Titus Andronicus and Parts and Labor at Bowery Ballroom 3.6.10: A Tale of Awesome Drumming

How fucking awesome was this show? Too bad for you, resident film critic Chris Cabin, but you missed greatness.

Billed as a CD release party but since that term sounds like a 7th grade circle jerk, we'll just call it an awesome concert with two awesome bands (sorry first openers, didn't get to check it, I was running through Lost on the Roku (parentheses within parentheses: Roku is the greatest thing ever) because I'm a noob and I need to catch up before the series finale) which made for an awesome time.

Parts and Labor and then Titus Andronicus were so good as a one-two punch, my whiskey soda actually tasted better during their sets.

Parts and Labor is a band that fuses what is be weighty and excellent electronic melodies and modern punk rock into sonic crunches; each song is propelled by some very, very heavy drumming. I don't think I've heard a rock drummer able to get a bigger, rumbling sound out of their set in a long time. Of course, Bowery has great sound but this was insane, the guy was a machine. Tom toms can be powerful pieces to the overall feel of the music and this band had it so right, moving with an unwavering speed that was perfect for shuffling your feet. The one problem was the vocals were a bit on the quiet end for the bass player. The keyboard and almost pushy use of non-guitar sounds was invigorating; you weren't watching a chi chi indie band, but a band that believes in their sound and looks comfortable. The music is pretty simple when you strip it down, but the melodies are very strong and they are able to dress up the songs with a lot of power. They just feel contemporary and it's really interesting to listen to them.

Great sound continued when Titus took the stage; the drums sounded like you were listening to a studio cut. In my review of their new album The Monitor (which officially releases tomorrow), I praised just about everything. Their concert left me with an even better appreciation for their epic songs; it's just really awesome to hear live. During "Four Score and Seven":

"When they see the kind of person you really are,
You won't be laughing so hard, no
you won't be laughing so hard, no
you won't be laughing, you won't be LAUGHING, no
you won't be laughing so haaaaaaaaaaard..."

and then the lead singer shouting, "I WAS BORN TO DIE JUST LIKE A MAN"...

...was cathartic; it was just so damn righteous.

Should I say something like, "Titus Andronicus is like an American version of The Pogues"? I mean I could, but then I guess the Dropkick Murphys would get jealous...

I don't know. I mean after seeing this band, they seem like they have a lot going for them and under all the yelling the music is very accessible and appealing. When I think about stuff going on in rock music I know there are plenty of fresh bands out there, but when you get down to it, there's only so much room on your iPod (or whatever you use). So you think, well goddamn, we need a big band(s) whose music can be a shining example of how to really rock. I'm always looking for that even though I never can keep up with the latest bands or anything. I've found it in Titus Andronicus.

I should also really start a "this is me typing as I'm dozing off to sleep" entries. I woke up and I was like what the hell was I writing.

CD Review: Titus Andronicus - The Monitor

This is a pretty kick ass album from some of New Jersey's newer finest due out on March 9th. You got period references from the album title on down, which is awesome because there's a sense of consequence, of dramatic weight to historical ideas, even if it's just mentioned in passing. Oh and in the epic first track "A More Perfect Union" they mention the Fung Wah Bus, which has taken my ass PLACES.

The songs have such a rugged feel to them, the mid-tempos giving room for the crunchy instrumentation and vocals to affect you and grab your attention without dragging its feet. It's a total rush and you feel invigorated by it, because under all the raucousness there is a sometimes folk-punk feel that keeps everything grounded. Kind of reminds me of the Husker Du song "Folklore", which is one of my favorites by them. The whole album feels at times like a punked up version of In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, which may seem like a big comparison but it rocks that much. They are here to teach you a lesson. A lesson of how to breathe fire and ruin someone else's pristine and proper shit just for the hell of it.

There is some dilly dallying between some of the tracks, sound bytes, I would have probably left it as a separate track like "skits" in rap albums. I understand it helps the overall flow of the album but sometimes the listening experience can't always be so patient. Yet, on the snappy interlude between "No Future Part Three: Escape From No Future" and "Richard II" the songs are bridged so wonderfully. In fact, I'm actually really liking the interludes, it is meant to round out the album and it makes it more of a continuous journeys, and I love journeys like I love potato skins, and I am all about the potato skins and run on sentences.

As I stated before there are some tracks that break 8 minutes in length, but for as much as I hate uber-long songs, I love The Monitor's lengthy work because it switches things up within the music, adding melodies along the way and keeping me constantly engaged, like the biggest, leave-everything-on-stage Bruce Springsteen tunes. The intros, the outros, pianos, rumbling toms on something like "A Pot In Which To Piss" is exhilarating.

It just feels like such an American record. Not that I'm a nationalist or anything, but couple this on a road trip with My Morning Jacket and you're pretty set for the east coast. I always have thought that there has been too much posturing in indie music and bad bands that look like they should just stick to being in Paper Magazine. These guys have testicles, a bad ass name, and for as much as people shit on Jersey, they should hold that state in esteem after listening to The Monitor.

For more on them, go to their MySpace (yes, still exists): Titus Andronicus

They will be swinging by Bowery Ballroom for The Monitor record release show with Brooklyn's excellent Parts and Labor. When you say? March 6th. The album is out on March 9th. 6. 9. I'm a pervert.

Titus Andronicus "Four Scores and Seven Years" parts 1 and 2 from Pitchfork



Parts and Labor "The Gold We're Digging"

Football, or Ted Leo on Sunday December 6th at Bowery Ballroom?

Since the show is sold out at the Bowery (I'm glad I have seen Ted Leo and the Pharmacists on more than one occasion, because they are pleasant in that they take less time to set up than most and have a blend of hyper rock and roll that spells out words like conscience and progressive and empathy and meaning) I'm going with football, but they will most likely be spilling the beans on their new record out on March 9th of next year called The Brutalist Bricks.

Brooklyn Vegan has the artwork and the free mp3 from indie patron saint Matador Records, who is putting out the album, all the tracks, as per usual with albums.

Free mp3 called "Even Heroes Have To Die". Sounds heavy. Here's the artwork. It's just mostly yellow.