B Boys - Brooklyn's B Boys began by bringing bright British based beats. There, alliteration aside, this trio engaged in a solid pop-punk style that had a kind of half spoken half sung detached vocal line that reminded me a lot of Howard Devoto and early Wire. I heard quite a bit of Pink Flag (and I really did as the DJ played 'Reuters' right after their set), although I hesitate comparing even a fine young opening band with one of the best albums ever. But B Boys brought... pause... they delivered fine songs that maybe just lacked some of the mystery of that classic British punk/post punk sound from bands like Wire and Magazine. This is solid material and was a fine set that went over well with the trickling in crowd at this incredibly early hour (It wasn't even 7pm when they started).
Parquet Courts - I finally catch the live show of a really hot band that has sold out smaller venues in town and did a pretty good job of filling up this big club for the first of two separate shows tonight (Titus Andronicus, La Sera after 10pm). They start with an arty innocence to their music, but add sonic skronks and blasts that are reminiscent of a more laid back Sonic Youth. Not so much art-punk, but perhaps art-post punk. Their songs varied incredibly but all sounded logical and connected. It was the dynamic shifting that stood out; fast-to-slow, melodic-to-atonal, loud-to-quiet, detached-to-intense. Quite the roller coaster ride, these guys offer. The crowd was enthusiastic with lots of movement up front, proving that intense shows can happen in the early hours. This is an excellent band, although their patter needs a bit of work, because George Carlin they are not--deconstructing their observational analogies was fairly easy. But the music was spot on and that's what we came to see.
Quote of the Night - The PC's were amusing with their thoughts on the double show night... "How many of you are double dipping--anybody sticking around for the Titus Andronicus, La Sera show after this? Yeah, quite a few of you. So they got you to pay twice for the same rock show. Smart guys in the music business..."
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