by Laura Wasson
One thing you don’t expect to discover when you’re running a little late to see a band on a Friday night: a sort of empty venue. I say “sort of” because there were people at Knitting Factory, mostly hanging out in the front bar, but no one was by the stage even ten minutes before the show was scheduled to start. Had I misread the time? Where was everyone? After a few awkward minutes loitering somewhat purposefully outside, I followed a group in for the first act, The Aviation Orange.
The band took to the stage to an admittedly small, but very enthusiastic group. Clearly, most in the crowd were friends, and in some ways that was nice. It almost felt as though I’d snuck into a cool garage party I hadn’t actually been invited to. The band’s sound is undeniably eighties-tinged; something I’m hearing more and more these days, North Highlands being just one recent example from Roe on the Rocks. The combination of Mike Nesci (guitar) and Cherie Hannouche (keys) singing together had a sort of The Human League feel, although less British and actually more accomplished vocally. From Alex Beninato’s echoing guitars (so The Cure, Echo and the Bunnymen, et al.) to Josh Harri’s fevered drumming and Kate Roger’s smooth bass, you got the sense this was a fun and talented group of musicians.
The songs themselves had a poppy, New Order vibe. I‘m beginning to wonder if there’s a band in Brooklyn that doesn’t owe some great debt to the trailblazing, prolific group. The Aviation Orange stands apart though in that they also manage to incorporate a slight, ever so slight, touch of nineties’ angst (think Better Than Ezra); an important distinction in a field that is quite full. They played a few songs from their latest EP including “Trammels”, “East of Here”, and “Ingenuous Us”; all the sort of fun, easy to swallow tunes that would be right at home on a John Hughes’ soundtrack.
Up next was HITS, previously Jump Into the Gospel. Another eighties inflected New York band, these lads tend to favor the less esoteric side of the decade with obvious flashes of Prince and The Clash coming to mind. Lead singer Louis Epstein is clearly a descendant of the tribe of Johnny Rotten and Joey Ramone, but with a more Adam Ant-esque style of singing. The renamed band’s new (or latest?) EP is due next month. If their new material is anything like the insanely catchy “Powerlines” and “Photovoltaic”, it’s worth looking forward to. Break out the skinny jeans and leather jackets, kids, poppy power punk is back in a big way.
Headliners We Are Serenades closed out the night with a rousing, if decidedly mellow set. Adam Olenius (Shout Out Louds) and Markus Krunegard’s (Laakso) also favor the New Order School (that should probably just be a thing at this point), although with more current references like Phoenix and M83 coming to mind too. There must be something in the water over there in Sweden, because truly most of the pop music originating from the country now is insanely good and We Are Serenades is no exception. Olenius and Krunegard are both veteran musicians, and their talent for crafting memorable, melancholy songs befitting their memorable, melancholy vocals is considerable. They played a number of tunes off their latest album, “Criminal Heaven” including the wonderful “Come Home” which really does sound like a hit record from 1984 in all the best possible ways. A welcome and unexpected surprise was the band’s cover of Christopher Cross’ “Ride Like the Wind”. With an icy, Scandinavian makeover the classic sounded positively fresh and exciting.
At one point Olenius mentioned that the last time they visited Knitting Factory, sometime close to Christmas, they played to a crowd of fifteen. While the room was hardly packed, it was wonderful to see the band’s genuine appreciation for the people that were there and the crowd’s real appreciation for them. Not every show will be a sold out barn burner. But that doesn’t make them any less valuable. In a way, maybe it makes those gigs more special.