Sly Hats; Guy Blackman; Brown Recluse Sings: Tritone, Philadelphia PA 07.27.07

Let it be known: kids in Philly loves indie rock of the bloglike variety, but when it comes to twee things start to get a little... timid. I know, I know, the attitude's quintessential to the style. But I know Philly has tons of diehard twee fans and a night of well-curated pop (courtesy of the guys behind the "Go Back To Those Gold Soundz" DJ night) should have been enough to drive them out in slouched, argyle-bedecked droves. Failing that, this usually steamy late July weekend had a cool drizzle in the air, which is tailor-made for wistful nights such as this one.

Openers Sly Hats and Guy Blackman (who both hail from Australia) shook things up a little bit by opting to perform together, as opposed to two separate sets. Sly Hats wears its new wave and psychedelic influences on the sleeve for all to see, at times highly reminiscent of local psychedelphians Lilys. On the other hand, Blackman is steeped in the folk & classical traditions, something you can clearly hear on "Dark and Quiet", his collaboration with Jens Lekman. I don't know if these two have a history of touring together in this fashion; regardless, despite being on opposite ends of the pop spectrum, they managed to find a nice middle ground with their accompaniments.

Following the Aussies were local kids Brown Recluse Sings. (In the interest of full disclosure, I should point out that I've booked shows for these guys before.) Perhaps you may have heard their track "Western Meadowlark" on Veronica Mars? On this particular night they presented a spacier version of their currently most-well known track that was quite nice.

And now, for some photos...

Sly Hats & Guy Blackman (L-R):

Brown Recluse Sings:

Comments

[ned]

that fellow from the sly hats totally looks like erlend oye from kings of convenience in that last photo. i completely did a double take!

[Raised By Bees]

The twee stuff is still one of my favorite subgenres of indie rock.

[Daniel Piotrowski]

Thanks for reviewing this show. I really wanted to go. I agree with the assertion that "indie" Philly doesn't like its POP as much as it likes its ROCK, but low turnout at a Tritone show spans all musical genres.