By: Pat O'Brien
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Stereolab - Photo from their website
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The Espers started things off with more of a shiver than a bang, but they were wholly new, even if comprised of traceable and evident influences. They were what Mogwai would sound like they were informed by Bread and Jefferson Airplane instead of My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth. Their songs took a long time to get where they were going, their lyrics were nearly nonexistent, but in the end the result was rewarding. Cellist Margie Wienk was at center stage, and the entire band was up front. I expected Wienk to begin singing, and was surprised when guitarist, Greg Weeks (a doppelganger for Joey Ramone if there ever was one) started in on the vocals instead. I was also pleasantly surprised by the music; the psychedelic lighting should have been a clue, but I was expecting a Belle & Sebastian-type pop sound and got neo-acid folk instead.
Too often, preconceived notions are met in an underwhelming way by opening bands, as headliners often choose bands that sound like them - which is to be expected, of course - but that often leaves the crowd thinking the opener is just a watered down version of the headliner and pining for the set to be over. Not so with The Espers, who may have more surprises for us in the years to come.
You don't listen to Stereolab as much as you take a nice, warm bath in the music. Their loopy, 60's-pop inspired, horn-infused music is so fluid and full that it envelops you and is hard to shake off. It still looks a little strange to have Mary Hansen missing from the lineup (she was struck and killed by a bus in London in 2002) but Laetitia Sadier, Tim Gane and the rest of the group soldiered on after her untimely death, with mixed results at first. Last time through town (supporting 2004's Margerine Eclipse) it seemed the band was mid-collapse: the sound was muddy, the set proved aimless, the band seemed unfocused, and the crowd got bored.
By contrast, Friday night proved that Stereolab is going to be alright. Mary Hansen's vocals have been replaced by Joe Walters' French horn - fitting as the French horn is the saddest sounding instrument. Laetitia Sadier looked, as always, like that aloof high school friend of your older sister's who wore vintage dresses and couldn't be bothered with junior high kids who couldn't even match socks. Sadier always stands in stark contrast to the rest of the band (save for the nattily-dressed Walters) who look like Soho London hipsters with ironic t-shirts and horn-rimmed glasses. Their lyrics, sung mostly in French these days, are secondary to everything else and that's just fine, though that makes them possibly the least karaoke-friendly band in the world. Their songs have always been variations on a theme: futuristic, keyboard-filled bossa nova. The release of this year's Fab Four Suture, a collection of four limited-edition EPs that have been released over the last 18 months, finds them in the same general neighborhood as Margerine Eclipse and 2001's Sound-Dust. They just have a better view. They held the crowd in rapt attention this time, and you could almost hear a collective sigh of relief travel through the crowd.
Bands often can never recover from losing a member; afterward, the chemistry just seems off somehow. But many can learn to adapt and push in a new direction. Stereolab has proved that while retro-futurism, by its very definition, will never get old, it can evolve and become something unexpected and new, even while deeply rooted in the past.
Location Info:
First Avenue
Artist Info: Stereolab, The Espers
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