Photos by Philip Cosores
It’s amazing the power that performing music can have on people. Prior to his set, while the first support act was on, I saw Bradford Cox enter the building and he looked absolutely exhausted. He didn’t stop to talk to anyone and just hurried backstage. Later on, when he told us onstage that he’d just returned from Japan, it made sense – but as he told us he was all smiles, looking healthy and happy. Purely due to the fact that he had the opportunity to share his music with us, Bradford had completely transformed and seemed absolutely delighted that anyone would give him the opportunity to air his weird, spacy loops in public. It’s this kind of enthusiasm from any performer that keeps the audience involved and interested, even when they go a little off the deep end sonically.
Someone who is trying to learn how to pull off this same feat was opening act Frank Broyles. Sonically it made perfect sense as to why Broyles should be the opening act for Atlas Sound; a single guy on stage messing around with guitar loops and echoing vocals. Unfortunately for Broyles his music is still quite simplistic, without many loops, and with some trite lyrics and bad vocals on top the whole affair wasn’t entirely appealing. There were some glimpses from Broyles that he has good ideas, but I feel he really out to have taken a little more time practicing in his bedroom before he aired his songs in public.
The second act was Carnivores, a band whose inclusion on the bill was a little more suspect since their garage rock styling were much rougher and louder than either of the other two acts, but their enthusiasm was appreciated. Amidst wailing guitars the bass and driving rhythm of the drums dominated the mix, creating quite a chaotic sound, which singer Caitlin Lang tried to navigate with her vocals and keyboards. Altogether the sound was not displeasing, but perhaps a little out of place sandwiched between two acts like Frank Broyles and Atlas Sound.
Upon his arrival to the stage, you could have easily mistaken Bradford Cox for some kind of 50s or 60s rock star (as is the look he seems to be going for these days judging by his album cover). Bequiffed and looking quite smart in a shirt, upon picking up his acoustic guitar and placing his harmonica around his neck I almost expected him to bust straight into a traditional country song, but thankfully instead he began his meticulous method for setting up a song for the first time in the night. Initially recording the guitar loop, once it was to his satisfaction he removed his guitar, placed on his bass and recorded the next piece. Gradually the opening track “Recent Bedroom” from his first solo album Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Not Feel. Amidst the cresting and falling loops Cox’s lyrics felt more vivid than ever.
For the remainder of the set Cox mostly stuck to his most recent album Parallax. The crowd didn’t mind this one bit, even cheering when the recognizable opening notes of “Te Amo” were played. Cox spiced up the middle of the set with a couple of cuts from Logos; “Walkabout” was at more of a marching pace than its Panda Bear-featuring recorded counterpart, while “Shelia” was the most straightforward and rocking song of the set (Cox even went and played some drums at its conclusion).
Like all good performances though, Atlas Sound’s finished at its pinnacle. “Modern Aquatic Nightsongs” suited its title by being the most amorphous song of the night, the various guitar and effects loops rising and falling like waves with Cox’s inquisitive lyrics about love floating around on the surface. The final song of the night was “Terra Incognita,” which was also possibly the simplest. For the majority of the song Cox set one loop and then played acoustic guitar and sang over it. The song has possibly Cox’s best lyrics and vocals to date, so to hear them without too much else going on around was spellbinding, and then for Cox to add more and more sound for the song’s ending portion until it reached a glorious crescendo was the perfect way to end the set.
Yes, the set was only seven songs long, but considering how long it takes for Cox to go through the method of setting each one in motion, and then how dense and intricate they are once they are ready, it’s perfectly understandable. By the end of the set Cox looked like the polar opposite to how I’d seen him when he arrived, he even took time to come back to the stage and shout out to the DJ for playing some Philip Glass. By the time he finally left the stage Cox looked like he had more energy and excitement than at any other point in the night, which is great, considering he had to play another show later that night!
Atlas Sound setlist:
Recent Bedroom
Parallax
Te Amo
Walkabout
Shelia
Modern Aquatic Nightsongs
Terra Incognita
