By Caleb Easterly
Last Friday at (Le) Poisson Rouge featured terrific performances by Danielson and WHY?, both bands that push the boundaries of genre and instrumentation.
Danielson has a unique sound that is nevertheless cobbled together from familiar elements. Daniel’s powerful falsetto calls to mind Robert Plant; their lyrics have the irony of Jeff Tweedy’s and the twang of early Wilco. But their music is by no means derivative, showcasing radical harmonies and vocal combinations.
They show their eccentric side live. They all wear nurse uniforms, supposedly to show their music’s healing effect on the audience. Daniel promised a laid-back set, but on tracks like “My Lion Sleeps Tonight” they really let loose. Daniel’s voice leaps between octaves just as the band leaped between genres. “Perennial Wine”, originally by one of Daniel’s former projects, is a beautiful folk, guitar-driven song.
However, WHY? were the stars on Friday. Before they got on stage, the crowd started chanting for Yoni, aka Jonathan Wolf, the band’s leader and the original WHY?. Yoni has worked on diverse projects including the cult favorite cLOUDEAD, often focusing on scathingly obtuse rap lyrics.
Songs from WHY?’s strongest and most popular work, the full-length Alopecia, prompted enthusiastic sing-alongs from the large crowd. The crowd even took over the chorus from “By Torpedo or Crohn’s” – this audience was clearly filled with longtime fans.
The many new songs that were performed showed Yoni’s formidable rapping skills. They lack the catchy hooks of Alopecia, but are a throwback to the band’s darker material, which is a welcome move away from the occasionally cloying Eskimo Snow.
Seeing WHY? live is a raw and compelling experience. I saw them a couple of years ago at Pitchfork, and they’ve only got more assured and powerful. They’ve got a single coming in a few weeks (the announcement with a sneak preview can be viewed here) and a new album on the way – definitely something to look forward to.
More pics on the photo page.