November 14, 2008

The Dodos w/ Restavrant & Dreamdate. The Echoplex, Los Angeles.

By Kyle Lemmon

First thing’s first, San Francisco’s The Dodos have crafted one of great pop albums of 2008. That’s all fine, but their live shows truly try to take Visitor’s brand of shambolic guitar & drum clatter to the people. Last Saturday night at Los Angeles’ Echoplex the plucky Bay Area duo did just that, as they trolled through songs like the toy piano-flecked “Red and Purple” and the anthemia of “Fools.” As expected, it was mostly Visitor faire, but songs from their early career sneaked into the rousing set.

The Dodos

Guitarist Meric Long waffles between quick strumming and breakneck finger-picking while his counterpart, Logan Kroeber creates a ruckus behind his kit. “Jodi” is a perfect example of where their worlds collide.  Kroeber often outfits his shoes with tambourines as well. Drawing on such disparate influences as West African Ewe (pronounced ay-way) drumming, Balinese gamelan music, and Joe the Plummer country blues fingerpicking, The Dodos’ musical primitivism was a delight to watch.

dreamdate

Before The Dodos took the stage, equally percussively inclined acts set the atmosphere. Oakland’s indie-poppers dreamdate and Victoria, TX natives, Restavrant opened the show. The former is an all-girl group that goes down easy, with smooth vocals and an economical choice of instrumentation. The propulsive “Why Don’t You Make Me” seemed to be a crowd favorite. They’re like a noise-less Vivian Girls. Restavrant jams country riffs, electro sweat, and punk vocals into a buzz saw that cuts off your expectations quickly. I don’t even know how to describe “Homeless Architect” other than say it’s hillbilly music for the dance set. It was that kind of night…full of surprises.

Posted at 9:00am
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