It’s hard to imagine much good coming out of car problems, but if you’re going to be stranded, you might as well be stranded in a place where you can catch a show. That happened to me last week, and while I could have done without the car troubles, I did get to see Ezra Furman & The Harpoons play because of it. Thank you faulty tail-lights! They were opening for another band, and while I was all set to write a review of the great show they put on (and the fantastic album they released last year), I have been completely sidetracked by the opener for the opener. Just one more reason you should always see the opening acts…you never know what you will find.
The Tallest Trees were billed as the opener for the opener, and from the start, it was clear that they were going to put on a great show. They played songs that mixed synthesizer resonance with conventional instruments to create an almost hypnotic sound with pounding bass drums and mesmerizing rhythms.
Tallest Trees – “Alouette!”
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What is most striking about their self-titled album, Tallest Trees, is that it never seems repetitive, it never becomes stagnant…an all too common downfall for bands who try to dive into the realm of the electronic. Thomas “Trees” Samuel and Dabney “Voice” Morris have managed to find that unclassifiable middle ground between genres. It’s not quite psychedelic, it can’t be called electronic, it’s certainly not conventional, but it is exceptional.
Tallest Trees – “All My Fears”
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And as though one unexpectedly good opener wasn’t enough, the Tallest Trees magically transformed themselves into the Naked Light midway through their set. Like the high soaring Superman spinning around in a phone-booth to emerge as the more mild-mannered, but equally endearing Clark Kent, the drummer started playing the keyboard, the keyboardist picked up the guitar, the synth player grabbed a bass, the sampler sat down at the drums, and presto-changeo the Tallest Trees had become the Naked Light.
James Wallace & The Naked Light – “The Bench”
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The Naked Light, the musical creation of James Wallace, is a more traditional indie-folk band than the Tallest Trees. They do not rely on synthesized sounds and sampler machines, but mix gentle guitar picking with pleasant piano backing and finish the sound off with impressive lyrics and moving story-telling. Like the song, “Saved at the Bottom,” which combines a subtle southern twang with clever lyrics and finishes it all off with the melancholy refrains of a horn section:
Even today if you asked what I was doing
I wouldn’t have said dying
I’d say my head was too far left and the only way to center
Would be to fall real hard into the cold shallow water of the James…And I said have you ever found the perfect sentence to describe the way you’re feeling
And you say it out loud for the whole class to hear it
And the teacher says, “Boy go over there to that principle bench and sit down.”
And so you sit down but you forget all the good things you thought
Because you were so angry and the whole day goes by
While you wonder if the stucco on the ceiling is pointed in or out.
James Wallace & The Naked Light – “Saved At The Bottom”
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And this is when the Naked Light are at their best, when they strive for that folk sound, that little hint of Nashville that permeates most of their songs. The twanging guitars, the enthusiastic rag and jazz of the piano, the whining of the saw (yes, a saw), and of course the horns…yet at times, they try for the psychedelic, for the experimental, but it falls just a little short. Like the brief intermission “Smoke, Love, Smoke,” which acts as a transition, but fails to bridge the gap between the song it follows and the song it introduces.
James Wallace & The Naked Light – “Smoke, Love, Smoke”
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While “Smoke, Love, Smoke” may fall short, their song “When You Pass Through the Valley” is a beautiful and effective transition that uses the psychedelic to transport the listener fancifully between two songs. This is clearly a sign of a band that is not afraid to experiment, to try new things rather than be confined and limited…and this is why I Smile All Day, I Smile All Night is such a great listen. The Naked Light may be a little rough around the edges, but why should this be a problem? They’re the kind of band that may fall, but they get right back up again, dust themselves off, and dive head first and blindfolded into the unknown.
James Wallace & The Naked Light – “Dancing Star (No Naked Light)”
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I’ve never seen a show quite like that the Tallest Trees and the Naked Light put on last week, but if that’s what I get every time my car breaks down, then I might have to invest in a crappier car.
Posted by the Needle
