Tapes ‘n Tapes+ Wild Light + Fences - Neumos (Seattle, WA; Jan. 20, 2009)

Call me a cynic, but somehow I doubt January 20th, 2009 will be remembered as the night Tapes ‘n Tapes rocked Seattle. On a day when most eyes were focused on “the other Washington,” frontman Josh Grier—conspicuously clad in an Obama T-shirt—had no qualms about yielding the spotlight to our freshly inaugurated fearless leader. During a prolonged tuning break, Grier even joked that, for the first time in his life, “I planned my wardrobe a week in advance.” ...at which point he and the rest of the band dove back into their hour-plus set of riff-driven, foot-stomping, twang-tinged indie rock.

My first encounter with Tapes ‘n Tapes occurred at the now-defunct Crocodile in 2006, at the crest of their interweb-fueled rise to fame. I’d actually come to see the Danish band Figurines, who were at the time riding a similar wave of P2P popularity. Needless to say, my inner hipster was pleasantly surprised that night, not only by these oddly named Tapes fellows, but also by opener Cold War Kids, both of whom rocked my metaphorical socks right the hell off. Touchy-feely experimental pseudo-folk was out, and psych-laced crunchy guitars were filling the void with some much-needed amplitude.

At the time, TnT drew innumerable comparisons to their supposed indie forebears, Pavement and Pixies. In retrospect, I think the contemporary country-indie-bluesy rock duo Two Gallants makes for a more apt spiritual cousin, both stylistically and in disposition. Both bands came on strong, with scrappy, homebrewed debut albums that garnered plenty of media attention, and live shows powered by a frenetic energy easily mistaken for righteous anger.

A year or two down the road, both bands seemed to languish, releasing tepidly received follow-ups and generally failing to live up to anyone’s hype. Tapes ‘n Tapes seemed especially disappointing to the Pitchforkian elite, with a sophomore LP Walk It Off that even producer David Fridmann’s golden touch couldn’t save from apparent mediocrity.

Well, you know what they say about critics: fuck ‘em. (Or maybe it’s just me who says that.)

In any case, tonight’s show proved beyond all doubt that, overly polished studio slump aside, these boys haven’t lost any of their fire. Drummer Jeremy Hanson conceals a crazed flurry of elbows behind a veneer of nerd-chic Coke-bottle glasses; Matt Kretzman shines in the overlooked utility role, mashing keys and even brandishing a horn from time to time; Erik Appelwick strums with considerably more verve than your average bassist, as well as providing backup screams; and aforementioned lead Tape Josh Grier puts his newfound hair mass to good use while clawing surprisingly melodic hooks from his guitar, or sing-barking through fan favorites like “Cowbell” an “Insistor.”

Overall, while I can’t help but lament the talent that seems to have atrophied somewhat since 2005’s The Loon, I wholeheartedly endorse seeing Tapes ‘n Tapes as early and as often as possible. What would seem a common musical tonic with the simplist of recipes—guitar, bass, drums, keyboard, rock, roll, kindling, match—is somehow forever in short supply, and these four Minnesotan boys are exactly the shot in the arm you need to get through an otherwise dreary winter.

...

Holy craps, I almost forgot the openers! I missed the initial offerings from local group Fences, but from what I did see they spent most of their time whine/yell/mumbling like a less endearing Pedro the Lion, and the rest complaining that they couldn’t drink on stage. Wild Light, up next, struck me as a bunch of well-intentioned kids playing dress-up for invisible cameras. Everything about their set was rehearsed to mildly rollicking perfection, but I was kept wanting to whisper, “Stop! You’re trying too hard! And besides, I highly doubt there’s a music supervisor for some hot new tween-centric TV show in the audience.”

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