The Wrens

March 22, 2004

I’m going to play a little catchup for the month of March right now, before the onslaught of upcoming shows absolutely buries me permanently.

A couple of weeks ago, I managed to catch the Wrens play an outdoor show at Westwood Plaza on the UCLA campus. Performing during lunch, it was the equivalent of an in-store, with people casually milling around and mostly minding their own business with the music going on in the background. It’s not really the best time to evaluate a band, but the Wrens are a band that I’m not into enough to actively seek a concert. Meadowlands is a strong record, but not one that blew me away.
The show started off a bit roughly, as the Wrens tried to blast into their more rockin’ material right away but the audience wasn’t biting. The band had a little more success with their soft/loud material, easing the audience into their sound before breaking through with the fast and easy melodies of “Faster Gun” and “Nervous and Not Me.” Once they got their mojo working, they were able to muscle their way through the very Jimmy Eat World “Everyone Chooses Sides” and keep the kids’ attention to more subtle material like “Happy.”

It was a fun time, and I was able to absorb the songs a lot better live than on record. Everything’s just a little more immediate and tightly focused, and the sonic noodling was kept to a minimum. That said, there still wasn’t anything that ran me over and screamed “I’m BRILLIANT” and there were times the the plainspoken angst of the lyrics seemed dated and past-due.

Posted in From Blown Speakers