Live Review
At the Close of Every Day (NL/DK) / Karate (USA)
04/11/03
Nijdrop, Opwijk
At the Close of Every Day (NL/DK)
Dutch-Danish collaboration At the Close of Every
Day (a.k.a. That’s Quite a Mouthful) had the honour to support Bostonian
jazz-rock trio Karate during their European tour. Like Karate, they opt
for a minimal and a no-frills approach, but whereas the head act seems
to get its main inspiration from jazz, ATCOED dabble in an entirely different
genre, namely the one in which artists like Songs: Ohia, Sparklehorse
and American Music Club (the singer of ATCOED's voice sounds very similar
to Eitzel’s, by the way) reside. This resulted generally in slow
and low-key stuff that meanders and is unlikely to set anyone up, brought
by a three-piece, whose members were all sitting down while performing.
A highlight was their cover version of The Church’s “Under
the Milky Way”. Also a song called “The Jesus Heart”
near the end of the set, allegedly on their forthcoming EP, was a winner,
with a sustained climactic moment hinting at GYBE-territory.
Karate (USA)
No grand statements from Karate. The boys did their own
sound-check, and before you realized it, they’d started their set.
Their music isn’t very easy to describe: you might say jazz-rock,
ok, but then what? Definitely influenced by the jazz greats (it also helps
that the members (Geoff Farina – guitar, vocals, Gavin McCarthy
– drums, Jeff Goddard – bass) had a formal music education),
Karate seems to situate itself in a wasteland between modern jazz, alternative
rock and post-rock. With his precise and almost stunningly fluent playing,
Farina unavoidably becomes the center of attention, and rightly so, because
his blending of influences (he sometimes sounds like an unlikely merger
of Bill Frisell, Robert Fripp and D. Boon) and meticulously constructed
guitar parts are often sheer ear candy. Not all their songs reached the
same heights, as a handful of the slower, introspective songs came dangerously
close to directionless noodling, probably also because the band doesn’t
rely on overtly poppy hooks, but the moments were it did work, usually
the more “up-tempo” songs, such as “Original Spies,”
opener of their latest album Some Boots (2002), had great interplay. Goddard
proves that “cerebral” acts can funk as well, and McCarthy
comies up with one inventive drum pattern after the other. The concert
highlight was a delightful version of “Ice or Ground?”, but
hey, isn’t it always cool when a band plays a great version of your
favorite song of theirs? Anyway, the band didn’t blow me off my
socks, but they once again confirmed to me that they are some of rock’s
most off-kilter outlaws. Finally, one advice: do not check out
these guys if you’re a starting musician, or you’ll be in
for a discouraging evening.
|
