Concert Review: Big Digits, The Ruby Suns, Tilly & The Wall

So last night my sis and I went to show in downtown Boston. I hadn't been to a show since TMBG, so I was about do. I'd been wanting to see Tilly & The Wall for a while and they'd come through Boston several times, so I gave'em a shot.

Both my sister and I had early days today, and she had over an hour to get home that night, so it was a risky venture. But in the end, I think it was worth it.

We started at 9PM with Big Digits, a "band" I'd never heard of before. This opening, opening band will probably get the longest description because, quite frankly, it blew my mind. They started with one guy on the stage in front of his Macbook and a Wii remote in his hand. He had on a T-shirt proudly proclaiming "Whoomp! There it is!" and some sport shorts right out of the early 80s. As my sister said, this guy might have rolled out of his BU dorm room and straggled across the street to the Paradise. He proceeded to do his DJ thang, drinking beer with his right hand and changing samples and bass lines with the Wii remote in his left hand. DJ Mark E. Moon definitely subscribed to the "More Bass is Better" school of thought. We were up in the balcony, and when I commented to my sister that the bass was a little out of control, she said, "Yeah, it's making my boobs jiggle." "Mine, too", I said.

He never took his eyes off his screen, and sort of bopped up and down to the beat. It was one of the most awkward things I'd ever seen on stage. My ever-observant sis spotted another oddity. I dude with a ninja hood on over at the end of the stage was REALLY getting into it. Soon afterward, things got more awkward.

The ninja guy (sporting very tight, bleach white, denim cut-offs) jumped up on the stage with another dude. Then the rapping began. Big Digits hail form Cambridge, MA. They were very white, and they were there to rap and dance for us. For the next half hour, they busted every dance move from the last three decades or so. The Robot came out several times. There were definitely some New Kids on the Block moves. Some random flailing. They rapped about fashion, being progressive...you name it. Ninja guy's hood started falling down, revealing a handlebar mustache and some mutton chop side burns. At that point he looked kind of like he was wearing chain mail.

For a while, I just found the entire thing hilarious. The rapping, the dancing, the DJ still waving his Wii remote around...it was too much. Then I ran out of snarky comments and just sort of became hypnotized by the entire thing. By their last song, when the non-ninja guy whipped out a tambourine to accompany their rap, I kind of wanted to be friends with these guys. At one point, my sister said, "This is like something you'd see on YouTube." Funny she mentioned that, because here's just a tiny taste of what you all missed by not seeing Big Digits live:


The Ruby Suns were up next at 10 (whoa, it was getting late!), but they were a bit of a letdown. I like their most recent CD (see a brief review of Sea Lions here), but I'm pretty sure there were about a dozen people playing the songs for that album. There were exactly two people up on that stage last night. I realize it's a long trip form New Zealand, but c'mon! Try as they might, the synthesizers and multiple instrument playing did not compensate for the loss of that many people. The music went from something kind of tribal and fun to something very, very 80s, and not the good 80s. And really, it was only 1.5 people up there, because I'm pretty sure the woman was on ludes. I can recommend the album, not so much the live show. I'm assuming these Kiwis are much better playing at home.

Finally, at 11PM, a good hour or so after I usually go to bed, Tilly & The Wall came on. Full disclosure: we did not stay for whole set. I have no idea how long they played. I just knew that we had to work in the morning and my sis had a long drive ahead of her. That said, what we saw rocked. Yes, their outfits were a tad pretentious. Yes, the tap-dancer-as-percussionist is a bit gimmicky. But they put on a true performance, and they sounded great. I was actually pretty mesmerized by Jamie, the tap dancer. She puts enough energy into her dancing than you can usually get out of an entire band. And the vocalists, Neely and Kianna actually sound much better live than they do on CD. The whole band sounded better live. I've liked T&tW since their first CD, and they definitely have a few great songs and several good songs. But live, I think all their songs sounded great. I highly recommend seeing them live if you can. The video below is for one of my favorite songs of their newest album. It doesn't really do the live show justice (and in a bit of a departure, it's actual drums), but it's still a fun song:

Pot Kettle Black from Team Love on Vimeo.

March Music Madness

I've purchased way too much music this past month--I fully admit I've been binging. But a lot of great stuff came out, some of which I've already written about here. Below are some mini-reviews and a list (in general order of not-my-favorite to favorite) of most of the stuff I've been listening to that was released in the month of March. Albums that have already been reviewed on this blog will not get much of a review, just my oh-so-clever "verdicts".

12) British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?
This album's just not doing much for me. Verdict: Like eating Ben & Jerry's vanilla ice cream. It might be "high quality," but it's still just vanilla.

