Radar Brothers celebrated the release of their latest album The Illustrated Garden on Merge Records with a release party at Spaceland. While Pitchfork usually lambasts most Los Angeles bands, they finally got it right designating the album with a score of 7.0.
Spaceland had filled in nicely by the time the Radar Brothers took the stage close to 11pm. The soft patter of drums by Stevie Treichel lead into the launch of "Dear Headlights". Jim Putnam delicately strummed his Ibanez guitar while adding his sun soaked vocals.
The Radar Brothers have expanded from a three piece to include Dan Iead on guitars (formerly of The Broken West) and Brian Cleary on keyboards (formerly of the Movies) which nicely expands their overall sound. Cleary added some extra keyboard pop to the beginning of "Quarry" as Putnam and Iead added woozy guitars.
Be Hussey consistently anchored the bass all night while adding extra harmonies to various songs. The '60s easy going vibe of "Horses Warriors" is aurally intoxicating with such nuances as a little cowbell to keep the track stuck in your head. "Chickens" shined with its sing along harmonies and ringing guitars.
Sonic similarities between older slow Pavement songs ran across my mind during "And The Birds". I think it could be due to the tones and jangle of the guitars. "Rainbow" is the uptempo number on the album with its galloping beat and bubbly keyboards coming to the surface of the song.
The Radar Brothers did dip into their extensive back catalog tackling such tracks as "Shifty Lies", "On the Line" and "Rock Of The Lake" before closing the evening with a knockout version of my favorite track off the album "Xmas Lights". For those not going to Coachella, catch the Radar Brothers at the Echo Curio on Saturday April 17th. They also will be playing the Walking Sleep residency at the Echo on Monday April 26th. I hope to see everyone there.
1 comment:
Can't believe you went to this instead of The Wedding Present/Ringo Deathstarr at the Troubadour!
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