Siren Music Festical 2009: The Recap

Andrew, our Senior Youth Correspondent, trekked to Coney Island for the ninth annual Siren Music Festival on Saturday. Here's his report:

Siren Fest
July 18, 2009
Coney Island, NY

I stuck with the Main Stage despite Potsy's grumbling about "indie rock roots" at the Stillwell Stage. Getting up close was not an issue, it just took a little nudging of the almost entirely Wayfarer-ed crowd. Frank Black walked by me on the boardwalk, I foolishly (or wisely) did not chase him down for a photograph. In order of my viewing:

Japandroids


This punk duo from Vancouver, BC put on a show that was high on energy but low on good music. My cousin played me some of their record the night before the show and I liked what I heard. Live the next day, I just couldn't get into many of the songs. Occasionally a song would be captivating but too often Japandroids let it die in an abyss of awkwardly placed feedback or drum soloing. Most of the songs were down-stroked guitar and full force drum numbers with vocals slightly out of key as is often the trend with this genre. The crowd seemed fairly responsive despite the lack of interesting song writing and the two dudes in the band seemed the most into playing their set of any group I saw. I think the large bottle of Jagermeister they passed between themselves throughout their roughly 40 min set at some point stopped being a fun accessory to rockin' and started screwing up their singing, which got pretty dreadful towards the end. Compared to other lo fi punk two pieces like No Age or Wavves, Japandroids just did not make it happen for me. Points for energy and interaction with the crowd though.

Frightened Rabbit


In a reversal of my record/live experience with Japandroids, Frightened Rabbit impressed me. I listened to almost all of their last album on my friend's iPod during the bus ride from DC to NY and was struggling to find a second track that was "kind of O.K." On stage however this band did a great job. Songs that bored the hell out of me on the record came across vital and well planned. The singer was a Ewan McGregor look alike with a pretty strong Scottish accent that only rarely got annoying. Their set drew heavily on The Midnight Organ Fight, the band's full length. The drummer pulled off some pretty impressive stuff, all the while with a demonic look on his face. While this band did not knock me on my ass or anything, they were a pleasure to watch and certainly an improvement from Japandroids (a trend that continues). Check these guys out if you are in the mood for a Braveheart version of Band of Horses.

The Raveonettes


It's funny that I said I didn't care about the Raveonettes in my preview post, because it turns out they are a really good band. Maybe funny isn't the right word...ironic? Bone-headed? Anyways having never listened to them before, it was quite an experience getting my first taste of them in a live setting. The Velvet Underground plus Nico was the first thing that came to mind as they started their reverb soaked set. Like the Velvet Underground, most tunes consisted of three chords with a short solo in the middle. Their drummer, who played all of two drums while standing, had about as much variation in his rhythm as a the dinner menu in Little Miss Sunshine (It's always the fucking chicken). I give them credit for getting so many solid pop songs out of two guitars playing less than five chords, a human metronome, and a lethargic and porn-stached bassist. As far playing the same drum beat and chord progression for most the set goes, I would normally say "that's bad" or something to that effect, but the Raveonettes made it work so for that I shall say "don't mess with what works." Front woman Sharin Foo was quite a looker and I was only slightly peeved when I looked for a ring and saw one. Points for awesome music, minus points for not being single, Sharin.

Built to Spill


Some people were talking about things in the preview post comments. Things like "Don't even bother with Built to Spill" or "Built to Spill is a yawn." To those people I would now like to pause and say "Fuck you, sir/madam, for you are incorrect." Built to Spill killed it! Finally a band whose records I love and whose live performance was just as good. Interaction with the crowd was minimal as was movement of the musicians, but come on, these dudes aren't spring chickens anymore. They kicked off the night with "Liar", the first bars of which got a great response from the crowd. It was nice being around people somewhat close to my age who not only new who the band was but who appeared to love them as much as I did. "Strange" was a pretty big deal when they played it, the guitar solos and shredding got epic, but in a good, indie rock way, not like hair metal or anything. People had been screaming for "Carry the Zero" from the get go, so I was pumped when they played it as their last song; it's one of my personal faves. The only disappointing part of the set were two young women standing near me in the crowd. Instead of saying they were sloppily drunk, I will say the had bubbly personalities. What I really should have said: "Hi there. That's a great little dance you and your friend are doing, and I think you should keep doing it. But do you think you could scratch the step where you guys ram your elbows into my lower back over and over?" Everyone near me cheered when they got pushed into the real mosh pit.

All in all, a worthwhile trip to one of the freakiest beaches in America.

