NICKEL EYE @ Green Room

ByPaul Brown - The Go-Go Radio Magic Show - 01/14/2009

The thing about side-project bands is that they are always a gamble the first time around…and when gambling, the outcome can go one of three ways: win big, lose bad or come out even. The latter is how it was last night at the Green Room when Nickel Eye pulled into town to kick off their North American tour. Given the fact that their debut album, The Time of the Assassins, will only be released on Jan 27th (and I haven’t had the chance to hear an advanced copy either), it was -30° outside and the show hadn’t been overly advertised, breaking even isn’t such a bad thing.

Nickel Eye is a clever play on words for The Strokes’ bass player Nikolai Fraiture’s side project. While the hiatus following the last album and tour for his main day job began to drag on, Nickolai hooked up with the UK band South and recorded some demos in London. Taking the songs back across the Atlantic, he enlisted the help of some New York musicians/friends (Nick Zimmer of Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Regina Spektor) and finished the album. Completely written and produced by Nikolai, Time of the Assassins, is a departure from the Strokes upbeat post-punk sound. Rooted in the songs of Leonard Cohen, it is much more influenced by the 60’s Greenwich Village folk sound than the 70’s Lower East Sides music scene. Now this may not be the best description of the album, but as I’ve already said, I have yet to be able to sit and give the album a proper listen … but since this is a review of the show and not the album that isn’t something I’m going to worry about.

The fact that I gave the show a “breaking even” rating isn’t to say that the music wasn’t good, it had more to do with other factors that kept it from being a stand out show. First was the fact that it was the kickoff show of the tour and it felt like it. While the songs were okay, it just seemed like the band had not had enough time playing them to inspire an audience that has yet to hear them. It was more like a dress rehearsal than a proper show. Adding to the problem was the fact that even though the Green Room was pretty full, most of the audience seemed like they had come to see a member of the Strokes rather than Nickel Eye. This is something that is going to happen when you begin a tour two weeks before the album comes out and you are mostly known for being the quiet member of the band who at the turn of the century were christened the saviors of rock. Singer-songwriter folk rock isn’t going to get much of a response from people expecting The Strokes hits like “Last Nite” or “Hard to Explain”. At one point early on, Nikolai even mentioned the lack of energy in the room by commenting “You can cut the silence with a knife,” that got a few snickers but didn’t solve the problem. All of this added with the Wednesday night slot, the aforementioned -30° and the drive through a snowstorm in the Adirondack Mountains to get here, the show was in a bad spot from the start.

That’s not to say that there weren’t any highlights. The first single Brandy of the Damned is the closest thing to a Strokes song Nickel Eye has. It could easily be an out-take from Room on Fire or First Impressions of Earth, with its weird Gypsy/reggae beat and jangly guitars. Back From Exile, which is the B-side to Brandy, is a Dylan-esque folk-rock song that could easily have been released as a single on its own strength. My personal favorite Nickel Eye song of the night was probably Providence, R.I., a song rooted in the memories of visits to his Grandfather’s place in the woods of Rhode Island. In fact it was the one song that was shouted as a request from someone a few songs into the night. Deciding to stick to his pre-arranged set list Nikolai reassured the audience member that it was coming up and adding “this is all we got.” The best song of the night had to be the cover of Nico’s classic track These Days. I hate to say that the best song of the night was a cover, but when you have the foresight to pick such a perfect song that works with both your folk-noir sound and your New York City connection, then it isn’t a negative, is it?

All in all I give Nikolai credit for doing his own thing and not just trying to recreate The Strokes. These are his songs and his musical statement. For the quiet one to step out of the shadows and pick up a guitar and harmonica takes guts. Had the album been out a while and the band been able to have a few more shows under its belt, then this show would probably have rated higher for me. Then again all things are relative, since a girl named Claudia told Nickel Eye on their myspace page that it was “the show of a lifetime.”

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