Manic Energy with long-range potential
by ToughCritic on 3/21/14Bowery Ballroom - New YorkExcellent showmanship. Their crowd rapport and stage presence were amazing for their age - - they came across as being very veteran performers. Super manic high energy from start to finish. Very good quality musicianship from every person; I especially liked their drummer. I also liked their arrangements a lot. In particular, their guitar player is very much a true “lead” guitar player. By that, I mean that he is playing leads, notes, fills and riffs during the entire song. Too many modern guitar players just take the approach of strumming chords during the vocals, and then playing solos. I like guitar and keyboard players who are active during the entire song. I do think they would benefit a bit from a little better sense of dynamics and some change of pace, but I would rather see them err on the side of adrenaline overkill than to become formulaic, or think they need to include an "obligatory" ballad. I totally love high energy music and performances!Given all the hype, I was curious as to exactly what the band would sound like (had not previously heard any of their material). Writers have compared them to a lot of bands. Of the comparisons I’ve seen, many I don’t think apply at all. For example, I don’t see any resemblance to The Ramones or Dr. Feelgood. I understand the Yardbirds comparisons, mainly because the Strypes use a lot of harmonica, and their singer does sometimes remind me of Keith Relf. Many of their songs do call to mind that early Yardbirds feel, when the band was covering a lot of old blues tunes in a “rave-up” style. I don’t see much of The Kinks in the band, nor particularly The Who, other than the manic level of energy. I would describe the band as solidly in the spirit of the New Wave movement of the late 70s/early 80s, which was trying to recapture the mid-60s feel for manic energy, and short, catchy songs. My best effort at relating them to another known band: I think they are a lot like The Jam, but much more musically sophisticated - - all of their musicians, and their arrangements, are much better than The Jam. But the approach to performing live is very similar. Unfortunately, also like The Jam, at least in my eyes, they, so far, lack memorable material. As much as they capture the spirit of Yardbirds/Who/Stones/Kinks, etc. they do not seem, at least so far, to have the gift those bands had of writing captivating songs. I might change my mind if I heard studio versions, but live, nothing made me want to sing along, or imitate the guitar riff, or whatever. The pleasure was just in the crazed energy of the performance, and the very good quality of the musicianship. But, there is still time; they are only 16-18 years old. It took several albums for the Stones to start writing their own hits. Their early reputation was entirely made on great live performances of obscure blues and R&B songs. It will be interesting to see how they evolve if they stay together. One sort of bad omen for The Strypes: the crowd was very heavily weighted to old geezers like me. I think, for them to have an enduring career, they have to capture the imagination of fans in their teens and 20s. Not enough people my age still buy records and go to concerts to sustain a new young act for the long term, I think. This is just an observation, not a suggestion that they change anything in their underlying approach. Bottom line: great show, glad I went. Well worth $15. The band has a lot of potential.