I have a tendency to get stuck on certain local bands. Generally, these aren't the big local bands, the ones that get a lot of recognition outside of Los Angeles, just the ones who, for some reason or other, strike me as having unexplainable something that points to a promising career. When this happens, I will go and see the bands over and over again until they either break up or go on such a long hiatus that I manage to lose track of the band and miss their return. In college, the highest honor belonged to the Autumns, who I saw at least once a month between 1997 and 1999. Then there was Paige, who I played as often as I could without breaking playlist rules on KXLU and saw almost as often as the Autumns until the band broke up and disappeared. Now, I think I might be getting stuck on Pop Noir.
Last night was my second Pop Noir experience, and also the second time I was the DJ on the same bill. In the two months that have passed since I last saw the twins, they have grown and improved vastly as musicians, songwriters and performers. Considering that the band was impressive back in February, I take this to mean that Pop Noir really has something. The songs from Demonstration, which you can hear on the band's My Space page, sound richer onstage, far surpassing the quality of these recordings.
The highlight of Pop Noir's set was a presumably new song "Don't Fool Yourself," which does not appear on Demonstration, nor is it featured on My Space or the band's website. "Don't Fool Yourself," relies a bit more on Joe's guitar than the other tracks and Luke sings in a huskier tone, with more maturity injected into the snarling vocals. Carlos and I both declared that this is the band's hit.
I'm always looking for the hit, which is probably the result of spending the bulk of my adult life DJing in rock-oriented dance clubs. DJs are always looking for the hit, but with rock clubs, it's a bit different because, although we are looking for strong dance numbers as techno and house DJs do, we also need music that is structured as a proper song. We're basically using the club setting to fill the gap left by radio's shrinking playlists but we also have to keep the floor moving, so the song has to be immediate, something you can sing alongside after the first time you hear it. "Don't Fool Yourself" is one of these songs. If I had a copy of it (hint, hint), I would play it in my sets. Hopefully, the boys will release "Don't Fool Yourself" soon. In the meantime, though, you can join the fanclub. I was going to post the video for "DIY" below, but am getting error messages.
Romak & the Space Pirates opened up the night with one of those sets that people could either love or hate. They are very noisy with lots keyboards that alternately crash and screech. In this sense, the music is vastly different in a live setting than in its recorded form. I really enjoyed the set, which seemed to fall somewhere between punk rock and performance art. "The Data Wasn't There," which I believe was released on one of the bands cds, is the band's strongest number, but "Retirement Song" was the most fun live, particularly with its inclusion of a girl in a plastic face mask and a wig made from ass-length yarn pounding on a computer keyboard. Meanwhile, Cute Phase looked utterly frustrated onstage, but they played well. The drum machine was mixed far too low and was barely audible from the bar area, but the Robert Smith-style guitars translated nicely to the live stage.
Below is my DJ setlist. People were asking about both Michael Mayer remixes, so take my advice and don't miss his set at Coachella this weekend.
The Visions-- Into the Nightlife
Delays-- Valentine
Erlend Oye-- Sheltered Life (The Youngsters Mix)
The Glass-- Hear the Music (Mylo Mix)
Golden Boy and Miss Kittin-- Rippin' Kittin (Ellen Allien Mix)
Metric-- Dead Disco (Kylie Kills Mix)
Goldfrapp-- Ooh La La (Benny Benassi Mix)
Sugababes-- I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor
Smash TV-- Queen of Men
Baxendale -- I Built This City (Michael Mayer Mix)
Miss Kittin-- Happy Violentine (Michael Mayer Mix)
***
The Knife-- Heartbeat (Rex the Dog Mix)
New Order-- Subculture
White Rose Movement-- Girls in the Back
Flat Pack-- Sweet Child O' Mine
Cut Copy-- Future (Zongamin Mix)
The Gossip-- Standing in the Way of Control (Le Tigre Mix)
Hard-Fi-- Hard to Beat
Daft Punk-- One More Time
Test Icicles-- What's Your Damage? (Alan Braxe and Fred Falke Mix)
Madonna-- Let it Will Be (Paper Faces Mix)
***
Editors-- Munich (Cicada Mix)
Royksopp-- What Else Is There? (Thin White Duke Mix)
Depeche Mode-- Suffer Well (Tiga Mix)
Digitalism-- Digitalism in Cairo
Starsailor-- Four to the Floor (Thin White Duke Mix)
Rock Kills Kid-- I Need You
Art Brut-- Formed a Band
***
Soft Cell-- It's a Mug's Game