This past week has been hot like Mcdonald’s coffee, pre-lawsuit. Last night at The Echo, Mt. Egypt and Band of Horses opened for Austin, TX’s Okkervil River. Okkervil River’s stuff has some leanings toward VHS or Beta, but with their lead singer Will Sheff on ‘performance enhancing drugs’ to overcome a strep throat, he was sounding more like Conor Oberst. I really went to see Band of Horses, but Mt. Egypt was an added bonus. Mt. Egypt is the project of Travis Graves who currently resides in Los Angeles. This track of theirs, “Can You Feel The Wind” is great and is the one that grabbed my attention. It can be heard on their website and the 2nd KEXP Music That Matters podcast. They sound kinda folksy in a Sun Kil Moon way, but live the vocals live had a Morrissey/Antony & the Johnsons playful quality. (Band of) Horses have a My Morning Jacket sound (Western, not Country) with some Neil Young leanings. Its shocking to hear that voice come out of such a small, withered-looking singer. Towards the end of the show they did a cover of David Allen Coe’s “You Never Even Call Me By My Name” that they were none too proud of, but I thought was fun nonetheless. They’ve signed to Subpop and I’m looking forward to presumably hearing a full length from them next year.
: Band of Horses - Funeral (demo) :
: Band of Horses - Bass Song (demo) :
: Mt. Egypt - Battening The Hatches :
: Okkervil River - For Real :
BONUS:
: Okkervil River - For Real (video) :
[…] Freed and I checked out Band of Horses at King King last night, another Hollywood venue that was new to me. They were opening for Eagle Rock’s Earlimart, who I saw not all that long ago, around the same time I first saw Band of Horses. Earlimart was good, and sounded much like they did back in October, but with a whole new assortment of tracks, presumably recent results from ongoing recording sessions. Oh and Josh Ritter played as well, and while I mostly wasn’t feeling his stuff, there was what must have been a 10 minute epic, “Thin Blue Flame” midway through the set that was amazing. All I remember was this string of lines mid-song as it built momentum: “Singing about vengeance like it’s the joy of the lord / Bringing justice to the enemies instead of the other way around / They’re guilty where killed and they killed where they’re found.” Very Springsteen, totally moving. It was a great intro, but I (as well as a good segment of the crowd) was really there to see Horses in the context of their record, released the day before. […]
[…] I know we’ve dedicated a lot of words to Band of Horses recently, but I wanted to post a quick note on their show in Los Angeles last week. They are just that good. They were solid this time, as they have been all 3 times I’ve seen them. Sera Cahoone opened, and played a great country set, of which “Couch Song” was my favorite. I don’t think much of the crowd recognized, but Sera played drums along with Mat and Ben in Carrisa’s Wierd, as well as on 3 of the tracks on the Horses’ album. The crowd warmed to her regardless. Freed compared her voice (elegant, but plain; sweet, but with some experience to it) to someone, but I can’t remember who he named. Her band was followed by Mt. Egypt, who I’ve seen in some form at each of the 3 Horses shows: opening at The Echo last October, and then when Travis was in the crowd at the show in Hollywood in March. […]