In-Turned Glasses: Two Door Cinema Club at Bowery Ballroom, May 12th

In-Turned Glasses: Two Door Cinema Club at Bowery Ballroom, May 12th

My semester finally ended, so I have a little over two weeks before I take two classes over the summer (one leading me overseas to London for five weeks, and I intend on having Rick Astley Rickroll me at least once while I’m there). As a result of temporary freedom, I finally have time to write new material that doesn’t regard lackluster coverage on environmental issues or corrupt journalists.

I have a lot of unfinished material that I’ve been keeping hold of until I had time to release it. Before finishing any of that, though, I went to a show on Wednesday. I’ve been looking forward to seeing Two Door Cinema Club since Brooklyn Vegan announced their gig at Bowert Ballroom on May 12th a few months ago. Their material from their debut release Tourist History has been on my iPod since I first stumbled upon them on Hypem, and their tunes have been my motivation to get my arse to the gym. But, I had a feeling I was going to be let down slightly.

Here was my main issue with their set. I understand that it was their very first tour, so their set wasn’t going to be a two-hour affair like the Patti Smith gig I went to at Bowery in December. The boys rocked out enthusiastically and were as lively as the Irish should be. However, like the problem that I had with The Killers when I saw them five years ago, TDCC had an extremely bland set list. Every song on the album was played, along with two other songs not on the record. 75% of the audience has heard of the “unknown” songs, Hands Off My Cash and Kids. There were no real surprises, and I’m a girl who really doesn’t like predictable shows. Hell, I even predicted the douchey frat boys being let loose from their Axe-smelling cages and wrecking havoc behind me (one of them, a Troll-ish character, kept smacking my straw hat and stroking my friend’s, a male’s, hair). Come on, I know you boys have covers of Poker Face and Phoenix’s Lasso. Couldn’t you have thrown that in for my sake? If I see them play at Webster Hall in the fall, I’m hoping at least one of those covers is included.

The fact that the uber-ginger lead singer, Alex Trimble, resembled an adult version of my cousin also made me feel slightly uncomfortable.

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Try To Educate A Black Sheep: My Current Obsession Over Two Door Cinema Club

Try To Educate A Black Sheep: My Current Obsession Over Two Door Cinema Club

It has been a while since I stumbled upon a really breakthrough band. Nothing really good has been leaking as of late, or perhaps my taste has deteriorated since I am officially over the hill at the tender age of twenty-one. In the past two weeks, however, I have went from casually hearing this band once on Hypem to buying tickets for their stint at Bowery Ballroom in May to streaming their album six times on MySpace in the span of the day. Yes, folks, I have a new obsession, and their name is Two Door Cinema Club.

Singer/lead Ginger Alex Trimble, guitarist Sam Halliday and bassist Kevin Baird are bringing back indie disco all the way from Ireland (I speak like indie disco has existed since the actual age of disco, but this is not the case). Despite the lack of percussions, one can hardly tell with alternative beats coming from a well-programmed Mac. While their first song I heard, “Do You Want It All” is a lot mellower than the rest of their album, it still has that rhythmic pulse that truly brings the song to life. “Something Good Can Work” has the worldly sound that Vampire Weekend adopted on their debut album, while “I Can Talk” turns into this frantic, Hot Chip-esque orgy of noise that somehow meshes extraordinarily well together. Since the MySpace leak, I’ve grown a fond appreciation for “Come Back Home”, “This Is The Life” and “You’re Not Stubborn”. However, my favorite has remained “Undercover Martyn”. It’s a ditty that combines an opening that slightly resembles Foo Fighters’ “Everlong”, Minus the Bear riffs, and castanets. God knows I love the castanet.

Anyway, check these lads out. They’re one of my picks for Big Deals in 2010.

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