The Wake

A decade after Spice World, Girl Power is raised from its glittery grave.

Blonde Redhead, a unique three piece from New York City, may have been the big name on the bill April 15th at First Avenue, but the evening’s success was due in larger part to a wisely selected opener in Midnight Movies. Their equally intransient sounds set a relaxed mood which held strong for the duration of the evening. Another common ground was found in female front women. As captivating as Blonde Redhead’s Kazu Makino was Midnight Movies’ Gena Olivier. Either way, I’d score this as one successful evening for woman-kind, and a solid show in general for all in attendance.

Midnight Movies, a two guy, two girl combo from Los Angeles, started out at as trio. After one album, they decided they needed another one. I talked with Olivier after their hour long set. “That was all we could get out of that set up,” she admitted, “This new album (released on April 24th) is the sound we were really looking for.” Starting out with Olivier on the keys and at the mic, their sound would bounce from melancholy electro to more driving, sped up rock. She’s the group’s songwriter and vocalist, and up until a year ago had handled all percussion duties to boot. The group added new drummer Sandra Vu a year ago and are happy with the new arrangement. Despite playing the first six songs front and center, Olivier found herself behind the drums for the set’s later portion. This moved Vu to the center spot where she continued with back up vocals, guitar, and even some bass. Olivier’s transition from the airy, beckoning, disconcerted singer, to a ballistic drummer of precision and power was in itself worth the price of admission. Her cool, refined movements disappeared as she turned into a flailing mess of hair and arms on the skins at each song’s peaking conclusion.

A part of the ever bustling L.A. scene, they’ve shared their journey with a few other bands who’ve flirted with success. “Sandra used to date the drummer from Giant Drag (the Orange County duo who released their full length debut in ‘06). They’ve been close several times but whenever things are picking up, he quits. (Annie Hardy) is great though. She looks and sounds like she’s 12 but has got the mouth of a trucker. We’re really good friends with the Silver Sun Pickups too. We’ve played a lot with them, and they’re starting to take off now.” The group is only on tour with Blonde Redhead for six Midwest dates, but have toured with the likes of Clinic, Broadcast and Alexi Murdoch.

After a long wait, Blonde Redhead took the stage. Makino wore a light blue dress so short it could have easily passed for an oddly fitting t-shirt. Amedeo and Simone Pace, brothers hailing from France, round out the trio behind the drums and on guitar. They supply Makino with the back drop necessary to let her unintelligible, high arching vocals wail above, and then give way to the diverse mix of live and electronic drums and a guitar of several different faces. They adhered to the album versions, though towards the end of most they would give small tastes of variance. I’m not well versed in their live show and catalogue, but the performance as a whole came across as less than inspired. Maybe after some 14 years in the music scene, Blonde Redhead feel they can rest, even if only slightly, on their laurels. Maybe it’s the fact that Makino was trampled by a horse leading to a long hiatus from the band while recovering. Their new album, titled 23, reflects the ensuing emotional darkness sure to accompany any near-death, equestrian endeavor. A large model horse kneeled beside her keyboard, which she played on occasion.

They started with all older material, but six or seven songs in, they offered the title track from the newest effort. “23” saw the drummer switching actively between his live kit and drum pad over skuzzy, steady moving guitar. Makino closed her eyes and for the first time gave it her all. Swaying slightly from side to side, she let her moody vocals, drenched in genuine feelings, wash over the appreciative crowd. The band showed little by way of onstage communication or crowd recognition, but left the packed main room in a frenzy for more. They returned, playing a 20-plus minute encore, mostly older songs. From one female, musical force to another, “It’s been amazing playing with (Blonde Redhead),” Olivier says after the show, “We love these guys.”

Klaxons: England’s newest hype band hits the entry.

Same old story, right? Behind a whirlwind of hype and accolades (recently named NME’s Best New Band), these four blokes from the U.K. released their debut album (Myths of the Near Future) on January 29th and are already off on world tours. They’ve even been assigned to and/or accredited with their own genre of music, New Rave. Having only heard a handful of songs, though I enjoyed them all thoroughly, I was unsure of what to expect. Would they be as good as advertised (alla, Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party, The Libertines, and Kasabian) or were they merely another over-hyped blog band from across the pond (think Kaiser Chiefs or The Darkness).

DJ Sovietpanda, of Too Much Love notoriety, commenced the festivities with his unique brand of well-listened Alternative selections transformed into one long, bumpin’ ass, dance saga. Klaxons took the stage at 10:30. Upon first sight and sound, it was apparent they were less than seasoned on all accounts. Vocal and instrumental capabilities were well limited and their first few songs exposed lack of lyrical quality and song depth. Despite this realization, their high energy performance and complete acceptance of shortcomings culminated in all around great time. They dedicated their biggest hit, “Golden Skans,” to Prince in a clichéd, yet always welcomed gesture of musical thank you to the city of Minneapolis. Dangerously catchy and danceable as all get out, their quick rise to fame became much less confusing. Their drummer’s struggle to keep up with their breakneck pace, added in punk appeal what it cost them in clean sound. A personal highlight was the guitarist’s outfit: tight black jeans and giant wolf adorned long sleeve black t-shirt, of a size too big for its occupant. An outfit I hadn’t seen since my days in grammar school. The band maintained their high energy until the last note was played. A pulse of feedback rang-out as they all dropped their instruments and meandered off stage in all different directions. It was a fitting move from these fairly inept Brits; they left the crowd wanting more by pretending as though they didn’t care. Good times were had by all and the world of music remained unpredictable.