FRIGHTENED RABBIT, THE TWILIGHT SAD, WE WERE PROMISED
JETPACKS
PLUSH
Tuesday, Sept. 22
A kilt, maybe, or some other stereotypical emblem of Scotland would
not have surprised the full house gathered to hear this three-band bill
of brilliant Scottish power-pop purveyors.
But a Mexican wrestling mask?
Bassist Craig Orzel of The Twilight Sad set off a buzz with his
black-and-silver headgear. Honoring the tour stop with a nod to its
culture? Really shy? Fear of frightening people with his actual
face?
Turns out he just likes masks, although he claims he’s only worn one
onstage once before. Earlier in the day, while visiting a store on
Fourth Avenue, he was smitten not only with the mask, but also with a
bit of philosophy he overheard the store’s proprietor sharing with
another customer, something along the lines of, “If you have faith, you
can achieve what you want.”
Orzel went on at some length about how much the traveling Scots
enjoyed Fourth Avenue, especially the secondhand and vintage-clothing
stores. The heat got to them, though, before they made it to Congress
Street and the Chicago Store.
The Twilight Sad was the darker, heavier center of the bill, between
angsty-pop openers We Were Promised Jetpacks and the somewhat more
organic headliners, Frightened Rabbit. Passages of The Twilight Sad’s
music almost evoked early Yo la Tengo without all of the
guitar-wanking. Their guitar and drums seem married and tough, entirely
codependent and more powerful because of it.
Power and precision at speed were hallmarks of the evening, and all
three bands delivered a thrill a minute, with inventive, unpredictable
drumming, loud-to-super-loud dynamics and occasional color accents on
xylophone or keyboards.
Jetpacks closed their set on their raging “It’s Thunder and It’s
Lightning,” in which lead singer and songwriter Adam Thompson all but
levitated the room with his stormy passion. If Jetpacks’ songs had no
words, you’d have scant notion of what’s going on inside them. They’re
very human in that way.
Frightened Rabbit wrapped things up with a superb set reflecting a
handful of rootsy influences. The roots of much of the music we call
Americana actually arrived here from Scotland and settled in
Appalachia. Or perhaps I was hearing things. Was Scott Hutchison’s
Western shirt another Fourth Avenue find?
This article appears in Oct 1-7, 2009.