Wound up at the Mon Khmer, Winter Gloves, Naked Hearts and Brass Cups show at Glasslands last night. I’d never heard of any of the bands, but PopGun Booking invited us so I thought, “Why the fuck not?”

BRASS CUPS

[All photos and quotes courtesy of Aileen Awesome.]

Arrived halfway through the first set, which was a shame because Brass Cups, a poppy indie rock quartet, were actually pretty good. The vocalist was a little monotonous, but in a good way, like the guy from Interpol. He was also playing a synth, but it was almost inaudible. The guitarist switched between simple, catchy riffs to these almost psychedelic solos. The two portions of rhythm section were contrasts: the energetic drummer was upfront and really driving the band, but the bassist seemed hesitant. I couldn’t find out much about them myself so I have to rely to what my man from PopGun and Nick from Islands (who randomly happened to be there) told me: the guitarist used to be in the band AIDS Wolf; the drummer was in Islands ’til Nick fired him (he’s thinking about taking him back); the guys don’t have a MySpace or a website; it was their first show; they’ve yet to record a song. With such a long To-do list, these guys barely seem to have established themselves as a band, but they’re certainly on the right track.

NAKED HEARTS

A brother-sister looking duo, Naked Hearts make soft, twangy alternative rock. Amy, the guitarist/lead vocalist, alternated between three or four chord progressions and arpeggios, keeping things suspiciously straightforward. Her solos comprised of passionately hammering a few chords and I got the feeling she was using that intensity to compensate for a lack of technical expertise. Her voice was pleasant, but lacked range. Can’t complain too much, though; a cute, sweaty girl jumping up and down has its appeal. Noah, the drummer, kept everything appropriately basic while providing back-up vocals that were a bit too nasal and bland. A lot of their songs sounded similar, but I guess it’s difficult to conjure a diversity of sound with only two band members. Overall, Naked Hearts was simple, but enjoyable.

WINTER GLOVES

“That song made me want to have sex with the band.”

The best act of the night, Winter Gloves are a four piece synth-pop band from Quebec who make use of a ton of instruments: five keyboards, two guitars, a drum set, a sampler and a xylophone. All of this adds up to a wall of sound that has advantages and drawbacks. The multi-layered, fuzzy synths, samples and quick drumming made for fun, hyperactive, danceable tunes, but a lot also got lost. The xylophone was indistinguishable and although the guitarist was usually rapidly strumming chords, in audible terms he was restricted to high-end melodies. Still, they put on a hell of a show, grabbing instruments off the floor and switching them with one another, dancing uncontrollably, waving a xylophone stick at the crowd like an orchestra conductor. The lead vocalist/keyboardist/guitarist/xylophonist played out the last song stomping down on his synth.

“I almost creamed when I took this photo.”

MON KHMER

Up last, the Brooklyn-based quintet, Mon Khmer, seemed like two bands fused together; one making experimental prog rock; the other belting out cock rock. At their best they sounded in turn like a less catchy Broken Social Scene or a much, much more tame Battles. (During one song Aileen said they reminded her of the Stills.) They managed this through brooding and elaborating on the same melody with real prowess. And speaking of experimental: one of the guys was playing a pedal steel guitar! If only they had stayed on that track. Instead they would switch from this to really generic hard rock riffing accompanied with abominable singing. The lead vocalist tried to channel angst, but ended up sounding uninspired and fake. The howling back-up vocals provided by the bassist/keyboardist were better when they weren’t off key. These guys would do well to shy away from the common place and really let the weird shit fly.

“The drummer noticed I was trying to take his photo so he put his face down. I’m going to get him.”

- Arv
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