By: David de Young
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Revolver Modele at the Turf Club - Photo by David de Young (click here for fullthe gallery)
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Revolver Modele celebrated the release of their new CD discothèque crypt at the Turf Club Saturday night, and it was easily one of the most thrilling live shows in town. Revolver Modele continues to wow audiences with the charm and nuance of their theatrical live performances, and without much argument they remain one of the best live acts in the Twin Cities despite the by now predictable program: Mikal will climb, Ehsan will flail, and bassist the Nun will stoically and steadfastly help drummer Jesse Winsell hold down the low notes while an ever more reckless party takes place around them. Saturday night’s show was highlighted by all of the above, plus a special champagne toast near the end of the set that sprayed a few fans in the stage left front row (not that they minded.)
In the early days of this band, accusations flew that Revolver Modele was a Joy Division rip off. I always disagreed with that summation, but newcomers to the band at this point in their career might hear Interpol, elements of The Dead Kennedys in Mikal Arnold’s guitar and The Nun’s bass, and a Bauhaus or even a tad of XTC influence in Ehsan’s vocals.
Someone with their finger on the pulse of the music scene asked me when I said I’d be preparing a review of Revolver Modele’s CD Release show if I thought it was too late for the band, that if they were going to make it (i.e. go national) that it should have happened by now. It’s a good question. It’s been more than two years since their first EP came out and they were the buzziest new band of 2003. They released a second EP in 2004 and played a killer set at Voltage that year. But it wasn’t until this week that their first full length album hits the streets. Coming into the show Saturday night I had not yet heard the disc, but both guitarist Mikal Arnold and vocalist Ehsan Alam both assured me it was great, the best they’d done to date.
Such confidence is reassuring, so if I were you I wouldn’t give up on Revolver Modele just yet. The new
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Ehsan sings to the enthusiastic front row
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disc opens strongly with the tense and exhilarating “les diaboliques” (the song from which the discothèque crypt title comes) and follows up with the equally strong “ah ah ah” and “delirium tremens.” The album drifts for about 3 songs in the middle until recovering again with “the ache” in which Alam sings “your legs are wrapped around my chest / can you feel my heart beat?” Ironically perhaps, it’s not tempo or energy, but rather soul that brings it back around.
2004’s self-titled 5-song EP may have been their tightest piece of work to date, but that’s not to say discothèque crypt new album is a song skipper. There are times, however, when you feel you’re hearing just a really good album by a local band instead of an album that could hold its own on the national market. But does the new material make for a great live show? You bet it does.
Whether Revolver Modele can break nationally now is less a matter of how well they play (they are definitely ready) than how well they can position and market themselves now that their respectable first full length hit the streets. With a video already in rotation on FUEL TV, and possible national distribution for discothèque crypt early next year, a national tour is the inevitable next step and might be just the break this band needs.
Location Info:
The Turf Club
Artist Info: Revolver Modele
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