Slide Show The Ideal Fathers, The Classic Breakdown, Racecar God and Latch June 27, 2007 Larimer Lounge Better than: Staying home on a Wednesday night.
Wednesday is not an ideal night for four largely unknown local bands to play a show. With no national draw and no big-name Denver act on the bill, there weren’t many people at the Larimer who weren’t either in one of the acts playing or good friends with them. Despite the meager turnout, the night turned out to be worth losing sleep on a work night after all, once things got rolling.
The opener Latch sported a sound as generic as its name. There wasn’t anything particularly objectionable about its late-90s alt-rock sound, but there sure as hell wasn’t anything particularly appealing about it either. On the upside, the members seemed to have a solid rapport and decent chops, especially guitarist Josh Jacket. To get to the next level, they’re going to need some better original material and a few ideas that were spawned since Kurt Cobain ate his shotgun.
Things took a turn for the better with Racecar God. A classic two-guitar attack powered a set of fairly catchy and clever tunes that took direction from the Pixies and few other familiar indie stalwarts without being too obvious about it. Apart from muffled vocals and a tendency for the songs to sound a bit too similar to one another, this seems to be a band with solid potential. Look for them to make a splash locally in the near future.
The Classic Breakdown followed with a set of overly earnest, sentimental treacle that I’m absolutely positive moms everywhere will fucking love. Any of the songs would be right at home on the soundtrack of a chick flick starring Jennifer Aniston or on an “adult alternative” radio station; they sounded pretty out of place at the Larimer. The closest anything got to edgy was a song that the singer admitted “half writing, half stealing.” The stolen part turned out to be from “Wonderwall,” and while the song itself was just as saccharine as the rest, it does take a certain amount of balls (or blind naivete) to incorporate Oasis a decade after everyone realized just how fucking terrible they actually were.
Luckily, the best band of the night was the final act, the Ideal Fathers. They delivered a blistering set of kinetically charged, danceable post-punk that sounded like the Buzzcocks dry humping Fugazi. The charismatic singer and charmingly spastic bass player ricocheted around the stage, bringing an unusually intense energy for a midnight slot in a weekday show. Solid playing and a bunch of fun tunes, including the brilliantly named “A Complete Waste of Time Travel,” made the whole night worthwhile. With a touch of fine tuning, the Ideal Fathers may well turn out to be a damn near ideal band.
Critic’s Notebook Personal Bias: I’m a sucker for songs with a sci-fi theme. Racecar God and the Ideal Fathers both earned points on that measure. Random Detail: I overheard one poor bastard explaining that he was shoeless because he had just been dumped by his longtime girlfriend and had to leave the house without them. By the Way: The Ideal Fathers like to post printable comp tickets on their MySpace page so seeing them is not only highly recommended, it’s risk free.
