So The Rapture is a musical phenomenon that I'm quite caught up in at the moment. Their performance at the FNX Best New Music festivalish thing I'd been looking forward to for a while, and it turned to be, along with the Franz Ferdinand show in February, the best show I've been to since I started going to all these shows last summer. That's saying something, because I've been able to see a lot of bands. I'm not sure how many, so let me count (some of these opened for other bands, such as Ambulance, which I saw open twice before they headlined TT's last week...I'll only listen bands that don't suck):

Ambulance Ltd (3x), The Stills (2x), Elefant (2x), Ratatat (2x), The Sleepy Jackson (2x), Radiohead, The Strokes, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Franz Ferdinand, Interpol, Wilco, The Rapture, Nada Surf, The Killers, British Sea Power, Longwave, Foo Fighters, The Von Bondies, Stellastarr*, French Kicks, Pernice Brothers, Starsailor, Seachange, Pete Yorn, The Thrills, Laguardia, On the Speakers, Lambchop.

Obviously I'd put Radiohead and Wilco way ahead of everyone else in terms of my own overall affection for their music, but that's kind of the problem--I'll never see Radiohead up close. The FF show was particularly great because it was their second or third show ever in North America and they seemed really taken aback by how much people were into them. It had that feeling that you were seeing something you wouldn't see again--FF in a really small venue, before they became huge. I guess we'll see if they can really make headway in the states, but among annoying music snobs like myself they're certainly the nazz right now.

But returning the The Rapture--the show was incredible. They weren't coming on until 12:50 at Avalon, so I decided to skip out on Elefant at 10 and watch the Flames-Lightning game instead, which was great because the Flames won in OT and I was on the road by 11:30. I parked and walked into Avalon to catch the majority of the Von Bondies show, which was pretty good I guess. I'm not a huge fan of theirs, though they seem pretty good. Their lead singer, Justin something-or-other, has a great rock voice--he can do the scratchy/screamy thing, but also sing more normally. They also have women on bass and guitar, plus an Asian drummer, so they're doing a nice job in the diversity department--not every band I see is a bunch of scrawny white guys.


Luke, Mattie, Gabe, and Vito

I had seen a video for my current favorite song, "Sister Savior" which I thought looked cool, but it didn't prepare me for what was to come. My first inkling was reading the Pitchfork review of Echoes, which uses the band's live shows as a launching point for the album review. Pitchfork misses some big points I think, and I believe they mistake the vocal accreditation a couple times, but the enthusiasm is right.

No one sets the tone for what The Rapture is all about quite as much as Gabe Andruzzi, the "multi-instrumentalist" that was added to the lineup a little more than a year ago. Gabe is the kid you went to school with your entire life but never heard a word from, and then at some point in high school he showed up at a dance or party or whatever and did the weirdest dancing you've ever seen but didn't care what he looked like because he was just feeling it, and suddenly everyone thought he was hilarious, he was the man, and he had carved out his niche. And did anyone talk to him then? Nah, not really, but as far as people were concerned, Gabe was fucking cool.

Gabe Andruzzi is incredible because he rocks the cowbell. He also plays keyboards and sax, the latter of which also has no right to be involved in rock music, ever since Dave Matthews started giving that guy in his band who plays the sax the obligatory solo in every song. But getting back to the cowbell, the legend of this instrument has only grown since the Chris Walken/SNL sketch that christened the phrase "I gotta have more cowbell!" Even so, let's not kid ourselves--there's a reason this instrument was picked out as the heir apparent to the triangle and tambourine as most insignificant instrument that someone still plays. Except no one even really plays the cowbell. Well Gabe Andruzzi does, and here's why it works: he plays the cowbell like it's the instrument most central to making you dance your rhythmless ass off. He dances and grooves around the stage, his legs taking jerky, jack-knifing steps in any direction they please, as though commanded by some part of his brain he has yet to discover. He looks like a retarded kid square-dancing, but with much better rhythm than you'd expect from someone with a mental handicap. He bobs and dips and pounds on his cowbell, and everyone in the crowd dances and laughs because this is fun. And that's really it. The band members seem really atuned to the fact that you're having fun, and, in a nice twist, they really enjoy the fact that everyone's having an incredible time--clearly, they missed "dis" day at rock star school, where you learn to be disaffected, disinterested, and distanced from the audience.

Luke Jenner sort of plays guitar, and he sings pretty well live, which surprised me because he definitely has some weak moments on the album. After the show he jumped off the stage and started giving everyone who wanted them high-fives and hugs. Cool. Mattie Safer plays a mean bass and seems to enjoy being in a rock band; he grooves along, juking his head and shoulders to the music while also singing some vocals, most notably on "Sister Savior" and "The Coming of Spring." If I weren't a musical no-talent I'd probably have a similar demeanor while I played. But I am a musical no-talent. Vito Roccaforte has a great name and his drums and synth work drive the band's sound. But I couldn't see what he was doing really, so I'll just say big up to Vito and leave it at that. "House of Jealous Lovers" is the song that got them the buzz initially, and after the show I started playing it over and over, as I had with "Sister Savior." Now only two months until I get to see them again (at the Tweeter Center unfortunately).