Jeremy Jay - Sunset Tavern (Seattle, WA; April 7, 2009)

My lingering impression of the evening was that it seemed to have happened very quickly. Whether this was due to the up-tempo pace of the show or the fact that, though I arrived with what I thought would be with time to spare I missed the start, I can’t be sure. Apparently Tuesday night is not the glamor night for music. For whatever reason, the second opener of the evening was unable to make it, pushing Jeremy Jay and fellows up a bit, which unfortunately left me ever wondering whether they played some slower tunes at the start of their set (I think I missed the first 3 songs) or kept the solid tempo up all evening. While I noticed several tunes on the album Slow Dance do indeed evoke an image of folks slow dancing in a gymnasium to 50’s music, in a live setting this feeling was not conveyed. In fact, the live performance seemed to reflect only the up-tempo end of the album’s spectrum. While the album’s vocals reminded me of the slow crooning of Joseph Arthur and Stuart Murdoch of Belle and Sebastian, live I found myself reminded of the Smiths for their attitude and also The Magnetic Fields, though the latter was not surprising (see following paragraph). Their live performance also featured much more singing rather than some of the almost spoken-word pacing of some of the album tracks, with a few nicely in-tune, upper range “ooohhhs” that broke up the pace of the lyrics nicely.

Jeremy definitely has a sense of humor, and I particularly enjoyed the drum intro of the “Gallop” song, though again live some of the dramatic effect on the album—e.g. that developing period where you realize, “Yes, they are indeed imitating horse clops and singing about galloping with a wry sense of humor"—blended into the overall performance. Perhaps the pace also felt quick because Jeremy Jay and Derek James moved fluidly between guitar and bass without pausing to chat in between songs. I also have to admit I am a sucker for those happy-sounding quick, driving guitar riffs that I’m hearing so much in music these days (e.g. Peter, Bjorn and John or Vampire Weekend).

The band seemed a little shy or wary of the small audience that seemed to be enjoying itself, though honestly they could have been mocking the band and I wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference.  Though people appeared to be moving happily of their own free will (ok perhaps under the influence of some classy blue-ribbon winning beer), the tiny dance group appeared to be struggling to find motions appropriate to the beat, which was poppy enough though somewhere in between acceptably jumping and slow swaying (one audience member in fact appeared to be trying to both and the effect was somewhat akin to one of those punching dolls wobbling on its side). There was, sadly, no Slow Dance-ing to be had this evening, but I would definitely give Jeremy Jay another listen next time around.

DOWNLOAD: Jeremy Jay - Breakin the Ice (MP3) or Follow us for more Jeremy Jay MP3s (Twitter)

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