Winter will soon be upon us, which means more layered clothing and less outdoor activities. If you’re like me, the thought of transitioning from the warm and energizing days of summer to the frostbitten and melancholy days of winter is as shocking as stepping from a sauna into a popsicle. Fortunately, for our emotional well-being, little reminders of summer pop up periodically during these frigid months and warm things up a bit. Land of Talk did just that.
The opening band, a Los Angeles power-pop quartet called Eulogies, merely broke the silence with a handful of proficient but formulaic garage-pop songs that sounded suspiciously like an ode to Weezer. Power-chords and repetitive choruses abounded until Liz from Land of Talk reluctantly agreed to join them onstage for a duet. Unfortunately her talent was muffled by the band’s shrill musical bleakness.
After a suspenseful twenty minutes between sets, Land of Talk crept on stage and started the show with much needed urgency during “Give Me Back My Heart Attack.” Liz, adorned in a little green skirt, red plaid button-up shirt and gray suede boots crooned her songs of conflict and frustration with self-assurance and a refreshingly sunny temperament.
The band was pleased to hear so many requests from the relatively small audience and even dedicated “Some Are Lakes” to a couple celebrating their anniversary. “It’s OK” slowed things down and must have really captivated the audience, because after the applause, the room went completely silent.
Despite their warm impressions, Land of Talk hail from Montréal - a village whose winters beat the snot out of Portland’s. They are quintessentially Canadian indie-rock: a bunch of effortless beauties with the smarts and spirit to amuse, and the aggression and creative talent to be taken seriously. With the likes of Feist, Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, The Dears, Metric, Sloan, The Weakerthans, The New Pornographers, Stars, Wolf Parade, The Sadies, and Peaches, Canada seems to own an unfair percentage of the scene. But don’t blame Canada, thank it.
DOWNLOAD: Land of Talk - Sea Foam (MP3) or Follow us for more Land of Talk MP3s (Twitter)
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Doug Fir Lounge
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Aladdin Theatre
The Magnetic Fields - 2/22
Aladdin Theatre
The Magnetic Fields - 2/23
Aladdin Theatre
The Magnetic Fields - 2/24
Aladdin Theatre
El Perro Del Mar - 2/28
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Basia Bulat - 3/8
Mississippi Studios
Avey Tare was in attendance, along with Angel from Dirty Projectors.
by David on Mon Feb 8, 2010 at 08.35 pm from the entry: Atlas Sound + Neon Indian - E&L Auditorium (New York, NY; Feb. 4, 2010)
Good catch, oh masked marvel.
by Ari Sommer on Mon Feb 8, 2010 at 02.42 pm from the entry: St Vincent + Wildbirds and Peacedrums - Doug Fir Lounge (Portland, OR; Feb. 6, 2010)
St. Sincent...ha.
by anonymous on Mon Feb 8, 2010 at 02.04 pm from the entry: St Vincent + Wildbirds and Peacedrums - Doug Fir Lounge (Portland, OR; Feb. 6, 2010)
Aan was amazing.
by jarrod on Mon Feb 8, 2010 at 01.02 pm from the entry: Blue Horns + Morning Teleportation + Aan - Doug Fir Lounge (Portland, OR Jan. 30, 2010)
I’d like to clarify that for this show they cut off the back half of Neumo’s floor with a curtain and had the upstairs bar closed. It made Neumo’s obviously seem much smaller than it is. Unfortunately, now having seen Neumo’s fully open at another show I can say that this show was very empty. Still White Denim and Brazos rocked.
by Chris on Mon Feb 8, 2010 at 01.57 am from the entry: White Denim + Brazos - Neumos (Seattle, WA; Jan. 24, 2010)
I agree, it’s very good. Way to deflate their balloon.
by colin on Mon Feb 8, 2010 at 01.03 am from the entry: Third Annual Portland Music Awards - Crystal Ballroom (Portland, OR; Jan. 28, 2010)
Love the photos. And that “Walkabout” song is the drugs.
by Beth Doreian on Sun Feb 7, 2010 at 01.14 pm from the entry: Atlas Sound + Neon Indian - E&L Auditorium (New York, NY; Feb. 4, 2010)
I hope you feel better soon, too. Nothing worse than the fatigues. A good sauna would help you out.