22 Grand Job

The Rakes
Rough Trade East, London

Short in-store tonight for The Rakes, promoting their third album, Klang. The band relocated to Berlin to record, inciting some decent hype by proclaiming the British music scene dead. (Unfairly.) However, the shift did help them return to their old ways and take a step back from the gloom that overcame their sophomore album, Ten New Messages. Klangsounds sharper, witter, and more Rakes-like than the previous release.



The in-store was a fairly quiet affair, less unpleasantly corporate than the HMV ones I've attended, which reflects Rough Trade's status as one of London's indie institutions. It was so low key that I had a chance to browse the shop's eclectic selection of vinyls and ended up snagging the new White Lies single, Farewell to the Fairground. (The b-side is their terrific, tongue-in-cheek, gloom-rock rendition of Kanye West's Love Lockdown. Ten thousand times better than the original.)

The Rakes showed up relatively on time, suits, sweaters, and polos keeping up the vaguely nerdy, buttoned-down aesthetic that characterized their first album's focus on office life. The set, technically tight, was a surprising mix of new and old material, considering most bands play exclusively from the new album they're promoting at in-stores.

Set list:
You're in It
We Danced Together
Retreat
Open Book
That's the Reason
The Woes of the Working Woman
22 Grand Job
Shackleton
Strasburg
The Light from Your Mac
1989
The World Was a Mess But His Hair Was Perfect



The Light from Your Mac is by far my favorite track from Klang, with it's stripped-down verses, it reminds me a lot of The World Was a Mess But His Hair Was Perfect. We Danced Together comes across well live, the slicker sound is less harsh than some of the more angular guitar tracks like Retreat (although that was also a good one). The crowd was most excited (well, there was some nodding, and the one really overenthusiastic guy danced a lot, unfortunately Rough Trade attracts a crowd that is much too cool for dancing, smiling, or moving) for breakout single 22 Grand Job and Retreat, although I was personally happiest that they played The World Was a Mess, which has been my favorite Rakes track since the transcendent version that they played live for a Dior Homme show, which extended the musings on lackluster nightlife to 17 minutes. You're in It was a great opener for the set.

In spite of an acoustically less than ideal setup, The Rakes did well. (Also in spite of the fact that the lead singer didn't blink for the entire set...interesting.) Klang definitely reflects the bleak modernism of Berlin, and is as accurate a portrayal of the city as the band's older albums were of London. The Rakes have always been about boredom, from office jobs to their hometown, but they make it more interesting than anyone else.

Bonus question:

This was on top of their amp and seems to migrate around Rough Trade. Also saw it on an album cover there. Any idea what it is??

Lucid Dreams

Franz Ferdinand
Apollo Hammersmith, London, March 9

Endured the interminable tube journey to Hammersmith tonight for my second round with Franz Ferdinand, touring in support of their first new album since 2005, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand. After a musically solid but disappointingly corporate encounter with them at HMV in January, I was looking forward to seeing the new tracks in their "native environment."

Having snagged a good spot on the Apollo floor (the venue is a large, old theater, with an interestingly tilted standing section from its days as a legitimate theater), we caught the openers, indie blog darlings The Soft Pack. The annoyingly pushy french girls next to us made a remark about their similarity to "Les Libertines." Which was true in terms of coke-induced speed, but not so much in terms of ability to distinguish one song from another. Their short set was upbeat and some of the songs were moderately catchy, but most were too similar (fast paced rhythm guitar, mumbled lyrics) for me to judge whether or not I would actually enjoy an album from them. Still, infinitely better than last week's dreadful Louis XIV experience and brief, so no real complaints.

Franz appeared after a brief interval opened with Dark of the Matinée, which got the crowd moving (they continued to move during the entire sold-out gig; it was great to see such massive enthusiasm for the band after their long hiatus).

Set list (in sort of order, split more in half than as a true encore):
Dark of the Matinée
Twilight Omens
Do You Want To
Turn It On
Bite Hard
Walk Away
Lucid Dreams
Ulysses
Take Me Out
40'
No You Girls
Michael
What She Came For
Outsiders
The Fallen
This Fire

Practically every song got a massive response from the crowd, although the singles and the tracks from their self titled debut were obvious favorites. 40' was one of the best tracks of the night; the sparse guitar intro silenced the crowd entirely, and the band stretched it for a solid minute. Bite Hard has a similarly escalating intro, which I mentioned in my HMV entry. Michael was a surprise favorite, while Twilight Omens seemed to be a bit subduing after the stomping, chanting opener. The Fallen and Walk Away were the best tracks from YCHISMB (which may have failed solely for its abbreviation-demanding name), but the real standouts were Outsiders and What She Came For. Outsiders began with an extended, slinking keyboard solo and ended in an incredible moment that saw all four band members and a fifth person pounding out the conclusion on Paul Thompson's drum kit (short video of this soon). What She Came For concluded with a spectacular guitar duel between Alex Kapranos and Nick McCarthy, one of the classic shots in a Franz gig.

Overall, Franz is innovative on stage and seems to be having a great time. They change up their songs live (much to the frustration of fans attempting to sing along), with Kapranos frequently shifting the cadence of lyrics or shuffling the words entirely. There's a huge amount of obvious musical talent in their performances, and they look fantastic . The best of the show comes from Kapranos, who is undoubtedly the most charismatic frontman I've seen. He makes a great comparison to purposefully awkward Brandon Flowers. Comfortable, sharply dressed, tall and slouchingly thin in a way that pairs perfectly with his louche vocals, he is the center around which the band revolves. (He also, incidentally, appears to have not aged since 1997- a fact the NME even found in pertinent to comment on last month.) However, they seem to have fun on stage together, evidenced in their traditional intros at the end of the gig, and their hands-joined final bow.

