Lame...Lame and Tame...Tame (by Defensive Listening)

The show at Double Wide on Wednesday featured the most lopsided set of performances that I've seen all summer. I've been to quite a few shows in Denton this busy season, and most of those have displayed some semblance of a shared style, or at the very least, a common musical philosophy amongst the bands sharing the stage. This show featured a couple of California bands that have inexplicably captured some recent blog headlines, along with a local band that hasn't, but actually deserves to. Birdmonster and Division Day did seem to have plenty in common, but it wasn't necessarily anything I would want two bands to share. Local act Tame...Tame and Quiet was nothing like either of these bands, which turned out to be a relief. If they had been in any way similar to the others, the night would have been a complete waste of two precious commodities: gas and time.

I hate it when the best band plays first, or in this case, the only good band.Tame...Tame and Quiet came out and played such a strong set that they probably would have made even a really good band look silly in comparison. They play a very intricate brand of guitar based rock with 70's progressive undertones, and just about any serious music fan would have respected them for all that they accomplish in their brief set. The technically obsessed among us would have marveled at their chops and proficiency. Those who expect intensity at live shows would not have been disappointed by their forcefulness. Even songwriting fans would have been forced to wonder how they went about constructing the tunefulness of their mini-epics.

The band is fronted by two guitarists: Metrognome Collective mastermind Aaron Bartz and Darren Miller, formerly of the late Fort Worth rock group Benway. The band is also more than ably backed by the jazz inspired rhythm hurricane of Boyd Dixon on drums. Boyd plays in Idi*Amin as well, but his drumming is much different and more direct in this setting, exposing his stunning versatility. At their best,Tame...Tame and Quiet reminded me of so manyparts of my favorite King Crimson songs, Polvo albums, and my absolute favorite: Polvo albums that ripped off King Crimson songs. I don't know if they actually count either of the aforementioned bands as influences, but they remind me of the better moments of the so called "math rock" era, when bands aspired to write impossibly complex songs that mixed melody, schizophrenic time signatures and guitar heroics, taking all of them to their logical
extremes. When I heard Tame...Tame and Quiet, I realized how much I miss that time in music, or more specifically, the music itself. The band rocks in such a convincing manner that they blow the intellectual bullshit off of the chin- scratching facade that was so common in that genre. I hope more of you get a chance to see them, and I now know that i should have gone home the moment they exited the stage.

When Division Day came on, I might as well have been at a different show on a different night. Holy shit,where do I begin? Was it the predictable road weary
attitude and stage banter that was played out like theJheri curl? Was it the rocking out on keyboards (an ill advised move for any band)? For the record, I don't care if a band utilizes keyboards, and I actually love it a lot of the time. But please don't jump up and down and try to rock on them like a backup lackey for Nine Inch Nails. With the exception of the keyboard guitar, nothing looks less rock.

Of course, when Division Day showed up, so did the typically late Dallas audience. Dallas crowds are notorious for showing up late, but on this night they really blew it, arriving just in time for two of the worst bands I've seen in recent memory. Division Day did an okay job of silencing a heckler at one point, but for once I was on the heckler's side. Nobody should get away with telling an audience, "It's good to be in Dallas?!" or asking the crowd "How are YOU Dallas?!". Why don't you tell us how Dallas is? Actually, he did say he was glad to be in Dallas because he didn't have a good time in Houston. If that's the case, Division Day was probably treated appropriately in Houston, a town that doesn't take shit from anybody. The band confused me when I saw them play, but I became even more confused when I did a little research on them. They list some semi-adventurous influences on their web page, yet their music is completely Clear Channel friendly, due largely in part to the Mall-Emo melodrama of their vocals. The band was dressed up like Urban Outfitters mannequins come to life, but there was a key difference: the last time I
actually made the mistake of setting foot in that store, I heard some crazy screaming noise rock, indicating that Urban Outfitters mannequins have better taste than these guys, not to mention more stage presence. As confusing as Division Day's hype to substance ratio became after seeing their performance, nothing could prepare me for Birdmonster.


I never thought I'd see the day when I'd get offended because someone decided to compare a band to Modest Mouse. That's right, MTV heroes and KidZ Bop Legends, Modest Mouse. But the rampant comparisons of Birdmonster to Modest Mouse on blog after blog have moved me to believe that Modest Mouse is some sort of sacred entity, and I've begun to wonder how anyone could dare compare this joke of a band to a true pillar of integrity and greatness. Compared to Birdmonster, Modest Mouse is the fucking Beatles. Or Can. Or insert your favorite band here. These guys blew my mind with how far they took the concept of being bland. They were the real life equivalent of Uncle Jessie's band on Full House, only not as cool. I absolutely could not believe my ears. When the lead singer did the Chuck Berry duckwalk, I absolutely could not believe my eyes. If this assault on the senses is what passes for Next Big Thing status these days, we are in serious trouble. I invite you to go to the band's Myspace page, listen to the song "Skeleton Suit", and then tell me how this song is not uncannily like Jimmy Eat World's hit, "The Middle". You can actually count down to the moment when the singer will stomp on his distortion pedal and go into the anthemic chorus. I am truly disturbed by the level of buzz a band can build when the only remarkable thing about them is that they aren't on your local Top 40 station. If that's what they're shooting for, then they're on the right track. The moment when Birdmonster played the opening chords of "Summer of 69" by Bryan Adams was very telling, because it was apparent that it fit right in with all of their own songs. Some bands just give away all their secrets right there on stage. Have some mystique, guys! Don't let the audience know what kind of garbage you worship, because figuring that out is the only thing that makes seeing these kinds of shows the least bit enjoyable.

Fortunately, not even the disastrous turns by these two overhyped bands
could ruin Tame...Tame and Quiet's great opening set. The usual who's who's of the local scene were all in full effect at the Doublewide, and I wonder if they were as let down as I was. Judging by the quality of Dallas rock, its pretty hard to tell.