The Pains of Being Pure at Heart & Twin Shadow @ Triple Rock Social Club 4/25/11 (Concert Review)

Last night, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Twin Shadow both made their Minneapolis debut, rewarding a sold-out Triple Rock crowd for their patience with two equally invigorating sets filled with 80s & 90s nostalgia, without ever sounding dated or forced.

Twin Shadow (aka George Lewis Jr.) kicked off the evening with a commanding 50-minute set focusing solely on 2010's Forget, a successful freshman record that I had found to be good, not great. After last night's set, though, I'm eager to revisit the 11 songs on Forget, as Lewis and his 3 backing touring members gave refreshing new touches on the entire record. "Slow" and "When We're Dancing" were executed perfectly, adding some spastic hi-hat to already danceable tunes. "Castles in the Snow" was the set's highlight, as Lewis & crew seemed to breathe in the positive energy that was being hurled at them from the appreciative crowd.

While the musicianship was first class, so was the banter with the crowd, allowing Lewis' endearing side to shine. Mid-set, someone exclaimed "Do you have shirts for people without chest hair?" After a quick grin, Lewis coyly retorted, "paint it on and become a fucking man." With two songs left in the set, one member of the crowd yelled out what could've been a collective perception of his peers, "why aren't you headlining?" It took a smitten Lewis a full song to answer, giving The Pains of Being Pure at Heart their due as deserved headliners. Twin Shadow launched into their final song, which delivered the only groan of the evening, but a positive one as it was just an indication that the crowd didn't want the set to conclude.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart took the stage after a fairly quick intermission which saw some of the bouncing crowd disperse to make way for the shoegazers in the audience to move to the front of the stage. Kicking off with the title track to their excellent new record Belong, Pains instantly showcased why their young talent has been blessed with so much positive buzz in recent months. Much of the early set selections were from Belong, which somehow didn't manage to exhilarate the crowd as one would have expected (or maybe they were still tired from hopping around during Twin Shadow's set), but they still shone with expert craftsmanship. "The Body" and "Heart In Your Heartbreak" were dominant, while the nice little addition of "Higher than the Stars" was a welcome treat.

Like Twin Shadow's Lewis before him, Pains frontman Kip Berman has the poise of someone twice his age. The way his vocals ease into then ooze out of the microphone is reminiscent of 1/2 the bands you would've seen on Alternative Nation back in the day...maybe that's why I kept on thinking I was in an episode of My So Called Life...or at the Peach Pit After Dark. Berman's boyish charm began displaying itself in the second half of the set, and he began to look a little more comfortable as well, opting to chat with the crowd about, surprisingly, football. "Sorry about your quarterback situation," he said with minimal sarcasm, before discussing the merits of Adrian Peterson during the next song break. As Pains spiked in "Young Adult Friction" and a couple other tracks from their debut self-titled record, the crowd became just as relaxed. Berman blushingly thanked the crowd for their hospitality (while keyboardist Peggy Wang declared  they need to come back to the Triple Rock for Free Bacon Night) before launching into Belong's closer, the crunching "Strange."

While an encore wasn't necessary, Pains came back for a quick two songs and an invitation to the crowd to discuss football & indie-rock with them after the show, conversations in which several crowd members happily partook. 

Beastie Boys Stream Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2

Beastie Boys know exactly how to kick off the week. After a planned leak of their new Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2 (which actually is the track list for Pt. 1, which was delayed...and caused many headaches) at Madison Square Garden this past Saturday via center court boombox, the rap legends have made their entire new album available for  free streaming online. The record will be released May 3, but check it out via SoundCloud below. And fair warning, it's pretty dope.

Hot Sauce Committee Part Two by Beastie Boys

Rock the Garden 2011 Lineup Announced!

After a couple months of guessing, speculating and just joking about possible bands for this year's Rock the Garden, The Current & The Walker Art Center officially announced the lineup this afternoon. As anticipated, the 4 artists bring together a wide variety of sounds, and trigger the unavoidable difference of opinion from local music "critics."

My Morning Jacket will headline the event, definitely bringing "rock" back into its title. While this can't necessarily be considered a coup for the promoters (that would've been reserved for the likes of Arcade Fire or The Strokes), they have tapped a reputable, relevant and intense live band to cap off the festivities. Kudos to the Walker for actually securing a legit headliner for this year's edition. The middle of the day will be taken over by R&B/Blues legend Booker T. Jones and the always stunning and intoxicating vocal prowess of one Neko Case (to which I give another huzzah!). This year's local opener is Pitchfork riches-to-rags rockers Tapes 'N Tapes, definitely the least exciting act of the day, but one that will undoubtedly get the 10,000+ crowd in shape for an overall impressive lineup.

Tickets are on sale now to Walker/MPR members (well, so says The Current...yet again, there's nowhere to enter in your Member ID # on the Walker's page, essentially making the tickets already available to the general public). Get them now, because they won't be available for long.

