THE MEN W/ PARQUET COURTS
Highbury Garage, March 19th
Tonight two much-lauded bands from that little hype hub called Brooklyn take over The Garage. Evidently we’re not the only ones with their eye out for Parquet Courts. This support slot, part of a whistlestop and action-packed trip to the capital, sees the place rammed by 8.30pm. It’s a bit of a shame, then, that they’re clearly suffering from a SXSW hangover.
The first thing singer/guitarist Andrew Savage tells us is that he’s lost his voice. The band have been whipped up in a sudden flurry of interest, and it appears to have quickly taken its toll. That said, you can immediately hear where comparisons with the likes of The Feelies and The Modern Lovers come from – PC are definitely a good, good band. But tonight they never get near the level that debut album Light Up Gold suggests they’re capable of. They rally during Borrowed Time and Stoned and Starving, but unfortunately seem just a bit too knackered.
Clearly The Men aren’t suffering with such fatigue, or if they are, they’re powering through. While recently released fourth LP New Moon lacks the aggression of earlier offerings, it’s perhaps their most successful to date. Whilst this departure from the speed and energy that brought them to our attention on Immaculada and Leave Home may suggest a gradual mellowing of sorts, there’s somehow more drive to their live show than ever. Instead of entering the stage from the left or right, The Men have developed some new ritual whereby all members except bassist Ben Greenberg and singer/organ player Kevin Faulkner, stand in the gap between the front of the stage and the barrier. Greenberg and Faulkner play some heavy riff and are gradually joined by each of the other members, who build on the noise one by one, until the only Man remaining offstage is drummer Rich Samis. Once he jumps onstage and lays into his kit, the place goes off in line with a pretty perfect start to a rock show.
The heavier songs like Turn it Around and Night Landing are played with the same ferocity we’re used to from The Men – they’re riots. And even some of the more recently penned “pretty” songs like Candy or Half Angel Half Light are attacked tonight. Yet harmonies and skillfully arranged dual guitar parts simultaneously maintain integrity to their recorded forms. In recent years it’s become generally acknowledged that this is a band in possession of a lot of power. But the scale of the party they’ve managed to throw down on this cold Tuesday night in North London is massively to their credit.
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Words: Jack Bolter
Photo: James Coates
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