Sirens Wailed Part II

This weekend forecasts a way fun midsummer’s rock party for all those who like the hot ‘n heavy. Get to Coney Island on Saturday for this year’s Siren Festival, the lineup provides an excellent selection of today’s indie bands on the up and up. The whereabouts are always entertaining as well, a freakshow’s paradise. There’ll be plenty to look at, and sounds to suit every palate.

Man Man
The quick answer I’ve gotten and given on Man Man’s sound is somewhere between Beefheart and Waits. The idea of that brainchild is exciting and scary to me, but it falls short upon further listening. There are similarities to both, sure, but there remain corners all their own. The myspace sampling (will I eventually regret checking out all my new music in that dosage?) is scatter-brained and fun. Skillful presentation seems to be their recording knack, quoting some of the best Beach Boys soundings (eg. glockenspiel) with a psychedelic undertow that i suppose has spawned the Beefheart comparison.

Deadboy & the Elephantmen
Louisiana heavy rocker Dax Riggs (former Acid Bath frontal man) has sidestepped and cooled out a bit with his new outfit. Yes, the blues-based duo thang is going around, and the girl drummer/boy guitarista will call up a White Stripes likening, but there’s a twisted difference with these songs. The We Are Night Sky (Fat Possum, 2005) frontrunner, ‘Stop, I’m Already Dead,’ is a simply-structured track that starts soft and gets loud. Riggs’ voice has an edge I can get behind, and when Tessie Brunet (drums) sings the octave up, she curbs its early ’90s rock-on-the-radio. If they stick with that styling for the next record, I could imagine Deadboy riding the line between The Comas and The Black Keys.

The Cribs
I sat a bit with The Cribs last fall, on the same bill at Bowery Ballroom during CMJ. They’d just flown in from their UK homeground, a bit groggy but gentleman rockers for sure. Couldn’t really understand a word on their end, they wear the accent like ripped jeans, true to form. Three brothers made a good record with some great songs, The New Fellas (Witchita, 2005), and now they tour and drink together, tearing up stages across the globe. You’ll hear some current garage rocking in their sound, but homage is paid to older days’ punk and Brit-pop. Brother Gary said of growing legs in England, “there is no real way of escaping our roots. And why would you want to when we’ve had The Beatles, The Pistols and The Smiths? They are three of the best bands, ever.” (www.drownedinsound.com, 2005) Thankfully, The Ramones crashed England’s shores too. Somewhere in that melting pot stew the brothers Cribs.

Tapes ‘n Tapes
Haven’t caught these guys live yet, but lots of my friends have (and their friends…). Since forever, bands that catch buzz waves have been subjected to sharper-toothed scrutiny than those who prove themselves over time. All’s fair in some ways, but there’s a heightened level of expectation (lets call it the ‘buzz bar’) that a band like tapes ‘n tapes has to climb up and over, especially when playing to NYC ’sters. So yeah, I’ve heard mixed reviews, but I try to filter them out. The Loon (Ibid, 2006) does bring Pavement and The Pixies to the table again, but there’s certainly more to eat. Songs like ‘Insistor’ sound more current to me. I actually hear some Rogue Wave in its melody and Indie/Country slant. Digging deeper, watching a few live clips off their website, they seem to me a crew of reckless and restless romantics. ‘Jakov’s Suite’ opens with an instrumental plea, both ragged and calculated (drunken prog-rock with a blues guitar substitute), before it happens upon a quiet, sad intro to the meat of the song. They switch time to 3/4 for a massive climb the rest of the way. Though sometimes jarring, the variety of feels within many of their songs is the most original element. A young band from Minneapolis, getting ya-yas out by taking chances. I like it.

For a full lineup and schedule, go HERE.
To read Part I of this entry, click HERE.

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