Quick Hits 4/11/11 (Album Reviews)

Architecture in Helsinki * Moment Bends - Abandoning their quirky, spastic pop shifts for a more cohesive and structured sound, the Aussies still find a way to connect on a fun-loving level, despite the fact that (aside from "That Beep") a lot of what made them so easily lovable is not heard this time around. (B)

Panda Bear * Tomboy - Panda Bears are cute. Panda Bear is boring. I'll take the black & white bamboo-eaters over this laptop drivel any day of the week. (C-)

Cold Cave * Cherish The Light Years - It's as if Placebo and Deadsy [for some reason] hooked up, spawned a son that listened to way too much Bauhaus and forced his friends at knifepoint to be in a band. They should prove to be a worthy opener for The Kills next month at First Avenue. (B)

Thursday * No Devolución - The band that once defined the screamo genre now seems tired & uninspired, and way too hung up on synths. It's been a slow decline since 2001's Full Collapse...but now, they may have finally hit rock bottom. (D+)

The Joy Formidable @ 7th Street Entry 4/6/11 (Concert Review)

Every so often, a band comes along that makes you say, "damn, I fricking love music." When that same band also makes you say, "damn, I love live music," you know you're onto something. Wednesday night at the apparently sold out 7th Street Entry (I guess the tickets sold at the door pushed it to capacity), The Joy Formidable were that band. For me. For my friends. For every single audience member that was conscientious enough to be there.  I say 'conscientious,' because this was The Joy Formidable's first time in Minnesota, and the large majority of people in attendance were there by word-of-mouth, either by witnessing one of their webcasts from SXSW, or strictly sight-unseen thanks to tremendous written buzz. There was a certain energy churning throughout the Entry before either opener took the stage. We all were waiting for this, and expected to be impressed.

The Lonely Forest kicked off the night with a surprisingly provocative set. The young Washingtonians ripped through a handful of songs over the course of 25 boisterous minutes. For those that showed up early (about 1/3 of the overall crowd), The Lonely Forest played their hearts out, spinning poppy hooks with angst-filled breakdowns. For those looking for a loud evening, The Lonely Forest started it off justly. They'll be back in town opening for Death Cab for Cutie at First Avenue on 5/21. If you've got tickets to this show, get there early and be equally impressed.

Mona was next, and awfully forgettable. The Nashville foursome had matching haircuts and equally consistent attitudes. They seemed like they had a ton more fun watching The Lonely Forest's set than they did playing their own. I was uninterested in their generic Nashville-rock sound, even before the lead singer/guitarist spit his fourth loogie into the Entry's overhangs.

After what seemed like a 16 hour set break (it was actually just a little over 40 minutes), The Joy Formidable took the stage to a buzzing and breezing crowd, half of which were on their tiptoes, trying to get a glimpse of the tiny but commanding Ritzy Bryan. Throughout the next 45 minutes, our senses were blown. Any idea I had of how to play rock music seemed to not matter. The trio played with unbridled passion and the kind of verve you'd expect from a band headlining Glastonbury, not playing to a crowd of 250 sweaty Minnesotans, touring in support of their first full length record (The Big Roar). Opening with a non-album track, the three-piece immediately grabbed the small club's attention. It wasn't until they followed with "The Magnifying Glass" and "Austere" that the crowd got truly frenzied. There was a kind of lovable tension in the room....like we were all going to burst with excitement, but were doing our best to contain ourselves since we couldn't take our eyes off the stage.

Speaking of eyes. Jesus. Throughout the set, Ritzy's glare soared over the crowd...and if you ask any guy in the audience, she was starting directly into his respective soul. I'm fairly certain she only bothered to blink between songs. The rest of the time, she was fixated on thrashing her guitar or giving the crowd welcome goosebumps. As the set continued on, "Cradle" became much more epic than it is on disc, and "I Don't Want To See You Like This" saw the crowd shouting the dynamic chorus right back at Ritzy. I felt enthusiastic about the band's connection with the crowd, and it was clear that everyone in the room was on the same page.

Then it was time for "Whirring," their recent single that's been getting a fair amount of airplay on The Current as of late. It's an approachable alt-rock jewel that turns into a monstrous 7-minute jam, and the translation from record to stage was nothing short of remarkable. Ritzy and company lured us into a false sense of security with the accessibility of the first three minutes, then absolutely tore us apart with a barrage of effect-laden guitar & bass, and ferocious drumming that I think had me headbanging at one point. Ritzy flung herself around the stage, her gorgeous platinum hair bouncing with her. Not a single member of the audience knew what to do. We just stared, seemingly mouthing a collective "HOLY SHIT." As the grandiose guitar crunched to a close, the band left the stage, with absolutely no intent of coming back out for an encore. Although we all stood there, staring...we didn't want them to come back out either.

The Joy Formidable put on a near-perfect show, one of the best I've seen in recent memory. I want to see them again. Now.