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Okay, here's another show that I didn't write about in a timely fashion—I'm re-reading "Infinite Jest" this month, and it kind of interferes with the pursuit of anything like my normal life—and here's where it becomes a small problem. I can remember the sets of the people that I've seen before, because I have some sort of context for them and familiarity to pin the memories to. But Signal to Trust, the touring band (from maybe Minnesota, or something), I remember liking just fine. But I have absolutely no concrete memories of their set, even a week and a half later. Even looking them up online and looking at the pictures didn't jog my memory; if I've ever seen those faces before in my life, there's certainly no familiarity right now. You'd think that would say something bad about them, but I swear, I remember thinking they were pretty good.
Before them was Animal Hospital, which is one guy and a looping device. He plays guitar and drums, and he builds very complicated, multilayered compositions out of various superimposed loops. His first piece has a compelling drum part with a very quirky rhythm, and I like it a whole lot. He segues into subsequent pieces very gradually, fading out some loops and bringing in others, so that the music never really stops for almost the entire set. The subsequent songs in the first part of the set are a little more straightforward and ambient, and I find my attention drifting somewhat, but then he plays an older composition for his last piece. It's more polished and even kind of catchy, and pulls me back in.
After him is Signal to Trust. Really, they weren't bad. I don't know why I can't remember them.
Polaris Mine are next. Think, "pretty pop songs played by a noisy rock band." The drummer is phenomenal, so even though the rhythms are pretty standard, he plays them with a whole lot of complexity and polish. The lead singer's voice is kind of breathy and raspy, the guitars are thick with distortion and feedback, and the harmonies are pretty in a thoroughly bizarre way; add it all up, but then balance it against the sweet melodies. I like balance.
It's gotten quite late, yet the place is packed for Mad Man Films. This is nice to see. They're kind of a spastic, punky three-piece with a hugely solid rhythm section and a wild freak of a frontman. He seems to be struggling with a bit of a cold tonight, but the only way you can really tell that is that he's a bit daunted before launching into songs that mix virtuoso power-singing with emphatic screams. He sounds fantastic. He also plays quirky, noisy guitar and keeps up a high-energy stream of cracked chatter between songs. And he's a really restrained guitar player, dropping out entirely at times to let the highly advanced stuff that the rhythm section is doing shine.
