Dead Leaf Echo at Union Pool
About the only type of band I would try to shoot at Union Pool is a psychedelic band. The venue isn't exactly known for its lighting, but these psych bands are pretty reliable about bringing their own. It is as though they realize that however evocative the music may be, staring at four people who are mostly just standing there tends to kill the mood. And since you can't rock out all the time... fancy lighting is a very good idea.
Dead Leaf Echo call themselves an art collective, which I guess in practice means that there is an extended cast of part-time band members. I know that a fellow named Christo (ex-Vandelles) has played guitar with the group and that they have had a few drummers.
Their sound is in the introspective, MBV-influenced school of psychedelia in which the goal seems to be taking emotions like passion and despair and presenting them in an intellectualized manner. It makes sense then that the latest Dead Leaf Echo album is based on a psychology textbook. The thing is, the tension between the rawness of those emotions and the coolness of the presentation bursts out every once in a while. You can rock out some of the time, and they do. I imagine that shoegaze fans will happily bliss out to the coolness. Personally I prefer the moments of tension, but to each his own.
Posted: 5/11/2013 at 7:13pm Tags: Dead Leaf Echo Union Pool
