Antenna Shoes preview

Antenna Shoes
Hideout, Chicago
Thursday, April 24, 2008

Antenna Shoes, the solo project of Memphis man-about-town Tim Regan, crackles with a dark pop sensibility, which can be slightly hard to swallow (“M.I.A.”) or can go down as easy as Mary Poppins’ spoonful of sugar (“T New”). That Regan delves into a murky, not-suitable-for-primetime corner of indie rock really isn’t that surprising considering he has previously moonlighted as a pianist for Sparklehorse – the ultimate gauge for morbid sincerity.

On the project’s first full-length, Generous Gambler (Shangri-La Projects), Regan, along with an assortment of comrades – including Nashon Benford (trumpet) and Brandon Robertson (bass) from his other band, Snowglobe – bounces from pulsating, jangling road-trip soundtrack fodder (“Open Arms”) to purely instrumental add-ons like the tropicalia ditty tacked on to the fuzzed-out “Nonsense.” Running longer than the actual song itself, the twee gem feels at home on “Dancing With The Stars.”

On “Je Te Dis Oualis” Regan turns over the vocal duties to the song’s co-writer Elodie Lafont resulting in a keyboard-driven ass-shaker drowning in Blondie attitude. The title track finds Regan treading the same waters as Oasis, that is, until a moody trumpet coda buoys the affair, while the album’s closer, “All You Left Behind,” fittingly erupts into a cacophonic storm.

Judson Claiborne and Jim Cote III also perform.

— Janine Schaults

Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly