What Final?
Wednesday, June 10
So you’ve had a week to digest our June issue and each tasty morsel that fell in your lap. Unbowed, you rotate your head slowly each direction and drool, “More!”
Before you go making any stone-etched plans, however, remember you might not be going anywhere if Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final extends into overtime. That said, if you absolutely must temper your unease with live music — dumping it on others to endure the nailbiting and dry heaving — there’s probably no better ticket than Damien Jurado. The veteran singer/songwriter has moved past the catharsis of 2008’s Caught In The Trees (Secretly Canadian) to craft the austere Saint Bartlett. Though the critical shorthand has dubbed this Jurado’s Spector-esque movement, it’s not as widescreen as such phrasing supposes. Unlike the classic juxtaposition of downhearted lyrics with Brian Wilson melodies and arrangements, Jurado plays the mope card pretty consistently on Bartlett, sweating with such suburban ennui as not wanting to get out of the car to make small talk while his wife drops something off. (@Schubas with Kay Kay & His Weathered Underground. Click here to download “Cloudy Shoes.”)
There’s no reason you can’t hedge your bets and think “Stanley Cup to undefeated season to dynasty.” If you’re such a dreamer, perhaps Carney suit you. The Interscope-record debutantes come saddled with a lot of the same “next Jeff Buckley” pronouncements that have befuddled scores of previous bands — lucky for them they don’t yield to the undertow. Formed in L.A. by brothers Reeve and Zane Carney, the band toils in a post-Radiohead milieu more frequently associated with Jimmy Gnecco and Ours. Mr. Green Vol. 1 flirts with Beatles kaleidoscopes and burbling electronic bliss, as well as pseudo-Zeppelin blues, but all the textures follow in the dithering wake of Reeve’s vocal meanderings and magnetic presence. (@Double Door opening for Athlete.)
— Steve Forstneger
Category: Featured, Stage Buzz, Weekly
