"It's great to be back in Buffalo. It's been a little while," observed Tapes 'n Tapes front man Josh Grier, just before leading the charge into a new song off the group's latest album. It has been a while, about four years actually, since the band was last in the area, playing a show at Mohawk Place while taking a break from recording the follow up to their Best New Music-worthy debut, The Loon, at producer Dave Fridmann's nearby Cassadaga, NY studio.
A lot has changed in the past four years. Once famously touted as the next big thing, heir to the throne of hype built around the previous wave of blogger-approved bands, the band has had a hard time capitalizing on their near-overnight success. Where a group like Arcade Fire, with whom they were once compared, went on to massive amounts of mainstream success, including their recent record of the year Grammy win, Tapes 'n Tapes' sophomore offering failed to connect with a larger audience, resulting in their being let go from their label, the Sony-owned XL Recordings.
Touring in support of their third LP, Outside, released earlier this year on their own independent label, the band returned to Buffalo on Wednesday poised for a comeback. Playing this time at the relatively intimate Babeville, in the basement of Ninth Ward, they quickly got the crowd involved. "Everybody move up closer to the stage," urged Grier as he cut into the opening strums of "In Houston", a song from their debut. The entire set relied heavily on tracks from that first, definitive album, much to the delight of the audience. It seemed as though the band, acutely aware of having to play to their strengths, was eager to please. In speaking of their playing alone, it was energetic and tight as ever, polished and practiced as you'd expect from a road-trialed band with leftover major label cash.
Opening the show were The Static Jacks and Howler. The Static Jacks, New Jersey natives, did their best to inspire a response from the generally listless crowd. Between futile bouts of arm wrestling with his microphone, lead singer Ian Devaney danced hard onstage and into the crowd, perhaps in hopes that he might lead by example. The band's music itself was of the easy to digest, dance-y guitar pop fare, consisting of the kind of pre-canned anthemia one might have associated with The Killers a few years ago. Howler, on the other hand, showed more promise. A little edgier and more willing to directly engage the crowd, the band colored their set of 50's throwback garage numbers with mercurial stage banter that seemed to connect better with the audience. "Is this where Ani Difranco lives?" joked lead singer Jordan Gatesmith, whose vocal style was something akin to a mix between Bradford Cox and Christopher Owens, with a lean on the low end. Still, Howler's insistent rhythms did little to move the crowd, perhaps still a bit soggy from the pre-show downpour.
By the time Tapes 'n Tapes took the stage, though, the audience was primed and ready. Songs like "Hang Them All", a standout track from Walk It Off, and "Cowbell" from The Loon, came at a steady clip, giving everyone just enough time to catch their breath before the next sing-along. The band's secret weapon, though, apart from the strong songwriting of Grier, has always been the rhythm section duo of drummer Jeremy Hanson and bassist Erik Applewik. Hanson's precise, dynamic drumming is a perfect compliment to Applewik's propulsive bass lines. While Grier's words might get the crowd pumping their fists and singing along, its Hanson and Applewik's interplay that gets their feet moving.
"It's funny," Minneapolis native Grier said late into the set, "The Bills are 2-0 right now and the Vikings are 0-2." Well, like Grier's beloved Vikings, it feels like his band has been handed a few defeats lately. But it's early yet in the season. There's still plenty of time to hit the road, play some away games, and recapture that previous prominence they once had. Certainly, shows like Wednesday night's are helping them make their case.
~Bobby Ellis
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