This seems to be a fun little game to play. Earlier this month, Robert and I were taking stabs at the line-up. We were leaning towards Jesus and Mary Chain or My Bloody Valentine for the reunion band, although Smashing Pumpkins is probably the most likely choice.

After a day filled with rain, a Christmas party and another round of shopping at the Tower Liquidation Sale, Carlos and I headed to Chinatown to see The Autumns. We showed up at Violaine just in time to catch Glider, who opened the night.
What I liked best about Glider was the way the vocals seemed like an after thought. Rory Carruthers' vocal lines are few and far between. When he does sing, the lyrics, if there are any, are barely decipherable. He sings as an accent, augmenting an already full guitar sound. Carlos and I only had one real issue with the set. The second-to-last song was way too loud. Loud is good and, in the case of bands like Glider, it is necessary. However, that song just seemed to cross the red line, where volume deters from the experience as opposed to enhancing it. The set was excellent overall.

Check out Glider on MySpace.

Right before The Autumns appeared, I ran into my friend Robbin, who almost immediately grabbed my hand and dragged me to the front of the stage, which was our usual and customary position back in the days when we saw the band play at least once a month. She jumped up and down and pointed to the setlist. Most of it seemed to be shorthand for song titles, but we recognized one word clearly.

"Garlands."

Yes, the band were set to play their version of the Cocteau Twins classic that solidified our stance as evangelists of The Autumns. Why is it that we were so taken by a cover? Simply put, Cocteau Twins songs are designed to confound musicians and it is enevitable that when one attempts a cover, one will unintentionally ruin said song. That was never the case with The Autumns. Back in the day, the cover wowed us simply because it so closely resembled the original, but with a male singer hitting Liz Fraser highs. Now, the cover rules because it is different, faster in tempo and grittier in delivery, but still maintaining every bit of post-punk, 1980s weirdness that existed in the original.

Saturday night's show wasn't just about the cover or even a fan favorite like "Boy with the Aluminum Stilts." The band played some new music off a forthcoming album to be released through Bella Union. Everyone seemed impress by the band's latest efforts. Where The Autumns sound has generally relied on oddly soothing noise, the band's more recent songs are almost jolting. Carlos, who had never seen The Autumns live before, described it best when called it "prog-pop," a combination of unexpecting guitar progressions and concise songwriting.

Here's a video for you:



Listen to The Autumns on MySpace.

After the band, Robbin and I ended up on the dancefloor with Tony, Guy and Daniel. Five of us took up the entire space, nearly knocking each other over as we dipped and turned pirouettes to Cocteau Twins and Dead Can Dance. Carlos sat in a corner and looked as though he was trying not to laugh at our goth dancing.

When we had finished gothing it up, Carlos and I decided to head over to Atomic to catch some of Larry's set. Tony and Daniel opted to join us, so we walked from one end of Chinatown to the other in damn near East Coast cold. The walk was only the length of one cigarette and the post-storm winds were frigid and we kept walking faster and faster, despite it being 1:00 a.m. The guys kept asking me if we were there yet and I kept saying "No, it's another block or so."

At Atomic, Larry was in the midst of a soul set, so Tony, Daniel and I shifted gears and started hopping and handclapping instead of spinning and bending. We closed out Atomic and then walked back to our respective cars. Once we reached mine, we stood there, cold beating against us, because we started talking about some sort of nonsense that I can't recall. I kept thinking that I would love to hang out with my friends longer, but it was just so damn cold that Carlos and I decided just to return home.