TAPES 'N TAPES + White Denim @ Cabaret Juste Pour Rire

By Comma Chameleon - Semicolon Cancer; - 04/01/2008

Let’s start with White Denim. WD set the stage on fire with a decently energetic opening set and loosened up the deadpan and slightly mutinous crowd at the Cabaret that night with a series of successful swinging singles. Unfortunately, the main act, Tapes ‘n Tapes, didn’t fare so well; after a number of selections from their new effort, Walk it Off, coming three years after the original 2005 release of their collection of print-worthy material, The Loon. This was a bit past disappointing and slightly tiring, and after the fifth new tune failed to impress the crowd with an upbeat crunchy redundant screeching rocker, they resorted back to their tried-and-true crowd favourites, including “Manitoba” and “Insistor,” which I was highly anticipating (from my perch at the foot of the stage I spotted its position footed near the bottom of the set list which was right below the electronic table of keyboardist Matt Kretzmann).

Coming off the end of the night, after Tapes finished screwing up the good buzz that finally rippled through the hordes of deadeyes who showed up to this gig by jamming in some more unknown and incomprehensible stuff from their new release, it dawned on me that frontman Josh Grier (pictured, foreground) should drop the axe once in a while and let Kretzmann (pictured, left) work the board more often; after all, it is the highlights on The Loon that are enriched with some stimulating electronic buzz accompanying the guitar scrawl, and I think we all like it better that way. Or else, for God’s sake, think of introducing some new hooks, harmonies, bridges, and chord progressions before I dawdle off home to listen to my roommate cover Third Eye Blind and attempt both tenor and falsetto choruses at the same time.

Note to self: go check out more White Denim.