what about the sun king?

Crap.

I had this whole masterplan for this post, and a lot of it centered around posting a song from Earlimart, a really solid, airtight around the edges band from LA that I got to see last night along with the aforementioned Band of Horses at King King. But, unfortunately, I've run into some technical difficulties (insert profanity here). Soooo, maybe you'll get that song later, maybe not, but for now it's going to have to wait.

ANYWAY, good show. I thought Band of Horses lived up to the line-around-the-corner hype quite nicely, definitely benefitting from a subtraction of some the fuss and fuzzle of the studio. Had a really raggedly energetic presence, with a nice indie Neil Young thing going on, right down to the lead singer's plaid shirt and trucker hat (Trucker hat? What year is this?). There were two songs, one from the record, one a cover, where I thought they really leapfrogged their influences and became something else, something that stood up and started shaking hands around the room. I'm looking forward to hearing more out of them and where they go next, but they've got a few steps yet before I stop thinking of them as more than My Morning Jacket's kid brother.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Earlimart, meanwhile, needs something, and I'm not sure what. They got a lot of well-earned love for their last album "Treble and Tremble," a lot of which because of its dedication to and inspiration from lost friend Elliott Smith. And it's a good record, fantastic in spots even, as was everything they played last night. But...they're really at their best when they get good and noisy, when their delicate and occasionally Grandaddy-esque swooshes and grandeur gets mucked up with some sloppy guitar and some just blood and bullets energy.

Like this: "Unintentional Tape Manipulations," by Earlimart
(Thank you, Savefile!)

This song is one of those instances where the band takes the noise and chaos and beauty of big guitar rock and embraces it....loosely. Everything in these five minutes sounds just filthy. Broken down, and not a little angry. Much of the time Earlimart's sound can be very constricted, controlled...cold even. Here things are breathing, shifting, running into eachother and maybe even happening at random (at least as random as you can get in the studio). Live they flirt with this messy side much more, but when ever they get right to the edge of some real craziness they always pull back before breaking through the edge. A lot of people may like that little tease, that floral-lined trip to the brink, but I want to know what they would find there! Where would they go? Would all my hair fall out? Would I go blind? And I want them to want to know as well.

They're unsigned right now and shopping around some songs, but here's hoping they get a little nudge soon, a little invitation to a place that might allow for a few more unintentional consequences.