INDY'S WEEKLY ALTERNATIVE NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTING ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

Spiritualized, Dirtbombs, Thunders; Vogue, July 21

Oh, J. Spaceman, you’re so coy. Nary a word to the crowd, maybe some clapping in our general direction at the close of the show, no encore (even with a mic readjustment by a stagehand that got hopes up). Still, at least you looked in good health, sporting a freshly laundered Roky Erickson t-shirt, looking much better than you did in that photo NUVO ran alongside last week’s preview.

J. was joined by keyboard (sounding a bit like a B-3 much of the time), guitar, bass drums and a couple backup singers. To my ears, Spiritualized’s “space rock” sounds like shoegaze with backup singers and an organ— the same petal notes, occasional feedback, rather slow tempos, tender and downcast vocals. But it’s that organ, those backup singers, that really make the difference. The vibrato and drone of the organ creates that spacy sound that plays off the rest of the band, sending out sound waves that smash off the bass and guitar, establishing the key around which the song slowly builds. And those backup singers reflect Spiritualized’s progression into more gospel or R&B-inflected territory — the sound still remains firmly rock-based, but the singers give the music a bit of a lilt and rhythm.

It occurs to me that Spiritualized might be called literally experimental at times, in the sense that they hit on a chorus or riff and then try it out, over and over again. Sometimes the guitarist or bassist soloed over these repeated chords, particularly in the second half of the show, or even the drummer, in a closing solo that was both virtuosic and completely fascinating musically. More often that not, the band explored the sound of those drones, the experience of compulsively repeating that chorus, the slightly different sound of repeating the same riff over and over with a little more organ or a little more intensity on the drums.

The first half of the show was a bit slow and laden with ballads: “Shine a Light” and “Lord Let It Rain On Me” ventured into prog-rock, Procol Harum territory. The lyrics and delivery on “Cheapster” are fun and percussive, in the monotone vein of Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” “Soul on Fire,” from Songs in A&E, sounded like as much of a country rocker as Spiritualized could ever play, given the instrumentation.

It was the close of the show when things picked up: the band had a chance to play out, solo, and dared to play what might be colloquially referred to as experimental music for a few passages — dissonant noodling against an uncertain backbeat. “Take Your Time,” performed without backup singers, was one of the more dynamically varied tunes, with a slow build throughout. A standout, “Come Together,” was fairly aggressive lyrically and musically compared to the rest of the set.

All in all, I wouldn’t mind if Spiritualized took a bit more from their prog-rock predecessors for the live show, taking a bit more time with a song, giving the terrific band more time to solo, not trying to cram quite so many ballads in a set. But despite the complete lack of involvement with the crowd and what seemed to be a lack of energy through the opening of the show, it’s still great to see a band/recording project as inventive, talented and influential as Spiritualized at the Vogue on a Monday night.

 

I’m not so sure why the Dirtbombs tour with two drummers — rhythms were occasionally muddied and never sufficiently complex to call for two sets. But they’re a garage rock band that knows how to write a solid tunes that work with the basics, with templates hearkening back to 50s proto-rock and late 70s punk. “Wreck My Flow,” a rapid-fire litany of all those folks trying to wreck lead singer Mick Collins’s flow, was excellent, and also a shame, because Collins is an awesome-looking dude, and I can’t believe anyone would try to, you know, hamper his style. In just one of the many little flourishes that made the Dirtbombs just a bit different from their ilk, the style of closing tune “I Can’t Stop Thinking About It” matched the content compulsively, with the chorus repeated more times than rock conventions dictate.

 

I guess I should have expected the show to start on time, but I missed much of Thunders opening set. But I very much dug on Hubert Glover’s (Margot) contribution on trumpet on one of the tunes: it pushed things in a much more aggressive and disjointed territory, and nicely kicked up the energy.