Concert Review: Silent Years, A Thousand Times Yes @ Lager House
Isn’t it terrible having to acknowledge the end of another perfectly good weekend?
There was a ton of stuff going on in The D and its surrounding areas during the past three nights. I, myself, was pretty much a lazy ass, though I did find myself in attendance at the Lager House Saturday night to take in a set of varied rock.
Although angular rockers Hairshirt had been advertised on the bill, it was still a surprise to see the band actually play, as guitarist/vocalist Amir Husak was apparently quite sick and hadn’t been expected to make the show. As such, Hairshirt’s set was drastically different than what I’d been told to expect, with the band floating through a considerable amount of very atmospheric, moody instrumental material – namely in an effort to save Husak’s voice. The instrumentals were tight (though a bit tedious at points), but the band’s best voice was found when it busted out its usual bit — choppy two-and-a-half minute nuggets of Gang of Four influenced material.
The Silent Years followed up with an impressive set of genre-mashed rock. I wouldn’t go quite so far as to call the band’s sound ‘radio-friendly,’ but The Silent Years is most definitely a very tight, polished live act. The band’s set took subtle hints from artists as varied as Swervedriver, Wilco, and Radiohead, all based around leanings towards soul and modern-day guitar pop. As was the case the last time I checked this band out, the standout track of this was the spacy, almost shoegazing lull of “Important Things,” though the sly groove of “Slept Through the Whole Thing” came off very strongly as well.
A Thousand Times Yes headlined with a set consisting mostly of material from its forthcoming CD, Heart Beats. That fact made for a fairly low-key listening experience, but the material itself came off strong, as the new tracks seem a bit more focused and aggressive than most of the material on the band’s last disc, Michigan. On this particular night, the rythym section was just ‘on’ – all credit to drummer Lull and bassist Sparx for that. The combination of Casper’s string mic’ed acoustic guitar and the rolling bass sound really does make for a lush sound live, even if co-vocalists Sparx and Casper are just as likely to yell as they are to sing over the musical arrangements. The band’s encore performance of “Yes Michigan” was an intense affair, with the pair draining unique vocal harmonies out of the joint lyric, “We are sick and tired of it.” Still, the highlight of the set seemed to be the band’s take on what appears to the the title track to the forthcoming disc, a playful, subtly punk-minded number that carries quite the throb for this normally laid-back band.
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