Math and Physics Club and Tullycraft at the Crocodile
Where were you people last night? You certainly weren’t at the Crocodile. Were you at the WaMu Theatre for Interpol, which was sure to be the most boring show on earth? At Neumo’s, planning to kidnap Graham Wright to give to me for my fantasy muppet band? At home, huddled in the dark around that charcoal grill we told you not to bring inside? In a way, I’m glad you weren’t there. Part of me wants these bands to get famous because they deserve it, but the rest of me wants their shows to stay in small cozy rooms with little friendly crowds.
It’s difficult for me to review a show from either of the bands, because seeing them play is a lot like the best parts of a long distance relationship–I see them so seldom and so briefly that I just don’t have the time to become accustomed to the quirks, to be annoyed by what might irritate newer, less fond viewers. (Like the reviewer from The Scenester who was made so uncomfortable by MAPC’s lack of stage presence that she found it more comfortable to stare at her own shoes, for example.) I find all of the awkwardness and self-deprecation and occasional forgotten lyrics charming, which would perhaps not be the case if any of them played as often as I’d like them to. I am remarkably uncool, it’s true, but it’s seldom that I descend into squeeing fandom so completely. So it’s most important that you know that you missed something wonderful at the Crocodile last night.
I’m pretty sure that if I tried to make a comprehensive review of last night’s show I’d just devolve into emphatic hand gestures and giant smiles, so I’ll do this quickly.
Math and Physics Club had some technical difficulties when something plugged into something else wasn’t doing what it was supposed to do (what? that’s as technical as I get), and this seemed to make the whole band even more uncomfortable on stage than usual, with Saundrah standing off to the side looking fondly amused at her fumbling bandmates. The songs off the new EP fit seamlessly in with the rest of the catalogue, and they closed with the stand-out track “Do You Keep a Diary,” the clear winner out of all of the new material. It felt like a remarkably short set although in hindsight it really wasn’t. Now that this round of new band babies is getting a little older, I hope MAPC will start to play…well, probably not regularly, but a little more often. (Confidential to the band: LA got to hear the Stone Roses cover and we didn’t? That hurts.)
I think that Sean Tollefson from Tullycraft just gets more charming as time goes along. He put on a little skit, and confessed his trouble remembering “Stowaway” well with, “You know how sometimes you see someone on the street and they know who you are but you don’t really know who they are?” It’s really sort of sickening just how great they sound these days, because who knows when they’ll disappear and start playing shows in Wisconsin instead of Seattle again?
One of my favorite things of Tullycraft’s live show is how much the band seems to enjoy each other. They’re happy and teasing onstage, and bands who are having a good time are always so much better to watch than bands who aren’t. They brought Evan from Awesome! up to play the trumpet for a couple of songs and promptly played them in the wrong order, which Evan took with characteristic good cheer. Tullycraft’s new album is a little…noisier than the last one, and Jenny Mears’ harmonies are more important than ever before.
If last night wasn’t enough (or if you’re one of the many jokers that missed it), Tullycraft is playing tonight around 6:00 at the South Lake Union Discovery Center, and both Tullycraft and Math and Physics Club are scheduled to play at Neumos on December 4th.
