Rough Gem

In my time here in Copenhagen, I have started to appreciate the AWESOME music scene, and plan to delve into it fully. Perhaps after I saw Carpark North with my core class in Arhus (think U2 meets The Police meets Bjork), I was hooked on what the Danes could do, or at least host.  

Last week the Islands came to Copenhagen and played a great two hour set.  Coming into the show, this band set up some serious expectations.  Two members of the band stem from the indie rock band the Unicorns, who play catchy lo-fi music full of cheap keyboards, loud guitars and drum machines.  Also their debut album, Return to the Sea, featured guests from both prominent indie bands Arcade Fire and Wolf Parade.  Needless to say they have something going on.  Anyway the Islands create great pop numbers that are catchy and yet seem to have some substance (although not in the case of their most popular songs, you be the judge).  While the Danish crowd took a half hour or so to get into their set, the band was tight, well rehearsed and obviously they knew what they were doing .  Montreal continues to turn out great music, and this is just another example.  Still, among indie circles, these guys need something distinct to separate their shows from others.  They play and wear the part, but unless they come out with something brilliant or do something to really make a name they will go down as another catchy but doomed neo-psychadelic indie pop band.  Also, they could be nicer to fans.  In trying to pawn off their t shirts, they seemed really uninterested in talking to fans; maybe they just had a bad day.  Still, indie rock is based off of grassroots support and these guys seem itching for more than that.   Give them a listen and check out "Creeper," "The Arm," and "Rough Gem."

http://www.myspace.com/islands

Tonight I had the honor of rocking with Wesleyan alums Amazing Baby.  Straight after graduating these guys moved to Brooklyn to join the burgeoning music scene there, and their 70's phych pop rock has taken root.  These really handsome guys straight out of 1974 really know what they are doing (or at least come off that way), coming off epic and seemingly ready to play arena rock; or maybe they are too high to not think they are rocking out a full stadium.  Somehow they mix psychadelia, folk, prog rock, funk, pop and metal all into one coherent sound without being a terrible cocktail of contradictions.   Playing in the same space as The Islands, there was ample opportunity for comparison.  First off, these guys did not hold back at all from rocking the shit out of the crowd and room like the Islands did. From the first song heads were rocking and the crowd moving.  There was a strange aura surrounding the group as clouds of fog emminated from the stage and the lead singer was already swinging his mic in circles by the cord. By the end of the show the lead guitarist was writhing on the ground with his long hair all over his face reacting to the very chords he played.  The lead singer was also swinging his mic stand like a sword and beating the drummer's cymbal stand with his bare hands, creating as much rock as possible. These guys may seem a little cliche, but truly know how to put on a show and seemed to channel My Morning Jacket, The Clash, and Brian Eno all in one. Highly Recommended! You can download their EP on their website, or listen to "Head Dress," "Supreme Being," and "Pump yr Brakes" on myspace :

http://profile.myspace.com/theamazingbaby

And in the wake of awesome Wes bands (MGMT, Amazing Baby), i really feel like recent grads Boy Crisis rank right up there.  This cool disco-punk band really knows how to sell sex and isn't emarrassed to do so.  In fact, they have even been called a painful cliche of what popular music is today, but the way these guys channel studio 54 style disco-electronica with glamour and punk of the 70's it hurts, and one can't help but love the sex, drugs and dancing they are selling. 

Lyrics like "You can do me like Woodrow Wilson/Carry my Children/Exit the Building...You can do me like Bruce Springsteen/Ask the swim team/Pass the string beans" Are amazingly sexual and comical in only the way Boy Crisis can deliver.  And about their name, Newsweek ran a cover story about falling standards among young men in education a couple years back which was attributed to the way the male brain and the "biologically disrespectful education system" are hardwired.  Check out "Dressed to Digress," "L'homme," and "Seven Years War." And let them "love you like you are the shit, girl."  Album should come out this summer.

http://profile.myspace.com/boycrisis