On yesterday’s agenda, I wrote, “It might be possible to see many of these bands tonight, but it will require careful planning and fast walking.” With one new band that I was really excited to see, another that I love, and one more that had been recommended to me several times over playing within a few blocks of each, I decided to give it a try:

Archives played their first show ever at the incense-filled Neumo’s last night and everyone showed up early to catch them playing five songs. I can’t remember seeing the club so full for an opening act, but the big curtain dividing the room may have heightened the sense of well-attendedness. Live, they sound a lot like the demos posted online [myspace]. All of them singing, most of them playing guitar, a chorus of happy ghosts and ethereal harmonies. It’s very reminiscent of Carissa’s Wierd with the slow pileup of back and forth vocals and gently building intensity, with lyrics that are still moody but not quite as maudlin. The closer, “Torn Blue Couch” ends on a downright sunny and upbeat note. I can’t wait to hear what they come up with to fill out an album (or more than a few songs as openers).

In a nearby warehouse decorated with cartoon character bedsheets and a giant robot, Golden Boots is wrapping up a set of throwback party rock. They, like others perpetuating an odd revival, have a saxophone. Kids are waving their hands in the air on command and the frontman is singing something about the war. They’re having a good time and are way over schedule, but they eventually call it quits long enough for Phil Elverum to come onstage and set up his gear. Shockingly enough, he’s plugging in an electric guitar and the previous bands file back out, an indication that it’s going to be one of my favorite sorts of Mount Eerie shows. That is, the kind where he brings out a band, teaches them some chords, and rocks out (e.g., a long-ago tour with the Mools and Nikaidoh Kazumi).

It’s like the lowest of lo-fi: why bring sampling pedals when you can teach your colleagues a few loops between songs and play bandleader for a while? Phil seems to revel in it and the new material, which you might have heard last month at the Vera Project, is transformed into noisy electrifying ruminations on familiar themes (the moon, now as a blue puddle of light; un/certainty; “nothing exists for a glass of water in the lake”). Phil seems to relish having a backing band, improvising, and throwing in a few rock star jumps for good measure.

Before wrapping up the set, Phil brings out his acoustic guitar for a solo performance. I can’t tell whether it’s a case of forgetting a guitar strap or not having enough microphones, but he plays the last four songs clutching the instrument below his chin. Even though the crowd didn’t appear to arrive as true believers — everyone was standing up! no singing alon! I don’t remember ever seeing a Mount Eerie show where people weren’t sitting story-hour style — but it felt like a few might have left converted. During the last part, the audience was quiet enough that the din of chatter from the alley was audible over the music, with its koans, songs about bleeding, the wind, discovery of shadows.

We already spent a couple of posts telling you about Under Byen and they lived up to expectations. Huddled on the small stage at Chop Suey they often disappeared into the wallpaper of their swirling kaleidoscope projections. The songs are loud and long and it’s hard to tell where one ended and the other began, leaving the audience awkwardly applauding prematurely. Singing through a distorted microphone Henriette Sennenvaldt’s vocals act like another instrument, fitting nicely with the swelling cello, multiple drum kits, effect pedals, and violin. After a short set, they return for a long encore, complete with more transfixing visualizations and ending with the gorgeous lullabyesqe “Tindrer” [myspace].

Related posts:

1. wednesday agenda : mount eerie, archives, under byen
2. why? and mount eerie played last night at the vera project
3. tuesday agenda : the national, st. vincent, mount eerie, the mools
4. thursday remindery agenda: tickets, us, why?, mount eerie
5. ballard : temporarily mountainous tonight (mt. eerie at the paradox)