by jon bosworth jaxvillain@yahoo.com
You never know how a Jack Rabbits show will go. Some nights it will be heavy metal and on other nights it will be electro-pop, so you have to look into the band that is playing on the night you are going out. To this end I looked in EU and read Brenton Crozier’s review of the Mice Parade album. The review was a little bleak, but showed some promise in the description “experimental indie rock with interesting percussions.”
I suppose it’s my own fault for not being a more advanced patron of music. I also wasn’t aware at the time that Mice Parade called themselves “folktronica,” because had I heard that moniker I would have somehow known what I was in for, but instead I got the insistence of Brian Jerin, of Shangrala, that Mice Parade would be a show to see. Also, I was a huge Swirlies fan and Adam Pierce, the drummer from The Swirlies, is the creative force behind Mice Parade. So I went loaded with ambitions for raw indie rock and experimental percussions. So I was prepared for experimental, and the opening act, Caroline, fit that bill perfectly, but what I was not prepared for was the Dylanish folk of David Karsten Daniels.
When I arrived at Jack Rabbits, Caroline was on stage singing breathy and faltering tunes over electronically pre-recorded and sampled music. The only instrument on stage was a computer that was being manned by Jason Greenberg. It is a current trend in the uber-chic indie music scene to feature or highlight a Japanese woman as the vocalist on stage, and Caroline Lufkin at first seemed to be just another shtick ala Deerhoof, Melt Banana or Pink Mochi. But as her set fleshed out, she proved to have a true sensuality and nuance to her vocal performance that gave her an almost Asian-Bjork feel.
Although Jason Greenberg is a film score composer out of Toronto, and his ambient and abstract accompaniment showed that, the music managed to transcend the typical bar band doldrums and provide something truly worth watching. Well, I don’t know about watching, it isn’t exactly compelling to watch a somewhat self-conscious Asian girl trying to hide behind a microphone stand while her accompaniment sits behind a laptop, but the music was engaging, which gave me hope for the night.
Then I almost fell asleep standing up when the folk music (complete with the harmonica harness) of David Karsten Daniels hit the stage. I’m sure in larger cities there is a crowd open to this sort of digression in a set, but I was about ready to rock and Daniels was not helping me get there. Welcome to the South.
Finally Mice Parade took the stage and Pierce was immediately condescending to the small crowd. In fact, I was surprised by how much the crowd thinned out when seven of the people that had been sitting in the club got up on the stage to play with him. I had no idea there were so many people in the band, but in retrospect, I’m glad there were, because even with a stage loaded with people they seemed to barely make a noise.
The name Mice Parade was more fitting than I expected. Pierce was leading the faltering shuffle on acoustic guitar, with another acoustic guitarist sitting across from him, the two making a centerpiece that was not unlike Peter and Paul, except their Mary was Caroline crooning along with Pierce. In some moments the two guitarists looked like Extreme, gazing into each others’ eyes as they folked out. The cacophony of droll notes and half-hearted musical concepts transcended traditional “boring” into something experimentally boring. I guess it was the other guys in The Swirlies that I liked.
Nevertheless, a show like this is always worth seeing. Even if it isn’t a great show, it’s always good to be in-the-know, and Jack Rabbits is one of the only venues in town consistently booking great national acts, and the only way to find the great ones is to go to as many shows as you can.
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EU Critic’s Choice Awards
