A few years back, I had booked a band called Riah to play at Transmission on the night before Thanksgiving. They were a small, local group who sounded like the Faint circa Black Wave Arcade who managed to pack the house. While we had a really successful run at the Parlour, this was the one night that stood out in my mind as being completely off-the-hook, a night that set off a string of events too involved and ultimately boring to post here. Time passes and as the crop of super-60s rockers across the city suddenly sway towards the 1980s, Riah morphs into Love Like Heaven, a very swingin' 1960s by way of Madchester group inspired by a Donovan song.
While it is definitely a bit odd to see the formerly Jarvis Cocker-looking singer with his hair brushed forward like Damon Albarn in the video for "There's No Other Way," I must say that I actually prefer Love Like Heaven to Riah. The songwriting is a bit more polished now, with stronger melodies and more immediate guitar riffs. The band's drummer quit a little over a week ago and, since this gig was already booked The Mojo Filter's drummer Anish filled in behind the skins. Despite the last minute line-up changes and with two days of practice, Love Like Heave performed quite well. The last song of their set (I don't think Eric the Guitarist told me the name) was by far the strongest piece in their set, reminding me of an old Charlatans U.K. song without the acid house-tinge on the backbeat.
Having seen The Mojo Filters quite a few times at this point, I can honestly say that they are one of the tightest bands in town, never failing to perform at the top of their game. The highlights of this set included the wah-heavy "Dreaming in the Meantime," which is fairly new and not on the previously released cd and a cover of "Soul Power" by Derek Martin, which Clifton the Bassist told me was lifted from a Funkadelic song, if I'm not mistaken.