By Mo Kelly
Photos by Graham Zinger
At Allston Pudding we’ve been kicking around the idea of a build-your-own lineup. The kind of night when you hop from one venue to the next, rx catching bands even if it means traveling from JP to Lower Allston, order from kooky North Hampton to a set in Harvard Square. And while for some of us, it could mean only walking the stone’s throw from O’Briens to Great Scott, we still really dig the concept.
This past Monday at Brighton Music Hall felt a lot like that same approach, in the wide range of genres heard over just a few hours, and the even wider demographic of folk that trickled into the venue throughout the night. While this sort of presentation may work for some shows through some constant, subtle variable, it just didn’t sit well here. The show resulted in a strange lineup of post-punk shoegazers, a shitty dance pop duo and some college-radio hitmakers. Total Slacker, Junior Prom and Bear Hands created a bizarrely eclectic mix this past Monday night. And for the most part, the crowd ate it up.
Total Slacker kicked off the night to a practically threadbare attendance. The band started with a somewhat disconnected metal jam that lasted long enough to frighten showgoers into thinking it was actually a song. But before the sparsely filled room could truly question just what it was they were listening to, the band launched into a mix of songs from Thrashin and Slip Away, two albums released subsequently from 2011 to 2013. The Brooklyn foursome focused on a sound they call “slimegaze”, a hazy, distorted presentation much like shoegaze with the addition of semi-ironic lyrical themes.
This opener certainly put in an on-stage effort despite any self-proclaimed slacker title, or to their misfortune, the disinterest of their slim audience. In the band’s upbeat “Out of Body Experience,” Drummer James Colon worked up a sweat diligently providing the tune’s punk rhythm. Frontman and Beck circa ’91 doppelganger Tucker Rountree was equally enthusiastic, hopping around the stage during the band’s jammier moments. One of the most memorable tunes of Total Slacker’s set was “Psychic Mesa”, a levelheaded beat Colon staged to welcome Rountree and bassist Emily Jane as a vocal duo.
What followed next was confusing and abrasive. Junior Prom, also of Brooklyn, took to the stage to demand the attention of a slowly growing crowd. Once in the spotlight, the two piece outfit worked quickly to form an atmosphere completely unlike their lo-fi predecessors. Alongside drummer Erik Ratensperger, frontman Mark Solomich garnered showgoers’ attention with a mix of hurried guitar riffs and what seemed like pre-recorded samples of amateur party music. The output was a dumbed-down version of what you might hear streaming from any lackluster nightclub. The kind of music that, when played loud enough, drowns out your ability to think straight.
Instead of showcasing any musical ability, Solomich chose instead to showboat his wayward personality. The frontman delighted in mocking showgoers throughout the band’s set, playing samples of irritating trap music and a repeating loop of Ginuwine’s “Pony” while demanding the crowd to dance. Hs more memorable stage banter included his reference to the gig’s Allston location. “We love Brighton, it’s our favorite place to play.” While the venue does include Brighton in it’s name, we’d guess Solomich to pull the “We love _____” line on every stop of tour.
What was most painful about Junior Prom’s set was that the crowd actually enjoyed it. From the sperry-clad “woo!” yelling twentysomethings at the bar, to the 14 year old girls who’d been dropped off by their fathers, to the guy who put in a special effort to compliment our photographer’s hair: everyone seemed to enjoy the terrible concoction of electrika and bro-rock.
Bear Hands followed as the night’s headliner. The four-piece Brooklyn band got it’s start back in the days of Burning Bush Supper Club, a 2010 LP created in the heyday of acts like MGMT and Passion Pit. While the palette of indie-rock fans have evolved since, Bear Hands have stuck to their guns while still seeking the maturity of their own sound. “Giants,” a track from 2014‘s Distraction, has found a huge amount of radio play and popularity among a variety of listeners.
It’s safe to say the band’s latest work drew the bulk of the Monday’s audience. Songs like “Giants” and “Agora” drew more reaction than the set’s earlier “What A Drag” from Burning Bush or “Part I: What I’ve Learned”, a single from the band’s 2012 Songs From Utopia Volume One. Apart from the basics, the headliners played a slew of other tunes ranging from the conflicting emotions of “Bad Friend” to the ballad-like “Moment of Silence. The latter’s mixed arrangements allowed frontman Dillion Rau to practice his on-stage yoga poses while Ted Feldman chugged away on synths and drummer TJ Orscher pounded sticks on an electric drum pad.
Despite the irking randomness of the lineup’s entirety, Bear Hands had an onstage camaraderie that was enjoyable to watch. The band joked around some, indulging their fans by cracking one liners and maintaing general friendliness. The night’s greatest moment came in an encore, when the band covered “Molly’s Lips.” For the few who knew to run with it, it was certainly cool to see.
