The Bands of 02/08/12

One night, three bands.

An Horse

An Horse is a two-person indie-rock band from Brisbane, Australia. Kate Cooper sings and plays guitar, while Damon Cox plays drums. They've opened for other major acts: Death Cab for Cutie, Tegan and Sara, and Silversun Pickups, and have an EP entitled Not Really Scared and a LP entitled Rearrange Beds. In 2011, they released the album Walls. Damon plays the drums well, but was set back from the front of the stage and off to the side largely out of my line of vision. Kate actually has quite an endearing stage presence. At one point, she asked us all "how we were doing tonight" because "her mum always has her ask that". (Forgive me for paraphrasing.) At another point, she tells us she has been "dinking"; that is to say "riding about the city on the handlebars of someone else's bicycle", and laughs that she gathers that has different connotations here. I think the word I would use to describe them is "pleasant". They are pleasant on stage, and their music is pleasant. It doesn't particularly stand out to me, but it was certainly easy to listen to, and although I wouldn't go out of my way to seek it out, I would happily listen to it again. 

Here they are playing Know This, We've Noticed off of Walls in Toronto in 2010. 

Cursive

Cursive at the Sound Academy in Toronto on 02/08/2012 

Cursive is from Omaha, Nebraska. Their current lineup consists of Tim Kasher, Matt Maginn, Ted Stevens, and Cully Symington, but the band has gone through some transformations since its formation in 1995. They have released seven albums -- Such Blinding Stars for Starving Eyes; The Storms of Early Summer: Semantics of Song; Domestica; The Ugly Organ; Happy Hollow; Mama, I'm Swollen; I Am Gemini. For touring, Patrick Newberry is added to the lineup. All of the members were looking respectable in button-down shirts, and the way they had spaced themselves evenly across the front of the stage contributed to the even feeling of their performance, I think. Everyone seemed very relaxed and very enthused at the same time; they definitely feel like professionals. Despite the crowd not being terribly into their performance, for the most part, Cursive played for almost an hour, and remained dedicated to the performance that whole time. The level of comfort they seemed to feel on the stage definitely helped me to calm down and enjoy the music. 

Here they are performing Big Bang off of 2006's Happy Hollow in Toronto in March of 2012.

Brand New

Ah, Brand New. The reason we were all there. Brand New is a post-hardcore pop-punk band from Long Island, New York. You might remember them from their "feud" with Taking Back---nevermind, let's not even go there. 

Brand New consists of Jesse Lacey, Vince Accardi, Brian Lane, Garrett Tierney, and Derrick Sherman. They formed in 2000 and have released four albums: Your Favorite Weapon (2001), Deja Entendu (2003), The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me (2006), and Daisy (2009). 

Brand New at the Sound Academy in Toronto on 02/08/2012.

Your Favorite Weapon was released to mostly positive or neutral reviews. Listening to it now, it sounds decidedly immature next to their newer releases. This might be partly due to the volume of bitter lyrics about break-ups. That isn't to say that it doesn't hold up well; it does. It's just very different to their newer releases, and it appeals to that side of us that remembers angsty break-ups. 

Here is Jude Law and a Semester Abroad, the only single released: 

Deja Entendu is my favourite Brand New album, so forgive me for going a little fangirl over it. The band drew on inspiration beyond angsty break-ups, and their sound had matured significantly. In some ways, it had mellowed, and their influences beyond the punk/pop-punk genre became more clear. (The Smiths! And Morrissey! Okay, so that's the wrong album, but it's the right influences.) They released two singles, this time: The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows and Sic Transit Gloria...Glory Fades. Both are quieter, more introspective, less over-archingly angry. It's a departure, and a good one. 

Here is The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows:

The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me was released next, and is a marked change for the band. Their angst has all but vanished, and the lyrics are more introspective, darker. Is it in you now/to bear to hear the truth that you have spoken? 

Here is Jesus Christ (also known as Jesus), one of two singles released, the other being Sowing Season. 

Finally, the album Daisy. Daisy is, to me, harsher and darker than its predecessors. It hardly seems related to  Your Favourite Weapon at all. I don't dislike the album, but I find it harder to listen to. It's a worthy experiment, if it could be considered an experiment when it does follow on so naturally from The Devil and God Are Raging Inside of Me. 

Here is the single At The Bottom, performed live at HMV in Toronto in 2009:

Brand New played for near an hour and forty-five minutes, but the enthusiasm of neither the crowd nor the band flagged during that time. They might not have looked as presentable as Cursive, but they were rocking the flannel shirts, and the crowd was alive with love for them, dancing, singing, and crowd-surfing (although that was quickly shut down by security). Say what you will about emo kids, but they hold onto their heroes, and they live for their music, and that was palpable on Thursday night. Brand New hadn't visited Canada since 2009, and Jesse Lacey said (I paraphrase) that they certainly felt welcomed back, and that they had had so much fun. Maybe they say that every night, but I somehow don't think so. Something about the energy, and the songs they had chosen, and even the shitty acoustics of the Sound Academy couldn't ruin the night. 

(The Sound Academy might be the worst venue in Toronto, though, possibly even the world. It feels like a re-purposed warehouse, and it sounds like one. To compensate, the management turns the sound up way louder than most venues, and the result is just...loud, but not good. That was the only disappointing part of the night, though.) 

You don't recover from a night like this, indeed. 

Feel free to yell at me for any inaccuracies.