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February 12, 2007
Neon Lights: Please Dept.
So begins the week long hard sell in advance of Saturday's Neon Lights show. I gave you all the pertinent details last week, but now we lean in a little closer to our featured bands and get comfortable. If you squint it'll look just like a normal MS post, what with the words and music and all.
Kicking off festivities at the Delancey this round are my fellow Brooklynites, the Please Dept. You can read a review of their oddly memorable 2006 debut, A Fast One on Julian, here. For our purposes, a few selections from said record should do. Shall we?
Please Dept. - "Sailor's Mouth"
This catchy track uses old fashioned piano in a theatrical way that wouldn't sound foreign un-subtly soundtracking the advance of sinister Indians in a Nickelodeon's moving picture show. While it has a certain sonic similarity to some of the early songs on Bitter Tea, the melody isn't lost in claustrophobic wordiness or backwards shenanigans. The manic energy on display is the real selling point. That and the fact that despite some early protests about sharing a barrack with a Navy man, it's still pretty clearly about making out with sailors.
Please Dept. - "A Big Deposit"
After pairing a tin soldier drum beat with a menagerie of spastic synth tones, "A Big Deposit" doesn't so much present you with its central melody as pelt your ear with it savagely. It gathers even more strength past the 1:10 mark when multiple voices jump in to make unsettling remarks about dying Christmas trees with their lights strung up "like convicted people." At this point the pounding keyboard line gains even more insistence, despite seeming to survive several falls down a series of winding staircases. Chris Hembree enjoys this instrumental torture though, and the sadist's frenzied delivery relaxes into an easy lilt for a bit as he surveys the wreckage. It reminds him to "thank (his) bank teller", apparently. Best of all is the march to the finish, where the brutal ivory concussion is echoed by frantic but faded "ooh ooh oohs" It's as if the ghosts of all the pianos who've died at the Please Dept.'s whims were forgiving enough to return for a quick collaboration.
To get in on the toe tapping synthesizer punishment, be at the Delancey at the fairly reasonable door time of 8:00 PM. Drink specials will meet you there...
// Please Dept. A Fast One on Julian buy
// Please Dept. MySpace
// Neon Lights MySpace
Posted by Jeff Klingman at February 12, 2007 11:35 AM
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