I was so excited to see Crystal Antlers. First, I went to Emo's and noticed the very young crowd around me. I decided to look at the opener list and thought, “Loney Dear? That doesn't go so well with dark noise rock.” THEN I realized I'd read my pocket guide too quickly and ended up at the wrong Crystals show. I wanted Crystal Antlers, not Crystal Stilts. Luckily, this is not CMJ, so I didn't have to take a half-hour subway ride and simply walked up the street to Flamingo Cantina. Oops.
- {Mi Ami}
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As you know, many mourned the demise of Touch & Go's distribution arm, which served great indie labels like Kill Rock Stars, Merge, and Suicide Squeeze. However, the label itself is still alive and well, as evidenced by the rock-solid wall of brilliantly chaotic music I heard last night. I arrived in time for Mi Ami, a punk/noise trio from San Francisco made up of two-thirds of Dischord's Black Eyes (Daniel Martin-McCormick on vocals and guitar, and Jacob Long on bass). Their real secret, however, lies within drummer Damon Palermo, who, along with Long, brings structure to the psychedelic primal whirlwind created by Martin-McCormick's high-pitched, delightfully crazed wailing and gorgeously fractured guitar arias. Martin-McCormick positively sashayed across the stage in bare feet, and the overall result was deliciously hypnotic.
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- {Sholi}
Sholi continue the trend of ridiculously talented drummers, playing in towards each other rather than to the audience for the majority of their set. “I hope you guys still have some small amount of room left in your brains for music this week,” says singer/guitarist Payam Bavafa. Somehow, though, Sholi's pleasant harmonies and pretty guitar lines seem a little too easy and predictable after witnessing a steamroller like Mi Ami, though it seems like drummer Jonathon Bafus is trying to derail this train in the best way possible. Finishing up with a ’70s cover of a band whose name I can't make out, Bavafa's gentle croon fits the song's mood perfectly, punctuated by vibraphone. This set calmed me down too much, so I eagerly await the next.
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- {All The Saints}
Holy shit, I got what I asked for. All The Saints turn out the lights and turn on a fluorescent floor lamp, illuminating drummer Jim Crook's kit. Almost immediately, I'm lulled into a trance by a dark, repetitive bass line and ghostly, otherworldly vocals howling over impossibly complex guitars. I want to wrap myself in a blanket and listen to this band at a deafening volume. Singer/guitarist Matt Lambert quips, “We were manufactured by Touch & Go. We were once called King Khan & the Shrines, but I was too self-conscious to wear a _____.” I couldn't make out that last word, but you can probably guess what he was getting at, given Khan's getups. My head is absolutely swimming with sonic overload at the conclusion of their set, and I sit motionless as the room begins to fill up for the Crystal Antlers.
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- {Crystal Antlers}
Crystal Antlers drummer Kevin Stuart does calisthenics before their set, which proves to be completely necessary when the band launches into its ’60s-inspired whirling dervish of creepy, sweeping insanity. “Can we get some more Silly String in the monitors?” is a response to the crowd, who lose their shit and, yes, spray Silly String on the ceiling, the band, the monitors, themselves, etc. Somehow, though, this band is not doing it for me the way Mi Ami and All the Saints did. I'm in the mood for dark, brooding, and breathless -- and while the Crystal Antlers are certainly working hard, I can't muster the energy to get as excited as the pulsating room. Don't listen to me, though; I'm an old lady who can't handle 1 AM rock shows, and had I consumed a few Red Bulls, I'm sure I would have been right up front pretending to be in a 1960s spy movie with the rest of the kids.