Last I checked, the Siren music festival was in New York last weekend, not Seattle—and yet this city still hosted a marathon of shows from which my hearing and hangover tolerance continue to suffer. First up, Beck, Le Tigre, and McRorie stormed the Paramount with a mix of kitsch and electro-collage. Canada's McRorie represented for all the Do-It-All-Yourselfers out there, punching electronic panels on his chest and tapping on foot triggers while playing keyboards, singing, and overall looking like Fabio meets Andrew W.K. on a Tron set. He played a mix of hiphop covers and rock originals—including one song where he promised to "party while the world gets blown away." Le Tigre encouraged dancing and glowing smiles from much of the crowd, punching out some of the flatter, newer material with a great, engaging live show. And Beck was the chameleon character you've come to expect, freaking out with classics like "Loser" and stripping things back to allow the band a dinner break—a literal dinner break, at a table and everything—for part of the show. Or so I hear. (I was at the Comet listening to Drunk Horse nearly bang those dollar bills off the ceiling by that point.) The other big-venue performance last weekend included the Kings of Leon, a model-ready act who bored me out of the Moore. But openers Secret Machines were simply stunning. Their superb take on later Pink Floyd melded one prismatic track into the next. And they so completely take over everything they touch that it took most of a Bob Dylan cover ("Girl of the North Country") for me to even realize the song wasn't one of their own.
Other showstoppers to round out the weekend: DJ Colby B threw a free, fun DJ party at Chop Suey (happy belated birthday to the Comeback-and-then-some vinyl queen); the UK's Go! Team surprised sun-baked KEXP supporters at the indie station's benefit BBQ as the secret headlining guest; and New York's Diamond Nights polished off a great (albeit intimate) Sunday night rock show with plenty of between-song one-liners. My favorite new catchphrase from the Nights came via their San Francisco show, where the band picked up the line "unload the pony" as the new "bring it on." Expect to see photos of the Nights unloading the pony in an upcoming issue of Italian Vogue.
Speaking of those in vogue, when you can't get enough of the Blood Brothers, it's time to start feeding on their side projects. Singer Johnny Whitney and drummer Mark Gajadhar are issuing their debut release as Neon Blonde with an eponymous EP on Dim Mak this month. "I just started writing songs to drum-machine tracks last August when the Blood Brothers were on break," explains Whitney, who's currently in Australia with the Blood Brothers. "I wanted to make music that was fun and that would make people want to dance. Plus, it's really hard for me to write guitar songs in the Blood Brothers, so I needed some kind of venue to do that." The result is a fusion of the Blood Brothers' urgent, agitated, and excited energy with live beats and the steady dance-floor march of drum machines; Whitney's voice wavers between operatic and demonic, while keyboards, organs, and pianos add a lush, glam sheen to the melodies. The band's electronic edge arose, Whitney explains, out of necessity. "It's just really easy and enjoyable to sit in your house and record music to drum-machine tracks. You don't have to get up and take the bus to a dingy practice spot; you can sit in your living room and look outside the window and make music all day." Neon Blonde's full-length, Chandeliers in the Savannah, comes out September 13 (the Blood Brothers record their next CD this fall) and in the meantime, Whitney says Neon Blonde are looking for a bassist and a keyboard player to round out the lineup. Finding interested parties shouldn't be difficult, as Neon Blonde's MySpace page—where music is available for streaming—has already been hit more than 70,000 times. (In other musicians-wanted news, the Catch's bassist Jenny Jimenez and drummer Alissa Newton recently left the band. According to guitarist Carly Nicklaus, that makes room for some boys in the band—Shane Berry and Garrett Lunceford from the Divorce comprise the group's new rhythm section, starting with a show at Neumo's on the 23rd.)
Good news may travel fast, but bad news is even swifter. Silkworm drummer Michael Dahlquist was killed in an auto accident on Thursday, July 14, in Skokie, Illinois. According to an article at NBC5.com, a 23-year-old woman is being accused of intentionally ramming her car, in an alleged suicide attempt, into the vehicle containing Dahlquist and two other men. All three men were killed; the woman has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder. (Thanks to Sean Nelson for the tip and lilblackcat in our forums for that link... and, more importantly, condolences to the one-time Seattle band's family and friends). ■
