Two Gallants at the Independent

I was floored last night by Two Gallants.  They played to a sold
out audience at the Independent in SF as part of the amazing lineup of
bands for the 2005 Noise Pop Festival.  Before I write further
about them I should mention that the two opening acts I caught were
also impressive.  A chorus of men calling themselves Conspiracy of
Beards sang the music of Leonard Cohen and others I can’t recall.  Yes, I said chorus as in a capella as in a choir, but
not the religious sort and not one made up exclusively of bearded
men.  Some harmonies and choral dynamics could be discerned, but
what struck me was how odd it all seemed.  Why a chorus or perhaps
why the hell not?  Fun stuff.  Also opening was a band from
Santa Cruz (when I heard they were from Santa Cruz I immediately feared
Birkenstocks and pachouli, but yet another stereotype was destroyed)
called The Devil Makes Three.  And three they were: a woman on standup
bass, a very tatooed acoustic/banjo dude and a clean cut front
man.  They simply rocked without drums.  Their sound was very
“Folkways” and at moments I felt as if I’d been transported to what I
imagine the Grand Ole Opry to have been like.  They reminded me a
lot of the great Dieselhead of the yesteryear SF scene, but without the
harmonies and builds.  TDMT were one big build of country
angst.  They even showcased a few covers from Mississippi John
Hurt and Steve Earl, who they count among their greatest influences.

Now to the headliners.  I tell ya, I didn’t know what to think the
first few times I heard the Two Gallants album The Throes
(go here to
read what I had to say in my previous post).  I mean, I liked it,
but I didn’t get it until I saw them perform last night.  They are
young, but their sound is aged, refined and mature beyond other
more established musicians.  They play with the intensity of Don
Caballero or the White Stripes and the rawness of Neil Young (I still
think the front man
Adam Stephens sounds a lot like another famous ‘Stevens’ by the name of
Cat).  I also hate to sound like a writer for Rolling Stone by
comparing Adam to Kurt Cobain, but I couldn’t help think that as I
watched him belt out his agony.  Not only is there a resemblence
to the fallen bard,
but a similiar tragic energy in the way he approaches his lyrics and
music. 
But where Cobaine’s lyrics seemed disastrous and drug/gun laden,
Stephens’ words take on a flighty poetic tone and come across
like something by Dylan Thomas (and Bob Dylan as well) or even Kerouac. 
Check out these lines from Fail Hard to Regain:

see each day’s but a moment that I fail hard to regain.
but as it goes the fiddler throws all values to the street.
whole world’s pain insanes his gaze, impatiences his feet.
each captives of this paltry trade, we curse our mortal task.
forgive us though we all must go and where to please don’t ask.

I’m proud to know these guys were born and raised in San
Francisco.  I was starting to think we were becoming a second rate
music town. 

Noise Pop ‘05

It’s
that time of year again when San Francisco becomes the center of the
“indie hipster” world.  This years line up of performers at the 2005 Noise Pop festival reads
like a playlist on a mixtape you would have made for that special
someone you wanted to think you were cool.  Bands like The Walkmen, Mission of Burma, Polyphonic Spree, Mates of State, Joanna
Newsom will certainly make this an expensive venture for folks that
want to catch all the acts.  I’m interested in checking out The
Walkmen
just to see what all the fuss is about (actually, I want to see if they
can pull their sound off live–isn’t that why we go to shows?).

One show I’m excited about is the Two Gallants.  They’re playing at the Independent on Friday February 25th (guess I’ll have to miss Joanna Newsom at the Swedish American Hall). At first I was a
bit skeptical about a duet featuring a drummer and guitarist thinking
“oh that’s been tried many times” only to end in a remake of every
other drum and guitar duo, but I hope I’m wrong.  The Two Gallants
approach song crafting like centuries old bards or troubadours, telling stories and
feeling woefully estranged from modernity or, to say it again, “indie
hip-dom” (to understand why I’ve over used this phrase check out how
Neko Case put it according to 3Hive). 
They’ll be playing to a hometown crowd of San Franciscans that prove
their loyalty as a fan base by attending shows in herds.  The Two
Gallants are a bit Cat Stevens, a bit Bob Dylan, and a sprinkle of a
Tortoise/Mogwai instrumentation.  Listen for yourself:

Two Gallants : nothing to you
Two Gallants : train that stole my man