11) Punch Brothers - Punch
This album is the Next Big Project from Chris Thile, the very talented mandolin player from the now defunct Nickel Creek. The musicianship here is incredible, but I'm only sporadically in a blue grass mood. There's definitely a lot of promise here, but I know this one won't get a lot of play time. Verdict: Like listening to something Doc Watson-y, but with 20-something angst.

10) The Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride
John Darnielle is an excellent song writer, yes. But his music isn't particularly creative, and his voice is downright terrible. There are, however, some great nerdcentric songs here, including "Lovecraft in Brooklyn," How to Embrace a Swamp Creature," and "Michael Myers Resplendent." Yet I still think he peaked with Tallahassee and everything since then has just been pretty OK for the most part. Verdict: Like struggling to read a brilliant poem that has been scrawled in chicken scratch handwriting on wet newspaper.

9) Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Real Emotional Trash
This album hasn't grown on me as well as I'd hoped it would. I'll stick by my initial review--good, but not really good. Verdict: Like listening to either of the last two Malkmus albums.

8) Flogging Molly - Float
I remain pleasantly surprised by this one and continue to enjoy it. Verdict: Like learning that your favorite Irish pub not only pours a perfect pint, but also serves up mean bowl of stew.

7) Elf Power - In a Cave
I've spent the last six or seven years trying to get people into Elf Power, but as far as I know I haven't won over any converts. They're a consistently good band from the old Elephant 6 Collective (wow, I'm an official pretentious music blogger now for mentioning that!), and I'd rank this album better than their last (Back to the Web) and nearly as good as their 2004 release, Walking With the Beggar Boys. I'd recommend The Winter is Coming or A Dream in Sound before this album to Elf Power newcomers, but this is a little indie pop bit of fun with the usual multiple instruments and catchy hooks. Verdict: Like visiting an old friend who's stories are kind of familiar, but thoroughly entertaining nonetheless.

6) The Ruby Suns - Sea Lion
I ended up getting this album (and I have to confess, there's a good chance it came out before March) because of the song "Kenya Dig it?" It pretty much captures the tone of the whole album, which is kind of Animal Collective-y, but in my opinion, much more accessible. And Pitchfork gave it an 8.3, for what its worth. Verdict: Like getting dragged to go see some "experimental" band and grudgingly realizing you really like it.

5) The Ditty Bops - Summer Rains
The Ditty Bops is another group I'd really like more people to discover, but it's been a hard sell. They got some publicity last year for touring across the country on bicycles, but hey, their music's pretty good, too. As their name suggests, their songs are pretty much ditties, but they're fun. Abby DeWald and Amanda Barrett harmonize beautifully together, and they just really seem like they're having a good time. Oh, and they're also pretty cute (see the video from my favorite track on the album, "I Stole Your Wishes"). In any case, this is the perfect spring album--any winter blues I still had disappeared upon hearing it. Verdict: Like walking into a vintage clothing store and realizing that it's where all the cute girls in the neighborhood hang out (yeah, sometimes I don't understand my verdicts either).


The following three albums tie for second place!

2c) The Kills - Midnight Boom
Though I'm not quite as enthusiastic about this album as Clyde Squid, I will acknowledge that it's excellent. I will definitely seek out their earlier stuff. As much as I like a group like The Ditty Bops, I would not drive down the street blasting them out the car windows. I could definitely do that with The Kills. Verdict: Like The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The White Stripes had a love child.


2b) The Dodos - Visiter
If I haven't already convinced people that The Dodos are a band to check out with this post, or with my recent review of their new album (which includes its verdict), then I give up.

2a) She & Him - Volume One
When I first heard about this album from M. Ward and the actress Zooey Deschanel, I posted about it because I thought it sounded pretty cool. I took the post down relatively quickly because I was kind of embarrassed by my own enthusiasm for what could have been an actress's ego project. It turns out that my enthusiasm was justified: this album is really friggin' good. The songs, all of which were written by Deschanel with the exception of a few covers, tend to have a bit of a retro feel to them--think Motown in its hay day. Deschanel is not a phenomenal singer, but her voice is pretty and comfortable and I definitely don't get tired of hearing it. You don't hear a lot of M. Ward on here, but his careful production and guitar playing is always evident. From the sweet and eerily catch first track, "Sentimental Heart" to the closer, "Sweet Darlin'", I'm truly impressed with this album. Verdict: Like finally getting to meet the cutest girl in school and realizing that she's also wicked smart, really nice, and has a great sense of humor.

1)Jim White - Transnormal Skiperoo
Still a strong contender for my favorite album of the year so far. Verdict: Like going to a Carolina pig pickin' with your best friends on a perfect southern day, hearing stories that make you laugh and cry, and going home really, really happy.