Live

LOS CAMPESINOS!, GIRLS

CLUB CONGRESS

Thursday, Aug. 20

The new Fourth Avenue underpass, acting as an architectural
defibrillator of sorts, provided a much-needed jolt to downtown
nightlife last Thursday. The structure reconnected Congress Street and
Fourth Avenue, pleasing many who have been growing impatient for the
downtown area to transform into a more-accessible, art-centric hub.

Appropriately, Congress lined up a couple of bands to maintain the
warm-and-fuzzy vibe. Girls, an indie-rock quartet from San Francisco,
got things started with a mellow, awkward space-rock jam. Not even one
week into their tour, they took inebriation to new heights. Once they
found their California pop groove, it would stick for a moment, only to
digress into psychedelic sloppiness that those in the crowd either
loved or loathed.

Some songs, such as the lovely “Hellhole Ratrace,” were worthy of
lighter-waving. “Morning Light” was a far heavier song containing
post-punk guitar riffs with reverb-soaked vocals. Their overall sound
was like Elvis Costello fronting Dinosaur Jr. mixed with a handful of
prescription pills washed down with Jim Beam. The rhythm guitarist,
Chet White, was constantly picking up dropped items or untwisting
tangled cords. At one point, he misplaced part of the microphone stand,
and had to do his backup singing while lying on the floor with the
microphone placed atop his monitor, all while playing guitar. Lead
vocalist and songwriter Christopher Owens knows how to craft great
songs, but the slovenly delivery may alienate their audience if they
don’t take themselves and their sobriety a smidge more seriously.

Headliners Los Campesinos! were greeted with Tucson’s version of
overwhelming enthusiasm. The seven-piece band from Cardiff, Wales,
looked ready for a nap, as the stifling air was impossible to ignore.
Despite the heat and their less-than-enthused appearances, the
frenzied, hyper-literate, boy-girl punk-pop band sounded spot-on. Lead
vocalist and glockenspiel player Gareth was affable and clever, and
lead guitarist Tom took the solos to levels not necessarily achieved in
their recorded material. Their music forced even the most stoic
onlookers to tap their toes and bounce around to their fun and
intelligently crafted pop songs, including their dance-o-matic tune
“Death to Los Campesinos!”

Convincing myself that the songs would remain consistent, I reached
a point where I begrudgingly had to escape the heat.

This article appears in Aug 27 – Sep 2, 2009.