken Social Scene achieved in the same venue two years later).

We moved away from the craziness for The Walkmen, who were unfortunately less memorable. Though I remember the lead-singer being extremely adorable and tall and there being a crazy-looking, stripped-down piano.

As far as the music goes, I didn't really keep listening to either, but a track or two will make it onto the odd playlist. "Louisiana" and "The Rat," though very different, were Walkmen standouts in my mind. I heard their new album was great, but never got around to listening to it. Wrens standouts were easily "Everyone Choose Sides" and the demo of "Miss Me" which unfortunately became the less-good "Boys You Won't" on the album The Meadowlands.

So in honor of nostalgia, and the day before I met some of my best friends, here's the awesome Battleship themed video for "Everyone Choose Sides":



Be careful with those torpedoes! It's not just a game! It's real, old man!

You too can be a member of Vampire Weekend

... if you agree to wear ugly stoner-wear.

Last night the J. Crew's poster boys visited Jimmy Fallon and gave him "White Sky." And they brought a lot of friends with them.



I think they're trying to join Broken Social Scene and Arcade Fire in the who-can-fit-the-most-musicians-on-a-stage contest.

but about the song....

It's light, it's fun, it's summery. It's everything you'd expect from VW. But boring. I haven't totally given up on the song however. According to Stereogum's commenters, the song is much more upbeat live. Fingers-crossed for the studio version.

But the funniest thing about this video is the performance. Ezra looks totally awkward without his guitar and trying to dance around. And then mr. too-cool-for-school drummer chose to play only two of his drums. I can imagine how the band conversation went....



SCENE:
A post-rehearsal Vampire Weekend is chilling in Jimmy Fallon's green room. Keyboardist/guitarist ROSTAM is periodically picking at his guitar and jotting down notes, presumably writing a song. Drummer CHRISTOPHER is flipping through Harper's. Bassist CHRIS is asleep on the couch. Vocalist/guitarist EZRA enters.

EZRA: I don't feel like playing the guitar tonight.

ROSTAM: Ezra, come on, we've talked about this...

EZRA: No seriously, there's going to be a string section. It'll be fine.

CHRISTOPHER: If he's not playing, I'm not playing.

ROSTAM: What? NO! You have to play.

CHRISTOPHER: But that's what the back-up drummer is for.

ROSTAM: This is for tv! You don't want to be on tv?

CHRISTOPHER: Fine, but i'm only playing 1 drum. And I wanna stand in the front.

EZRA: As long as he doesn't get in my dance space.

CHRISTOPHER: Oh, you lose the guitar and suddenly you're Rick Astley, huh?

EZRA: I will slap those wayfarers right off your face!

CHRISTOPHER: Bring it on, madras boy! Be sure to push up your sleeves first!

ROSTAM: Stop! Just stop! Ezra, I will play the guitar for you, as long as you let Christopher stand up front with the rest of us. And Christopher, you have to play at least 2 drums. ok?

EZRA: Fiiiine.

CHRISTOPHER: I'm leaving the wayfarers on.

ROSTAM: fine.

EZRA: fine!

CHRISTOPHER: FINE!

CHRIS: Would you guys shut up? I'm trying to nap.

CHRISTOPHER: Oh hey Chris. I thought you'd gone to get us that mini-fridge.

CHRIS: uh....

EZRA: yeah, any update on the mini-fridge thing. We could really use one in here.

ROSTAM: Chris, go back to sleep. We'll wake you before we go on.

CHRIS: whatever...

End Scene.



They should really work on that whole inter-band-tension thing. Also, bonus points to anyone who gets the Guitar Hero 2 reference!

Retrospective Thursday: BSS at NYU

September 4th, 2008

A caveat: I am not a Broken Social Scene fan. That isn’t to say I don’t like them, quite the contrary, I just can’t call myself a fan. I couldn’t name you more than a few songs, and I could sing you even fewer. I’m actually more familiar with Kevin Drew’s excellent solo album Spirit If…. That being said, I know who they are and many of my friends are BSS fans. So when I found out that they would be the headliners of my school’s annual mystery concert, I was curious but undecided. An opening set by the French Kicks and the fact that it was free was enough to convince me.

It was, in a word, AWESOME. My beloved French Kicks were preceded by Pattern is Movemen, a dynamic two-piece with energetic beat and wailing vocals, but whose beards and banter upstaged their songs. It was seeing them live that originally made me a fan, so I was thrilled to be seeing the Kicks again. Their set was Swimming heavy, but it pulled from their old releases well. I was disappointed not to hear “So Far We Are” but found a new favorite song in “Carried Away.” Definitely the best use of a maraca I’ve seen all year.

Since I don't listen to a lot of BSS, I was irrationally expecting a mellow set, but was really pleasantly surprised when they rocked. Plus, Kevin Drew is really hot, in a bearded, flannel-wearing, Canadian Eddie Vedder look-alike kind of way. Coming in, I was most curious to see exactly how many of them there would be (as their rotating membership is famous). I told my friend before they came on “If there are less than 10 of them, I’m walking.” I was only partly kidding. At the least there were 6 (after Kevin Drew's mic broke, then his amp broke and he left the stage) and at the most there were 12 (including 5 horn players and Land of Talk’s Lizzie Powell as the only female presence). Actually, I guess there were 13 at the most, if you count when Kevin Drew pulled up a kid from the audience and had the band play a song along with him.

The set was upbeat and dynamic, including songs from the solo albums of Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning (“Fucked Up Kid” and “Hit the Wall”) as well as a Land of Talk cover, for obvious reasons. I couldn’t name you the songs, but no one in the audience looked disappointed. Then again, the freshmen who mainly made up the audience probably wouldn’t have been disappointed by anything. For the closing number Kevin Drew invited everyone to come up on stage and dance. Whether or not he expected it, he got what he wanted. Probably 80 percent of the audience ended up onstage. Julia and I were too far back to join, but the stage was so crowded, it was ridiculous! He kept telling people to stop coming up but they just kept coming. They managed to keep playing despite kids crowding the mics and jumping up on amps, I have no idea how they did it. It was pretty crazy and I'm so glad I went even though it was mostly stupid freshmen.