Alex Cooper of Parlovr

I almost didn’t even go to this show at Glasslands on Friday (8/19), due to a spontaneous apocalyptic thunderstorm. The upside was that the storm was fleeting, but the downside was that I missed most of Caged Animals. I only caught the last song of their set, but what I heard sounded promising. I also noticed that there was already a pretty decent crowd for there having just been a flash flood warning, so that may have been a good indicator of Caged Animals’ credibility, and also the rest of the lineup.

Exit Music

I found it slightly amusing that Exitmusic came out looking like the exact opposite of Caged Animals, mainly because all the members of Caged Animals had been wearing all white, and the members of Exitmusic were distinguishable by the fact that they were all primarily dressed in black. Soon it was be clear that this wardrobe choice accurately reflected the band’s dark musical leanings.

Aleksa Palladino

Exitmusic is the duo of Brooklyn-based Aleksa Palladino and Devon Church, but on this night they had help from a percussionist and a beat conductor with a laptop and a couple synths. Palladino had a strong alto voice that gave the songs an extra ominous touch, and both her and Church played guitar riffs that mingled shimmering post-rock moments with gothic tendencies. Their songs were drawn out with much repetition, building and building to a powerful crescendo before flickering out like a candle at the end. For the last song, Church drew a bow across his guitar strings for gutteral, atonal distortion while Palladino switched to piano for an especially eerie melody. “We are sparks of light, but we hide it,” she sang solemnly. Then just like their other songs, their music slowly flickered out.

Louis David Jackson of Parlovr

Moving on to the exact opposite again (what an oscillating ride this lineup was), Parlovr (pronounced like “parlor” but the band also called themselves “par lover” during their set) came bouncing out with their child-like energy and mischievous personality. They rigged up three homemade arrow lights, one for each of them, that were each a color of a stop light – red, yellow, and green. This was just for variety, because the band was on go, full on. This trio of what’s been dubbed “sloppy pop” music makers explored many different genres, from punk to garage, and I swear I heard some honky tonk in there, especially on one song that singer/guitarist Louis David Jackson prefaced with, “this one’s for your dancing shoes!” There was definitely a little bit of T Rex’s “I Love to Boogie” in that one.

Jeremy MacCuish

Not that Parlovr simply just borrowed sounds from past decades. They made everything their own, going from spoken word storytelling to full out screaming and animal calling. Jackson and singer/guitarist/keyboardist Alex Cooper jumped around and sang all out with hair in their face, while Jeremy MacCuish went wild on the drums. At times, all I could make out was a blur of his red hair with arms flying out. I’m also pretty sure he had a tooth knocked out, proving just how much of a hot mess in the funnest way these guys can be. Both their songs and their energy were infectious, which of course made me want to dance more than capture the band’s image on film, but I did manage to steady myself long enough to record their last song, “Pen to the Paper.”

Yellow Ostrich

This show also happened to be Yellow Ostrich’s CD release party. After Parlovr’s set I had completely forgotten that they weren’t the headliner of the night, but it turned out that this carnival of awesomeness not only not over, but gearing up for the grand finale. BestNewBands.com’s Daniela Montelongo previously covered Yellow Ostrich, describing them as “If Animal Collective, Vampire Weekend, and Morning Benders, had a love child and added a shot of whiskey.” I asked the couple next to me who were getting giddy over the glances they stole of the setlist what they thought of Yellow Ostrich, and all they could do was gush over how awesome the band was.

Michael Tapper

From the stage setup I thought they would have a small horn section, but it turns out these guys are multi-instrumentalists who are adept at multi-tasking. Bassist Jon Natchez switched up between a couple of horns and a bari sax, while vocalist/guitarist Alex Schaaf has a sampler pedal board that lets him sample at least a dozen different loops. He tap tap tapped his way through looping his own vocals layer after layer while drummer Michael Tapper lended occasional backup vocals and what looked like really festive sleigh bells on his kit.

Schaaf’s voice reminded me of the singer of Clinic, and his lyrics were just so sweet and playful. They played through their new album in it’s entirety, plus a handful of new songs and covers, including a cover of David Bowie’s “Heroes,” which Schaaf stated they would only do this one time, and never again. Yellow Ostrich’s songs were inventive and well-crafted, and after seeing them play I totally understand why people would gush about how awesome they are.

Caged Animals is also playing Union Pool on August 25^th, and then Shea Stadium on September 1^st, so there’s a second and third chance at them. Exitmusic is also playing again on the 25^th, but at Mercury Lounge. It looks like Parlovr has limited show dates, but their Twitter is informative and fun. Yellow Ostrich is on a full-fledged tour through November. Check out their shows page for all dates.