Kapranos is also the source of the band's significant literary influences. While the entire band is remarkably literate, judging from their clever and topically diverse blog entries, Kapranos is a sometimes-author (his food book, Soundbites, is a fantastic read), and an obvious lover of literature, including direct references to books as diverse as The Master and Margarita and Ulysses (the title of the lead single from Tonight) in Franz's lyrics. The literary references are more diverse, and so was the crowd who showed up for Franz; I was surrounded a group of friends who had come from France for the gig and a pair of Japanese students, intermingled with the Brits who normally form a much larger percentage of the crowd at the gigs I've been attending. In spite of this, the audience connected strongly with each song; Ulysses was a crowd favorite. Franz, and particularly Kapranos in his stage presence, also embody the hedonistic tendencies of the movement I'm studying. Tracks like The Fallen had the entire crowd singing along; clearly hedonism is connecting with audiences well, perhaps reflecting their own values in modern Britain?

The verdict? One of my favorite gigs in London, and gigs in general. Franz is well worth the trip to Hammersmith.

Dustland Fairytales

The Killers
O2 London, February 23

I had high hopes for this Killers gig, having seen them a couple of years ago during their Sam's Town tour and thoroughly enjoying it. The O2 arena is a significantly bigger venue than where I saw them in America, but we had a decent spot on the floor, once we managed to navigate around a cluster of absurdly tall people.

I was excited when I found out Louis XIV was the support act for the Day & Age tour. Generally opening acts are complete unknowns that you sort of nod along to for forty five minutes without a lot of enthusiasm, so getting to see a second band that I know (and actually like) was an unexpected bonus.

Well, until they started playing.

Louis XIV was actually worse than most of the opening acts I've seen and known nothing about, mostly because I actually had expectations that they would possess at least some level of talent. Honestly, this is a band that has decent name recognition and has managed to release two albums, the first of which I really enjoy. However, their performance was lackluster, their lead singer can't sing (he performs in a kind of oddly aggressive spoken word that manages to be both boring and jarring), and their music, when played live, lacks the louche, sleazy slinking beats that makes it enjoyable. Sometimes I actually couldn't recognize songs that I know (well known single God Killed the Queen was a prime example of this, and I could tell from the blank looks on the rest of the crowd's faces that I wasn't alone). All in all, an unfortunate start to the gig.

Intermission followed, during which the O2 filled to capacity, even the seats in the rafters that were so bad Lanette commented she would pay "About £5" for them.

The Killers appeared much more promptly than when I last saw them (concerts here seem to be quite prompt, with the exception of Pete(r) Doherty. Their set looked amazing, complete with a dramatic light screen, mirrorball piano, Brandon's new keyboard faced with a giant, lightbulb-studded K (I miss the classic eagle claw-disco ball combo), and some rather random palm trees. The feather epaulette jacket that has been ubiquitous in this album's promotions was also present for the first two songs, at which point Brandon tossed it contemptuously aside.

Opener Spaceman was absolutely massive live, and Brandon seems to have opened up a lot to the crowd and performing since his earlier days. Spaceman was followed by Somebody Told Me, which got a predictably huge crowd response, then Smile Like You Mean It.

After revisiting some classics, B. Flow and Co. dipped back into Day & Age for This Is Your Life and Joy Ride (easily the most camp song in the history of The Killers). The new songs sound sharp live, but lack some of the stadium-filling guitar riffs that made Sam's Town a great tour album.

The rest of the set list (not necessarily in order):
Human
Mr. Brightside
Losing Touch
Bling (Confessions of a King)
Sam's Town
Neon Tiger
Shadowplay
For Reasons Unknown
Read My Mind
All These Things That I've Done
(encore)
A Dustland Fairytale
Bones
Jenny Was A Friend of Mine
When You Were Young

Mr. Brightside was an obvious standout, as was Human, which achieved far more success in the UK than in the US (basically the story of The Killers in general.) Neon Tiger was glammed up with a surprise tiger-striped background, and Read My Mind sounded great live, as always. It's really one of their classic tracks, bringing in Springsteen-esque nostalgia and imagery without being as much of a blatant copy as some of Sam's Town is. Shadowplay, first covered by the band for Antion Corbjin's film Control, was a pleasantly murky addition to the set, and inspired the best of Brandon's jerky, awkward dancing. All These Things was fantastic, although I would have preferred to hear it at the real conclusion of the gig instead of When You Were Young, which is a terrific track but not quite as spectacular. Jenny Was A Friend of Mine was a nice encore surprise, especially when juxtaposed with the sweeping romance of Dustland Fairytale. The live changeup to "she kicked and screamed while I held her throat) in the second chorus makes the song much darker, and IMO should have been on the album version.

Overall, really a great gig. The Killers were in top form, and Brandon has really expanded as a showman, even from the last album, although it's a bit disappointing how little he plays keyboard live these days. He spoke to the crowd far more, and seemed glad to be in England, referring to it as the place where they first achieved success. The stage show was a step up from the last tour as well; the light screen was used more creatively than most bands, especially during All These Things.

The verdict? Louis XIV, abysmal. Killers, great as usual. They really are the heirs to stadium rock in the U2/Bruce vein.