The Hush Sound, Murder by Death, This Providence, This Is Me Smiling, Axis, December 7, 2006
By ASHLEY RIGAZIO | December 8, 2006
Greta Salpeter of the Hush Sound
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Chicago’s the Hush Sound has catapulted to the forefront of emo’s new wave without actually being emo. After signing with Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz’s Decaydance imprint in 2005, the fresh-faced group and its lush, piano-driven pop songs gained a loyal following of scene teens. Despite what their audience would indicate, the Hush Sound’s breezy, vintage-style tunes aren’t high-school tales of self-loathing and broken hearts, but cutesy stories weaved by precocious co-vocalists Bob Morris and Greta Salpeter. In other words, they’re corny in an entirely different way than the tired genre they’re frequently (and unfairly) associated with. But listeners who can get past the hokey, retro costumes and adolescent squeals of “I love you!” will discover hooks aplenty, beautiful melodies, and a young band with chemistry and potential.
This Is Me Smiling kicked off the show at Axis last night with a wallop of geek rock, setting the stage for the teeny-bopper mayhem that would ensue as soon as Seattle pop-punkers This Providence began to set up. The Fueled By Ramen flavor-of-the-week took the stage to yells of “Take off your clothes!” and cell-phone cameras snapping candid photos before a single note had been played. (After all, the music is not always the most important aspect of a concert for the kids.) But once the band ripped into their set, the young crowd reacted with a similar passion, bobbing and shouting along with shaggy-haired vocalist Dan Young. Slower songs like “My Beautiful Rescue” contrasted with the power-pop of “A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing” for a predictably clichéd effect, but the band clearly enjoyed playing for their fans.
The show transitioned from run-of-the-mill emo into something more interesting in the form of Murder By Death’s atmospheric, whiskey-fueled concept rock. The band’s songs about drinking, the devil, and wandering in the desert failed to resonate with the youngest members of the crowd, but the college-aged minority watched in awe as the band worked itself into a flurry of broken strings, textured sounds, and open containers. Songs like “Brother” and “The Desert Is on Fire” highlighted the band’s mastery of dark, peculiar storytelling and brooding instrumental breaks; singer Adam Turla’s voice seeped pure Jack Daniels, flowing smoothly over Sarah Balliet’s cello and a merciless rhythm section.
The playful, folky spirit of headliners the Hush Sound remained in tact, despite multiple technical difficulties. Cute as hell and entirely inoffensive, the band had the audience securely in the back pockets of their vintage corduroys. While Salpeter’s girlish croon on “Lighthouse” and “Dark Congregation” stole the first half of the band’s hour-long set, the entire band (still reeling from sound troubles) hit their stride with “Where We Went Wrong,” a sweet, unconventional acoustic ditty with all four members cooing the words. But the show was at its best when Morris and Salpeter shared vocal duties on “Wine Red,” the lead single from last summer’s Like Vines. His clear, strong voice intertwined with her saccharine melodies providing a signature sound in the midst of a generic music scene.
