Black Taxi and Lights Resolve - Bowery Ballroom, New York City, NY (1.14.12)
Posted by Matt Arena on 01.16.2012
Launching their highly anticipated second studio release, Black Taxi partnered up with heavy New York trio Lights Resolve to piece together a stellar album release show.
Album release shows are usually nights when a band doesn’t share the spotlight, and rightfully so, it’s all about them and their new record. But New York area locals Black Taxi took a different approach to the show launching their second studio record, We Don’t Know Any Better. Adding Austin indie rock up and comers The Bright Light Social Hour as support and sharing the headlining duties with local New York buzz band Lights Resolve, they pieced together a stacked lineup. As much as I hate the phrase “buzz band” it’s never been more applicable than with Lights Resolve. Being hailed by Rolling Stone as the bastard child of Muse and The Bravery, they’ve been growing quickly ever since the release of their much anticipated debut album Feel You’re Different. That said debut album was pretty damn amazing and in my top 10 for the past year, so I was extremely excited to see them billed as a co-headliner. Black Taxi have more of a dancey indie rock sound than the straight up rock of Lights Resolve or even the groovy riffs from The Bright Light Social Hour, but the crowd seemed to be indifferent to the blend of sounds as they were rocking out as hard to the first song of the first band as they were during Black Taxi’s last track of the night. The Bowery Ballroom is one of my favorite venues and it was great to see these bands sell out one of the premiere venues in New York City.
The first act up was a group I was largely unfamiliar with, The Attic Ends, and I was pleasantly surprised with their set. They closest comparison I could think of is Florence + The Machine. Which is odd as I find Flo to be pretty droning and boring, but The Attic Ends used a similar strong female lead but managed to keep it from being repetitive and instead kept their sound fresh. If bellowing female leads are your thing, you’ll be glad to check these guys (and gal) out.
After The Attic Ends was The Bright Light Social Hour. Up until about 30 minutes before their set, I hadn’t heard of these guys but was quickly caught up to speed by a friend of mine who had listened to and was blown away by their album. And I was similarly blown away by their performance. They were riff heavy, blues influenced with smacks of indie rock. It was rather different from anything I’ve seen lately and was a huge fresh of breath air, as awful as a phrase that is. To say the crowd was receptive would be an understatement. The entire floor was bouncing along with the band members and they spun and hopped around stage, feeding off the waves of energy from the crowd. The instant they were done, I felt like I had just gotten off a roller coaster. Needless to say, I got their album as soon as I was physically able to. Definitely worth checking out. I almost forgot to mention their awesome beards. It’s hard to not love a band with impeccable facial hair.
Next was Lights Resolve. They are the type of band that I will drop anything to see. I’ve seen them in tiny basements, small clubs, even in a living room so it was a nice change of pace to see them in a place as big as Bowery Ballroom. Bassist Luke Daniels’ (or as he’s commonly known as, The Duke) thumping basslines shook my insides and rattled the floor, something that you don’t get in tiny basements and living rooms. They were loud, reckless and everything that rock music should be. It was a bit odd for me, shooting a band that I really know and love. I was torn between rocking out and getting good shots. Good thing with having one of your favorite bands local is that you can see them 4 times within a matter of months so I was able to take a couple songs off to get some shots. About halfway through the set they were joined by a masked fourth member who helped recreate some of the more intricate guitar work from the album. More similar to a bank robber from Point Break than a guitarist, the addition of another member certainly gave new life to their songs. Lead singer/guitarist Matt Reich does the heavy lifting as he muscles out thrashing riffs while unleashing primal screams on the audience in front of him. Not to diminish the contribution of The Duke or drummer Neal Saini, whose heavy fills and rapid beats that provide a foundation for the bruising sound that is Lights Resolve. I have a soft spot for heavy three-piece bands, and Lights Resolve are no exception. A great band and sounds even better live. Check them out and pick up their debut album Feel You’re Different. Trust me, it’s amazing.
Last act of the night was Black Taxi. Celebrating the release of their second album, they had the full attention of the crowd upon taking the stage. Lead singer resembling an Apache war chief more than a musician (no seriously, he had a headdress and everything), Black Taxi lit up the stage the second they stepped out. Jumpy backing tracks along with dancey guitar riffs, they blend punk rock and electro-dance to come up with a truly unique sound. Equipped with a keyboard, trumpet, and some string apparatus that after two shows I still have no clue how it works, but it sounds pretty damn funky. Taking the stage close to midnight and going late into the night, Black Taxi gave a perfect ending to a night that showcased show of the best new talent in the “alt rock” scene. It’s pretty clear that every band on this billing is going places and it’s only a matter of time before they’re selling out places 4 times the size of Bowery Ballroom.
Here are some photos from the show, if you like what you see I've got the full set uploaded on my flickr page :
The Attic Ends
The Bright Light Social Hour
Lights Resolve
Black Taxi
The 411: Though an odd mix of sounds, all the bands at this show were superb. The Bright Light Social Hour completely took me by surprise and they’re one of those bands I hit on twitter/facebook after the showing asking when they’ll be back in my city. Perfect as support for the two headliners as they gave just as much energy that they took from the crowd. Main acts Lights Resolve and Black Taxi lived up to their every growing reputations. It was a near perfect display of local rock talent. Shows like this are proof that good music isn’t anywhere near dead.