Frightened Rabbit devours Black Cat

Frightened Rabbit w/ Oxford Collapse and Takka Takka
Black Cat (Backstage)
Monday, June 30th - $10

I can finally - honestly - tell Jimbromski that he missed out on an excellent show. Usually, I am the one who misses out. Succumbing to an earache, Jimbromski had to bail out of last evening's performance. Tsk tsk. It was indeed above average. Although my ears were aching for hours post-show, so maybe it's best he stayed home. Through a steady rain, sacklunch and I made our way to the sold out Black Cat and arrived just in time for the start of the Oxford Collapse set. Sorry Takka Takka.

The backstage was sold out, but I'm not so sure about the main stage... Harry and the Potters headlined upstairs. sacklunch and I checked out the Youtube video the Black Cat had posted for the Harry and the Potters, and I can't see why anyone would go upstairs to see those clowns, unless they got duped into thinking Frightened Rabbit was up there. Seriously. I'm anxious to hear how that show was. Well, that's an overstatement, I don't really care how it was upstairs, I imagine it was shitsandwich.

There was a bit of confusion about last night's show as the website had previously listed Oxford Collapse as the headliner, and that's what it says on my ticket (and how we posted it on our "upcoming shows" list). But the website changed course at some point, and Frightened Rabbit clawed their way to the top and that's how it eventually went down. My favorite blonde-haired Black Cat-lady, Lauren, speculated that perhaps they were co-headlining this tour and they switched last minute. I'm sure someone who has more patience for research will look it up somewhere and confirm or deny this theory.

I had no trouble unloading Jimbromski's ticket, though I should have lied and just pocketed the extra $10, but that'd be bad karma. Anyhow, Oxford Collapse was in-progress when we arrived, and it was a packed Back Stage, so I stood behind the pole. It was like being at the old Nightclub 9:30.

Oxford Collapse were good. I don't know a lot about them, other than what I saw at the Pitchfork festival last summer, but for the most part, I dug what they were putting out. Hey, Jumbo Slice, Malitz was standing in front of me for the OC set, and we traded brief reactions at the end. Both positive. I could have used your loquacity, as all I could offer was that their sound was clumsy at times, but in a good way. Malitz liked that they were ugly, at least uglier than many indie rock bands right now. I have to admit, they look like they put on some weight since Pitchfork... I noticed they weren't rocking the jeanshorts this time, though it was just as fucking hot in the BC as it was in Chicago last July. But while they have a clumsy rock sound, they aren't sloppy by accident. I'm not a OC superfan, so I don't know which song this was, but they have one tune in which all three musicians play in complete discord for ~45 seconds, but stop on a dime. So they were tight when it mattered. Right.

Anyway... The Oxford Collapse talked a bit too much. At one point they broke into a story about eating at Ben's Chili Bowl earlier in the day. "Bill Cosby is the only person who eats for free at Ben's. I read it on a sign there." That's what I learned from the Oxford Collapse. Hey Oxford Collapse, while, yes, I admit that I did not know that little factoid, it's still really fucking rude to waltz into someone else's town waving your Cliff Clavin knowledge all around like you own the place. Save that story for your myspace page. Other than that, solid effort from OC.

As for Frightened Rabbit, I tried to know as little as possible about seeing this band as I could. Here are a few short things I jotted down about them last night:

• lots of wailing
  
• guitarist/keyboardist looked like he hadn't slept....ever
• they claimed last night was the best night of their collective lives...

So a couple of questions to Jumbo Slice, who caught these two groups in Austin last week...

1. Who was on top of the bill when you saw them?
   
2. Did they also claim that their gig in Austin was the best night of their lives? (If so, I want to out them for disingenuousness).
   

I wasn't prepared for all the FR superfans that were in attendance. There were a few who were really into it, singing along (sometimes when I'd prefer they didn't - but that's okay), and the tight space, and the enthusiasm of the band made it an exceptionally good backstage show. Had they been upstairs, it would not have been as good.

By the end of the night, I had bought their cd, which I rarely do at these shows. I listened to it when I got home (and as I typed up most of the above). It doesn't really capture what they can do through their live performance. Their live show was inspired and they worked hard. The energy they give out is great. Again the capacity crowd really helped out, but I've never seen intensity like that of drummer Grant Hutchinson. A quote from him in an online interview says it all:

GRANT: People who have seen us several times say it’s almost like the first time we’ve played together, or the first time they’ve seen us. A lot of bands don’t understand it’s their job to makes things exciting. Some people miss that point.

Well said. It's your job man. I paid a whopping $10 and I expect to see you bashing the sticks down like you're Johnny Drama killing VC with the end of his rifle in Platoon.

Oh, I should also mention that Scott Hutchinson claimed that a "Frogman tried to rape me" in the stairwell of the BC. I believe this is the same Frogman from Turkey Balls Fall, WV. He's closing in...