The Earlies
Before The Earlies was Canasta, playing a good mix of the catchier and slower songs off their new album “We Were Set Up” (although unfortunately they didn’t play my favorite song of theirs “Just a Star”) and ending with a cover of Peter Schilling’s, “Major Tom” (I’m Coming Home). I also have to put in a good word for Matt, their lead singer who is very nice and likes the film Magnola (that’s how you know he’s a smart one) I wrote more about Canasta at a previous show here
Half Texan, half Manchester, the Earlies have a layered full sound that comes off even better live than on their fabulous record These Were the Earlies. Although their were backing vocals contributed, most often the lead vocalist was Texan Brandon Carr, who arrived adorned in his Chicago shirt and was a complete ham, mostly joking about all of their chart toppers but how NME would never let them do a cover because they aren’t attractive enough (not true, not true!)
If you are familiar with their album, you know they have a very unique sound which is sometimes Brian Wilson-esque and sometimes more along the lines of Mercury Rev at their best. It’s indie rock that once you get the taste for, you want to listen to for a long time. At some points the album also reminds me a bit of Sparklehorse’s It’s A Wonderful Life as in the case of their song, “In the Beginning.” It does have a powerful sort of instrumental proclamation in some songs as in “The Devil’s Country” which also has an element of drowsy vocal 60s psychadelica. By now, you may be realizing how eclectic sounding they are. At a couple of points during their set, I thought, “This is what it would sound like if Mercury Rev five years ago tried to cover a CSNY song that was really written by The Flaming Lips.” You have to hear it to believe it, I’m telling you.
Appearing with eight musicians, their sound was complemented on every song by guitars, bass, keyboards, cello, drums and the occasional flute and trombone playing. The fantastic cello playing of Semay Wu was a major element of every song and was more pronounced than on their album. I’m a big fan of the cello as an instrument and I was in awe of Wu’s playing and how complete it made the sound. To find out more about the Earlies, you can also go to their myspace page here which also lists remaining tour dates.
