My Thursday night at Union Hall began perfectly – with a juicy hamburger. Turns out this classy bar in the heart of Park Slope doesn’t just have warm lighting, a library/lounge and (I kid you not) two bocce courts. It’s got great food too.

And of course, live music. I ventured out to Union Hall last night to see Old Monk, who you might remember from my rave review of the Cake Shop show back in mid-January. At Cake Shop, Old Monk was just one three fantastic bands playing that night, along with Emil & Friends and Ravens and Chimes.  Last night at Union Hall, Old Monk shined even more – although it may have been by comparison.

Pic from the Cake Shop Show. Sorry guys, my camera died!

Old Monk makes constantly shifting hard rock music. They jump fluently between genres, sudden time changes and off-kilter chord progressions. Their sound is tied together by lead singer Josh Carrafa’s surprisingly sweet, innocuous voice and by their outstanding musicianship. Carrafa’s gigantic hands cruised over his guitar frets effortlessly, while Ian Burns kept his drum playing fast and tight and Tsugumi Takashi held up the floor with simple, uninflected bass lines.

Carrafa and Burns have been playing together for eight years, and it shows. They know each other’s musical tastes intimately, and on stage, they operate as one person. Takashi is a newer addition to the band, and it’s definitely evident that she’s not quite as assimilated into their sound. That being said, she does her job, and I can’t imagine Old Monk’s sound without her.

Judging by how often Old Monk’s music switches genres, you’d think that their songwriting process would involve cutting-and-pasting ideas together from all three band members. As it turns out, Burns and Carrafa bring their songs into the practice room almost complete. Their genre-bending is instinctual, a result of their multifaceted interests and influences. Carrafa was a Metal kid, and you can hear that in his lightning-fast riffs and in his quirky-yet-powerful chord changes; but Old Monk has more Garage Rock and Punk than anything else. It’s obvious, in any case, that the band feels comfortable on the fence. I’ve been finding that newer bands, with our generation’s easy access to the entire recorded history of music at their fingertips, are feeling less and less inclined to draw genre lines or to take inspiration from one kind of music or another. Old Monk is one of the most convincing of these types of bands I’ve seen in New York.

Last night, Old Monk was followed by Post-Punk/Experimental Rock group I’m In You. Their longform songs use a very small collection of chords and trance-like bass lines, and are repetitive to a fault. At first, Chris McHenry’s vocals held my attention – he screamed the lyrics more than sung them, and his broken, nasally voice contributed an edge that kept me listening (think Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock). But over time his voice became a detriment to the band’s overall sound, and I wished for more control at pivotal moments.

Their recorded music is much different, and much more effective. They use a variety of instruments to fill out their sound, and their orchestral texturing stops the songs from being too repetitive. Check out their MySpace page here.

Rope was the last band of the night. This was the first show of their month-long residency at Union Hall. They’re a classic Garage Rock group that writes wistful tunes over a bank of distorted guitars –three of them, in fact. Unfortunately, the three-guitar attack was usually too muddy to work. On a few occasions, when each of the guitars were doing their own thing, their sound coalesced into a something unique and powerful. Maybe as they get used to Union Hall, they’ll figure out the balance, and those moments will become the norm. I’d go see one of their later residency shows, either on Thursday, February 17^th with P.G. Six, Antietam, and Black Swans, or on Thursday, February 24^th with Heavy Hands and Federale.

Union Hall’s basement venue is unfortunately underdeveloped, compared to the main space above. A small bar is lodged at the back of the claustrophobic room, a few benches are lined up to the right of the dance floor, and the dimly lit stage itself looks a little cramped. It isn’t a bad venue, exactly, but after the bocce courts I was expecting something creative and unique.

Despite the venue’s small size, it managed to feel empty all night. A few people wandered down to take a peek at what was going on, but the crowd was composed almost entirely of friends and family. Caraffa blames it on the cripplingly cold and icy weather, and I tend to agree with him, plus the fact that it’s a Thursday night. Still – Park Slope, what the hell?

Old Monk plans on showcasing a bunch of new material in the very near future. If you’re in the New York area, you can hear them at Spike Hill on Friday, February 18,^th or back at Cake Shop on Monday, February 28th. Do it. I swear, you won’t regret it. Here’s a little hors d’oeuvre: Old Monk’s “Warm Moustache.”

Warm Moustache by Old Monk