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Review Mon Jul 27 2009
Review: Obits, Disappears @ Empty Bottle, 7/25
Just past 2009's midpoint, the frontrunner for most predictable set list is Obits. The New York post-garage rock band with ties to Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes and Edsel began Saturday's Empty Bottle set with the A-sides from two non-album singles followed by their debut LP more or less sequentially. The planned encore consisted of the B-sides and an omission from the LP. Thankfully, live bands aren't judged primarily on the order that they play their music. The hook-laden foursome still delivered the goods behind the strength of Rick Froberg and Sohrab Habibion dueling on guitars. Froberg's wail was somewhat subdued compared to the album, but he still hit the appropriate aggression in the latter half of the set, especially for "Lilies on the Street"'s desperate 'Why would you send me out? / When will you ever send for me?' chorus and "Back and Forth"'s almost creepy 'You say nobody knows anybody else / Well, that's not true... cause I know you.'
However, the night's highlight was local quartet Disappears. A week after playing the Pitchfork Music Festival, the band sounded tight as a drum during their jaw-dropper of a set. With the reverb heavy and distortion buzzing over Jonathan Van Herik's melodic guitaring, Disappears enraptured the audience with their layered approaches. Especially awesome was the self-described glam-rock stomper "Gone Completely" which wore out shoe soles due to its pounding rhythm. Now, I should mention that this show was my reprieve from moving all weekend and my lower back was causing all sorts of agony... until this set. Maybe it was the low end rumble, but I'd like to think that their music just had such a positive effect that it made me totally forget about the pain. And it didn't hurt much either that it was so pleasant to the ears.
m / July 31, 2009 1:53 PM
You just had to rub it in that we missed Disappears, huh?! Damn, I knew we should have gotten off the couch for this.