February 22, 2004: The Census, Entwind, Clickers, and Tristan Da Cunha at O'Brien's

Okay, it's been a complicated evening, booking-wise, at O'Brien's:

At the beginning of the month, One Trip Garden and Entwind were scheduled to play tonight, according to O'Brien's calendar.
At the beginning of the night, One Trip Garden, Tristan Da Cunha, Clickers, and The Census were scheduled to play, in that order, according to the whiteboard out front of O'Brien's.
One Trip Garden never showed up. No one seemed to know that they weren't showing up. Someone from One Trip Garden stumbled across this review and said that they never heard of this show. He seemed really surprised and upset (as anyone would) at the suggestion that they would ever schedule a show and not show up.
Tristan Da Cunha wound up going on first, earlier than they'd planned but later than the first of four bands would normally go on, which becomes a bit of a problem when...
Entwind show up late expecting to be on the bill. They are wedged in for a short set after Clickers and before The Census.

Did we follow all that?

Tristan Da Cunha start the evening off with a bang. Then a stuttering series of syncopated crashes, followed by several more bangs. By their second song, the mix is as perfect as I've ever heard; tonight's sound man is really stellar. Other than one brand new song, their set list tonight leans heavily on older--read, "recorded"--material, which is a nice change, because it means I've actually heard some of these songs several times, and have started to be able to wrap my head around their phenomenal complexity. So I might have some idea that this twitchy, atonal section in fourteen is going to be followed by an overdriven burst of harmony screaming in eleven, and I should rest up a bit. And they play "Narcosynthesis," which I've been requesting for months; it's apparently tough for them, being all in twelves and sixteens, but you can actually sort of whistle it on the way home from the show.

Initially, I think that I don't like Clickers, until I figure out what it is I'm hearing. As rock, their spastic vocal yelps, rapid-fire crashing/plodding drums, and jagged guitar whines don't really do much for me. But when I start to hear them more as a kind of brutally deconstructed post-rock, or the elements thereof haphazardly but creatively thrown together in new configurations, I find a way to really enjoy them. It helps, too, that they turn the guitars up more, and that one of the guitarists even sings something like a melody on a couple of songs. It's not inviting, but it's pretty intriguing.

Next are Entwind. (The spelling is sic, and it's pronounced "entwined.") They really don't belong on this bill at all, and my ears get a touch of culture shock as the band starts up, playing a basic slow, bluesy four to back up their chanteuse. Their fans drag chairs up to the front of the stage and sit down to listen. Initially, I tell myself that they're at least good at what they do. The chanteuse has a fabulous voice. But as the set goes on she hits some really sour notes, particularly when she tries to jazz things up and play with the melody, and their two attempts at faster numbers are middling disastrous; the drummer absolutely cannot keep up with himself.

Last are The Census, who I think say that they're playing their first show ever. I might have mis-heard, because they haven't set up any microphones. Now, one of my favorite bands ever played only instrumental rock, and I've enjoyed bands with no guitar or no bass. But if you're going to omit a standard rock element, the rest of the band really has to be able to shine under the correspondingly increased attention. I just don't think they quite manage it. At its very best, this has moments when it approaches a sort of Sonic Youth-y timbre-bath; at its worst, it's boring and repetitive and the drummer drags badly. I walk home whistling "Narcosynthesis."

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