The Slits + CMJ

The Slits have officially reunited, and on Wednesday night they played their first show in New York on over 20 years. Now this statement must be qualified, because of the original members only singer Ari Up and bassist Tessa Pollit remain in this reincarnation- and let me tell you, this is not the Slits of Cut or even the White Riot Tour of ’77. Ari and Tessa came onstage flanked by what seemed to be four female protégés (2 guitarist, 1 singer, 1 drummer) and a guy on keyboard. I guess I should have known it would go downhill when Ari didn’t start right in with an old number but instead spent fifteen minutes explaining how the Slits started the reggae-punk synthesis only to launch into a new song that sounded like neither. After that Ari Up stopped the set for 20 mins to argue with the sound guys about whether or not her mic monitor was working, proceeding to perform what sounded like a Jamaican vocal improve for five minutes which fell a bit flat on a crowd that was by now questioning why they hadn’t heard any Slits songs 40 mins into their set. As Ms. Up continued talking almost incoherently about how good the Slits were and why everyone should love them I realized it would be unfair to expect much out of this drug-addled brain. Ari and Co. finally played “Newtown” and “Shoplifting” to a smattering of applause but the audience was generally quiet , turning to each other in quizzical surprise as Ari went on another hazy tangent or stopped the show to question whether we could hear her vocals when we clearly could.

It was becoming more and more clear that this show would not yield anything good, and as Ari hauled onstage a girlfriend of hers (who’d had six too many screwdrivers) to sloppily sing backup I left. I could try to be positive about the performance and say that at least it was absurdly entertaining, but a tragic-comic monologue by Ari Up was not what I wanted. I came to see the Slits and they were nowhere to be found.

In other news: oldsters the Wrens save rock (again) and youngsters the Walkmen perform their first ever mediocre show. Both performed at NYU’s Skirball Center as part of CMJ last Thursday. The Wrens managed to make a sit down auditorium a good venue while inspiring the audience to jump onstage. The Walkmen did neither, but we’ll forgive them for mostly playing new material because we know they can rock out if they choose.

Just Dance!

On Monday night I saw The Rapture at Webster Hall in NYC. The Presets opened for them, an Australian cross between Daft Punk and Depeche Mode, and played fairly generic electronica for 45 minutes. The defining moment of their set was when they sampled daft punk during a breakdown- the crowd went wild, where before they had held the typical arms-crossed stance they were now movin and groovin like it was what they did for a living. It just shows that if you can’t do the job yourself get someone who can do it better.

After the Presets took their leave the crowd noticeably thickened in anticipation for the Rapture. People who had spent the two years since their last album at Misshapes dancing to LCD Soundsystem eagerly awaited the band that made it cool to dance in rock clubs again. The crowd roared as NYC’s biggest dance-rockers came out and put on the homecoming show that everyone was hoping for. They opened up with “Heaven”, cranking out a few of those homegrown Gang of Four riffs they’re so good at, as the audience screamed along. Then they played a few tracks off their new album, Pieces of the People We Love, which it seems everyone in the city of New York has purchased except for me. They did a good job of integrating their new material (which is more obviously influenced by the Talking Heads than Gang of Four this time around) with their old hits, but the party didn’t really get started ‘till they played “Killing” and then launched into “Sister Savior”. Webster Hall erupted into a dance fever that reached its height when they played the club hit “House of Jealous Lovers”—lights flashing, sweat dripping, beat bouncing, body moving—I felt like I was at a rave, and I loved it.

Now, concert-going out of the way, I think its important that we notice a precedent for the recent dance-rock movement in the NYC scene of the early 80’s which was centered around ZE Records and bands like ESG, Was (Not Was), James Chance, and Liquid Liquid (who currently reside on DFA Records). The degree of similarity between ZE and its antecedent DFA is surprising (“Bustin’ Out” by Material sounds like a stripped down version of “Sister Savior”). DFA’s entire gameplan, from music to style, is built on the proven formula established by ZE. DFA is playing an old record and if you like the bands on their roster you should pick up a copy of the original.

So if you like the Rapture I’d recommend the ZE records compilation Mutant Disco.