2 posts tagged “reviews”
No, not Vox. And no, not Trott. [1]
Voxtrot. As in that hip new brit pop band out of Austin, TX that sounds like Belle and Sebastian, The Smiths, and every other hugely adored indie band you can think of.
We bought tickets the day of, and fuck you very much Ticketmaster. Our $12 tickets each had $9.50 added in service charges. What, did you send an individual messenger to deliver each ticket to the Troubadour box office?
The show itself was quite good. We arrived while the band was just coming on. The place was packed, with everyone looking at everyone else and thinking, "I didn't realize this many people knew about them."
Their songwriting is excellent. Their showmanship will come in time. Lead singer Ramesh Srivastava has a great voice, though it lacks some polish and subtlety, he's got a good indie pop range. Really, the only problem I had was with Ramesh's exuberance. He's like the president of the student body, gangly arms gesticulating wildly during a pep rally for his band. You can tell he's smart. But compare him with Stuart Murdoch from Belle and Sebastian or with Morrissey, and there's a lack of restraint. He's smart, but doesn't come off as clever, because he's literally spewing everything he can think of in between songs.
Maybe enthusiasm is the new cool, and I'm just getting old. I just doubt that Morrissey ever announced the address of an after party during any of his sets.
[1] Dave gets credit for putting 2 + 2 together.
I bought this album this morning despite seeing a bus stop bench advertisement for it on every block here in Los Angeles. Having enjoyed prior efforts Her Majesty The Decemberists and Picaresque, I was ready for a little nasaly Colin Meloy while cleaning the house. What I got was a significantly better album than the previous two. The musicianship and production, even the scope (most songs are 5 minutes or longer with two contributions topping 11 minutes each) are well beyond the ambitions of their prior albums.
Will this be the album that puts them on the greater public's radar? I don't think so. There's still something a little too literary and baroque for the mainstream. But the opening tracks, which are much more rock than folk-oriented, could get some attention. Having seen them perform at The Echo, a tiny little club, here's to hoping they don't become prohibitively successful (which I consider playing at any venue that has, say, seating).
