White Hinterland opened for S. Carey last Thursday at a packed and sold out Great Scott, and while I couldn’t make sense of billing these two acts together, I feel like it should have definitely been the reverse order.

So I saw local-but-bigger-than-local act White Hinterland like, what, three months ago? She killed it—it was her on a Wurlitzer, fuzzed and distorted at some points, but it was incredibly intimate. The crowd was smallish and kind of shy and she ushered them (us) forward to be up in her face and sing along with pretty complex vocal flourishes (Ring My Bell).

Casey Dienel came alone once again last Thursday. She still had the one keyboard, but she also had a loop-pedal, electronic drum beats, and way more distortion going into the Wurlitzer sound (on a Nord Electro 4).

This is what her recorded music sounds like. In fact, with all that production, there was a much fuller and heavier sound coming from the stage (not that it was lacking previously). It gave her some time to belt and get up and away from the keyboard while the dance beats, with occasion dubstep wub-wub-wubing, was rocking underneath. The production sounded like a more abrasive Lucius or St. Vincent song (makes perfect sense that WH will be opening for SV on tour this Summer), but whereas Annie Clark offers mostly waifish light vocal brushes or putting talk-punctuation into her singing, Casey was totally singing all the time. It had the same cadenzas of a Kelly Clarkson-style song but with the funk and grittiness that you won’t find in that ilk.

We were still invited to sing along with Ring My Bell, and the crowd kind of got the improvised vocal climb.  But what was a particularly memorable moment from last time was drowning in other sensory-exploding hooks and sounds.

Headliner S. Carey (.org, are you serious?  You’re not a non-profit dude) were pretty good. The crowd packed way tighter to the stage, which had more to do with the fame than the actual music, because there wasn’t a whole lot of dancing.

There was keyboard, bass, drums, and a lot of sampling, but the sound was very somber with a bit of build-and-release, but not like a rock build-and-release—like a folk build-and-release. Cymbals building to a high point and then pulling back. To be honest it sounded like if an early Coldplay were like “we’re a bit too in-your-face, let’s dial it back.”

The songs were something like 50/50 between vocals and instrumental pieces. I guess I’ve been spoiled in terms of instrumentals: you know how a pop-rock band will have their 10ish songs and then the one instrumental to break it up or end it? But usually that instrumental will have a catchy-as-all-get-out riff or melody or something about it that makes up for the lack of a sing-along hook? These didn’t always have those. During a 5-or-6-minute slow forgettable piece I turned to my friend and asked what made the band decide this song was worth recording, let alone playing live. He didn’t have an answer and neither did I.

They have some good stuff, but it felt very much like what it was: a band who needed to pad out a set because of high demand for concerts. I’m confident that given some time and a couple of records, they’ll earn a good amount of demand rather than coasting on the Bon Iver-ties.