The Airborne Toxic Event - Mercury Lounge, New York, NY - 7.31.08
Posted by Jes Tones on 08.08.2008
Catchy new indie rock band from LA creating quite the buzz...now I understand why.
Flipping through late night TV one night in April, wouldn’t you know Carson Daly’s ugly mug popped up and distracted me. He was going on about some new L.A. band he seemed to be in love with, so I stuck around to watch and, for once in my life, I had to agree with the guy -- I only heard one song, but I was hooked. How disappointed I was to find that this one song was the only song available on itunes -- these kids hadn’t even put out an album yet!
But someone must have heard my whining for more -- a couple months later guess who’s playing a show at Jes’s favorite cozy NYC venue? That’s right folks -- The Airborne Toxic Event at the Mercury Lounge, July 31st. I’d actually kind of forgotten about them by then, and almost had to miss the show as the date conflicted with a FREE Flogging Molly outdoor show that same night, but alas, TATE show was late night. So I took my little Irish-American punk rock buzz across town for some catchy indie rock circa 11 pm.
And thank God I did! The show was packed with an adoring (ok, yes, hipster) audience and the music was just right. I had my doubts during the sound check when lead singer and guitarist Mikel Jollett candidly informed the sound engineer that he had a terrible voice and so to keep the mic low. Ok. But then they started off the show jumping around and kicking each other and their fun was infectious.
These guys really play together and you can feel it in the music. Alternating between slow and moody and fast and, well, usually also pretty moody (thank God for heartbreak!), there was something for us all. The first single, “Sometime Around Midnight,” pressed down on the room like a heavy fog. This shit is intense -- somehow you know exactly what our songwriter is going through as he sings about an encounter with an ex-love at a bar who “walks up and asks how you are” and then “leaves with someone you don’t know - but made sure you saw her.” Ouch! I told you it was heavy. And this heavy is all over the place -- resonant, multi-layered vocals (apparently Mr. Jollett was lying to us during sound check), an enchanting violin intro and delicate guitar as the scene is set, all gradually picking up and culminating with heavier guitars, drums, keyboards and frustrated, angry vocals at the finish line. Yikes.
They even managed to get my drunken punk rock date to jump around on a few of the faster songs and whine about wanting more on the shorter ones. With Jollett on vocals and guitar, Steven Chen on lead guitar, Noah Harmon on bass, Daren Taylor on drums and Anna Bulbrook on keyboards and that nasty violin -- this lineup is also NOT hard on the peepers.
Debut album out this week -- just picked it up and you should too. And see them live, here:
8.21 -- Tempe Marketplace, Tempe, AZ (sold out)
9.1 -- House of Blues, Cleveland, OH
9.2 -- Mr. Smalls Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA
9.4 -- Theater of Living Arts, Philadelphia, PA
9.5 -- Roseland Ballroom, New York, NY
9.6 -- Virgin Festival - Island Park, Toronto, ON
9.8 -- St. Andrews Hall, Detroit, MI
9.9 -- Newport Music Hall, Columbus, OH
9.10 -- House of Blues, Chicago, IL
9.11 -- First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN
9.13 -- Endfest - Marymoor Park, Seattle, WA
9.14 -- Monolith Festival, Morrison, CO
9.16 -- The Wiltern, Los Angeles, CA
9.17 -- The Warfield, San Francisco, CA
9.18 -- House of Blues, San Diego, CA
9.24 -- Exit In, Nashville, TN
9.25 -- Parish Room @ HOB, New Orleans, LA
9.26 -- Warehouse Live, Houston, TX
9.28 -- House of Blues, Dallas, TX
9.30 -- The Loft at Center Stage, Atlanta, GA
10.1 -- Cats Cradle, Carrboro, NC
10.2 -- 9:30 Club, Washington, DC
10.3 -- Orpheum Theatre, Boston, MA
10.4 -- Webster Theatre, Hartfort, CT
The 411: This was a great show. Classic indie rock but catchier, moodier and with a hint of the Strokes (without all the pretense). Get yourself to a show.
