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To some modern musicians, the Kinks' 1968 opus Something Else and the Beach Boys' 1966 landmark Pet Sounds are infinitely more vital than the most widely praised album of the era, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It's not that these young players disrespect the Beatles; rather they consider Ray Davies and Brian Wilson songwriters they can better relate to. In one of the most overt examples of hero worship, five of Portland's most prominent musicians gathered Saturday night to pay tribute in a set made up entirely of Kinks covers. Quasi's Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss--whose other band, Sleater-Kinney, saluted the 1965 album The Kink Kontroversy by borrowing its album cover design on last year's Dig Me Out--teamed with Pond's Charlie Campbell, sometime-Spinanes bassist Joanna Bolme and Elliott Smith to interpret late-'60s Kinks songs at EJ's, delivering a rollicking and spirited performance. The group of friends stumbled at times, but they atoned for any sloppiness with a genuine love of the songs they played. In Quasi, Coomes writes with a romantic yet skeptical outlook comparable to Davies' early work, so it was natural for him to revisit tunes like "Victoria" and "Waterloo Sunset." Weiss provided brisk rhythms and heartfelt harmonies. Smith, taking a break from recording his forthcoming Dreamworks debut in Los Angeles, jumped onstage mid-set to sing lead on "Autumn Almanac" and "Dead End Street," then traded off vocals with Coomes on other hits. The quintet attacked "All Day and All of the Night" with the ferocity of a pack of hungry hyenas, then acceded to calls for an encore with the complex and beautiful "Shangri-La," with Coomes, Weiss and Smith taking turns at the mike. All five musicians create distinctive, modern songs in their own bands or projects, but they paused on this night in a touching and enjoyable homage to a band whose music has proved enduring and influential. The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds experienced a renaissance with the recent Capitol release of a four-CD box set that cataloged the album's recording sessions. Several years earlier, however, Denver's the Apples in Stereo had already reawakened interest in the Beach Boys' masterpiece, evoking the brilliant harmonies and precise melodies that pervaded it with the 1995 record Fun Trick Noisemaker. It was a critical success, and vocalist/guitarist Robert Schneider went on to record similar bands like the Olivia Tremor Control and Neutral Milk Hotel at a home studio he calls Pet Sounds. The bands form a collective, Elephant Six, which is also a record label headed by Schneider and Apples drummer/ vocalist Hilarie Sidney. The Apples released a 1997 follow-up on SpinArt, Tone Soul Evolution, which Sire licensed and reissued this month in hopes of reaching a wider audience. Though it doesn't mimic the Beach Boys, it manifests the type of pop sensibility pioneered by Wilson, Davies and the Beatles. On Apples songs like "Seems So" and "Silver Chain," heavily textured guitars and meticulously layered vocal parts enfold into structured, hummable melodies that recall the '60s forebears. Sidney disavows the comparisons, arguing that the influences come from a wider variety of sources than just Brian Wilson's brain circa '66. She doesn't even think Wilson himself would appreciate the Apples. "I'm sure he wouldn't like it because it rocks," she says from a tour stop (the band's Portland date was announced too late to make it into WW's regular music listings). "Everybody thinks we're so '60s, but I think we're pretty modern." Sidney's frustration is understandable. The Apples, Quasi, Elliott Smith and their peers can't help it if they trigger memories of '60s predecessors while creating new music. Unlike some musicians who pretend to be inventors, these acts announce their respect and move on. As Sidney notes, it'd be a pointless endeavor to attempt Pet Sounds, Part 2. "We're not even that good," she says. "We can't sound like [the Beach Boys] and we can't write like that because it's not possible." Portland Postscript: Two notable new local bands debuted at EJ's last week. Keith, fronted by Honey Owens (ex-Torso, Jackie-O Motherfucker), played melodic guitar-pop with a crunch on Tuesday. Ex-Heatmiser guitarist and vocalist Neil Gust had a successful return to the stage with his trio Number 2 on Saturday. Playing all new songs, Gust picked up where the power-pop side of Heatmiser left off, and Gilly Ann Hanner provided clever bass lines and strong backing vocals. |
