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Walk through the doors of the Middle East, viagra order and the smells of fresh Fool m’dammas and recently baba’d ganooj stings the nostrils. As you make your way past hip aesthetes and sophisticated post-jive neo-trendsetters towards the heavy door marked “Upstairs,” pay close attention to the buzz permeating the room. There is a certain energy that emanates from the walls of the Middle East. It speaks of the timelessness of living smartly, yet wildly in close proximity to new concepts and new people all while surrounded by old, time honored past times like frivolously imbibing malty beers and munching some comfort foods. It caters to a generation of smart, wild souls still trying to figure it out even though they so obviously already have it. Oh yeah, the music is pretty great too.
The first band of the night was Milk, a powerful quartet of hometown heroes straight out of Allston. They are a self-aware band that wants to feed the crowd heavy licks and hard-boiled punk sensibilities so that they can quench their own insatiable desires to rock, a feat that can only be undertaken when everyone in the room is crazy-eyed with anticipation for the next riff. When was the last time you said something was cool and weren’t drenched in irony? These guys are clearly C-O-O-L cool—from the lead singer/guitarist Matthew Brady’s raspy, I-don’t-give-a-flying-circus vocals, straight down to drummer Jesse Galkowski’s thunder feet, so strong they broke the bass pedal after only three songs. Zeppelin, Stooges, or Pink Floyd references come easily, as Milk clearly has elements of punk and rock’s founding behemoths in their sound, but they also pay homage to the greats not by emulating them but by becoming their own rock-monster. Check out “Restless Deep Sea Blues” and “Cupertino” if you want a taste; go see them live if you want to live.
Wolf Blitzer is a Cambridge-based group that blends the finer points of electronica with post-rock, emotion-bending tendencies—and yet they are mostly a straightforward, upbeat, melodic rock band that likes to play feel good songs filtered through early rock guitar sounds. Imagine that you are having a pleasant jog along the Charles River, minding your own business, when out of nowhere you stumble into an avant-garde rendition of Shakespeare in the Park. That is sort of what Wolf Blitzer sounds like. It’s a romp in a technicolor summer landscape where Julian Casablancas meets up with Modest Mouse to talk about Sara Bareilles. They have a few anthem-like songs in their arsenal, but are quick to change the tempo and impose several genres over the course of a single song. They were able to pull off a rendition of Kanye West’s “Flashing Lights,” though I have my suspicions that they believe more in shooting stars and less in shoes and cars.
The headliner was Deadbeat Darling, hailing from Brooklyn. They’re an accessible, active rock quartet that has tapped into the sex appeal of the early 90s; they have a West Coast surf-rock feel, but are by no means lighthearted in the same way the Beach Boys once were. The singer has a strong hold on his upper register and is capable of an eerie falsetto.
Newcomers to the scene, Kangaroo Court, are still tightening the nuts and bolts of their repertoire, but it is clear that their evolving sound is a unique one. Singer Sean Caulfield has an artsy David Byrne vibrato and delivers lyrics with wide ranging references to the likes of St. Francis and the mysterious quandary of life’s tendency to be unplanned and ephemeral. Caulfield also elicits some of the better fringe elements of “Love Shack” singer and B-52 frontman Fred Schneider. They are angling for the Intellectual Rock crowd, so the Middle East is a perfect place for them to start.
The night was infused with an enjoyable intimacy. At times it was as though you had stumbled into the rehearsal space of these bands adjusting sound levels and tuning guitars. At worst, the crowd’s banter forced itself into the songs, with one particularly enthusiastic fan shouting out incoherent suggestions to the bands. At best, however, the back and forth between the stage and the audience was merry and energetic–making for another successful night in the history of local music.
Photo Credit: Christine Varriale