Live Review: Annex Concert, Marquette University, Friday, February 4, 2005

This is the real world—not some contrived reality show. This is the real world of real guys trying to make it with real bands.


AltCountry: Lucid Fate
Friday, February 4, saw my friends, Jeremy Werner, Josh Werner, and Elijah Leclair, continue with the next chapter in their band’s career. Hailing from Two Rivers, Wisconsin, now based in Milwaukee, Lucid Fate has grown from twins with guitars to twins with a friend on drums to a band joined by Matt on bass for this latest show. They have grown in more than line up, though. Lucid Fate has become more confident with their own sound emerging more and more. This was clear as they opened the evening of three bands at the Union Sports Annex on the campus of Marquette University in Milwaukee. For being a cemented-walled basketball court that looks like an indoor yard for a prison, the space actually has really good sound.

Lucid Fate began the show with “I Worry” awash in Josh’s guitar effect over Jeremy’s acoustic. Leclair is really finding his own on drum fills, fleshing out the rhythm that has been present in the twins’ music, the rhythm that’s wanted to be punctuated by drums since Jeremy and Josh’s first basement demo. “Fragile Heart” revealed a hard-edged sound rising out of Jeremy’s acoustic beginning, letting Josh show much more of a rock lead.

Third up was their cover of the Wallflowers’ “Heroes,” which found them relaxing, enjoying the song, as a good cover should, letting the band settle into a groove for the night. The AltCountry sound in Josh’s guitar added to the Wallflowers’ original Folk-influenced American Rock.

“Busy World” comes with a full-on band sound, but by this point in the set, I also commented that we needed more vocal harmonies from Josh and less of Jeremy announcing that every song was an “original.” [However, Jeremy did later explain that the crowd at the Annex usually doesn’t expect a band to do a set of predominately original material].

Out of a live sampled wash comes “I Fake It,” a tender song building to a smoke-filled bar, swaying rocker. “Shy” lets the Wallflowers influence the band with a little Britpop thrown in especially thanks to Leclair’s back beat (“Elijah, more please!”). The song also featured some nice solo work from Josh.

“She’s My Hero” began with Jeremy’s excellent William Shatner speak-sing which moved into a Jason Mraz-style rap-sing setting up a song like a good ol’ 50’s tragic ballad. Yet, then Lucid Fate shakes that off to emerge with the Jay Farrar/Canyon sound still intact. While the Werners have never claimed to be influenced by AltCountry artists, they’re not arguing with the similarities to Farrar’s work—an artist they weren’t familiar with until I told them about the comparison I was hearing. The Meat Puppets and Drivin’ ‘n’ Cryin’ are also mixed in there somewhere, although the band is fleshing out into more rock, less of that country-end of the AltCountry category.

Lucid Fate’s new demo should be available soon at www.lucidfate.com. Watch Music Spectrum for future chapters in their career.

Earlier looks at the career of Lucid Fate:
February 16, 2004
April 17, 2004


Garage Rock: Closed Mondays
Lead singer Andy Zinsmeister wore a full suit and tie as Closed Mondays took the stage. Along with his glasses, it was hard not to think of Elvis Costello and the Attractions—pop songs with full punk core. On the first song, “Darkness Falls,” I was also thinking of College Rock bands like Volcano, I’m Still Excited! and Mood Elevator (minus the Who comparisons).

By the second song, “As Of Yet,” I couldn’t stop thinking of the Attractions (it’s the suit and tie!), but it’s definitely the Attractions taken out to the Garage. The Garage Rock category puts Closed Mondays in good company. There’s the tongue-in-cheek college-campus-humor Too Much Joy which translates into some playful Garage Rock as on Closed Mondays’ “Into Somewhere”—a song that has the playfulness, some muscle drumming from Thor, even though it doesn’t have all of the quirkiness of Too Much Joy.

Zinsmeister’s Rickenbacker-styled Gibson lends that rockabilly look and sound, but then “Stay Awake” breaks down into a Hard Rock styled bass/drum/guitar slamming sound. “Welcome Home” had me actually think they’d been influenced by Lucid Fate, but the song has a much harder backside causing an Everclear comparison to be shouted into my ear.

Where “Welcome Home”’s Hard Rock elements slowed into an anthemic ending, it led right into a really great drum solo from Thor to kick off “The Way.” Here’s where the other part of the Garage Rock category starting coming to mind: Mother May I’s cleart-vocal-punk, Soul Asylum’s pop-meets-edge, and Goo Goo Dolls’ ability to craft the pop hit like a phoenix rising from the distorted, bar rock ashes.

Yet, coming back to appearances, you’ve got Zinsmeister’s glasses which leads you to think you’re seeing Buddy Holly “Not Fade Away” at thrash speed. “Disappear Again” made me write down the Ramones too, but as Thor’s incredible drumming drove the show all the way to the closer, “Almost Always,” Closed Mondays remains in the Garage Rock category, clearing pulling pop icons/inspirations into the fuzz-backed, muscle-drumming rock.

Watch www.closedmondays.us for the release of their first album.


Jam Band: Tullamore Dew
Emerging from the Two Rivers music scene with Lucid Fate, Tullamore Dew features Justin Einerson on acoustic guitar and vocals, Elliot Paulin’s drums, and Ryan Duescher on bass. Paulin and Duescher lend jazz and Jam Band components to Einerson’s pop rock songs. Their set opened with “Corners and Cracks,” exemplifying the intro/song/outro pattern to the swirling, grooving, atmospheric tones.

“Anxious,” a song from the Start There demo, is an acoustic folk-rock song given such dimension by Paulin’s drums, who uses cymbals like a rhythm guitar to pluck out the chord changes. “So Co” is the same song made anew by Duescher who contributes more of a funk bass line and Jazz-influenced Rock bass melody breaks.

Two covers, “#41” from the Dave Matthews Band and “Learning to Breathe” from Switchfoot, should’ve helped the band relax, but they didn’t. Plus, unfortunately Einerson’s falsetto isn’t up to it, and Tullamore Dew’s going to need keyboards or a lead slide guitar in order to work in Boyd Tinsley’s violin work in DMB’s Jam Band vamps.

With Paulin laying down a train track rhythm, Tullamore Dew went back into their own material, going to my favorite Elliot Paulin drumming on “Distorted Views.” An older song of Einerson’s, “Bad Timing” has much more Folk-influenced Rock sound, straight lines without the jazz influences or jamming.

“Frequency” shows a multi-dimensional band going from an acoustic line like Starfish-era Church to DMB bridge breaks to straight rock choruses. “Intrigued” has a laid back jazz groove like something from Jason Mraz. Those jazz lines, jamming possibilities, and pulling from many different sounds are the strengths that Tullamore Dew will need to explore and exploit to rise above the noise out there. Einerson’s songwriting needs the punctuation of Paulin and Duescher’s very intriguing rhythm section.

Thanks to the bands and the Union Sports Annex at Marquette University.