CHIRP: The Chicago Independent Radio Project

Elizabeth Ramborger writes

Indie Pop Festivals

A strategically timed business trip brought to me to New York in time to catch days two through four of the NYC Popfest, the 2nd year of a festival that “brings together the very best local indiepop bands, to showcase alongside special guests who’ve been knocking our socks off from too far away” (see www.nycpopfest.org for a full line up). The festival took place at a number of venues in the city, mostly concentrated around the Lower East Side and Williamsburg, including the very cozy Cake Shop, which has nurtured many recent up-and-coming New York indie pop bands. Fellow popsters from Australia, Sweden, the UK, and Finland, as well as Seattle and the North East also represented. Sadly I missed festival opener, Sweden’s Love is All, but the rest of the festival was by no means an anticlimax. Events ended with a “Recovery BBQ and Farewell Party” at Brooklyn’s Union Pool, by which time you really had a feeling of being with a bunch of friends, chatting, buying one another beer for as long as you could still stay awake, and swapping CDs. The festival organizers were able to cultivate an impressive sense of community amongst the indie pop fans. Below a quick round-up:

• Pants Yell!—I had been excited to see them after some recent radio airplay (What? Independent radio you say?). The sound system didn’t do them a lot of credit, but they got the mood going, challenging audience members to name the most female indie stars for a free t-shirt. It seemed a bit like cheating since the t-shirt itself featured names of their favorite indie chanteuses, but whatever.

• Cats On Fire—a lot was made of their very first U.S. appearance, at the Mondo indie dance party and at Union Pool. Truth be told, I liked their music—jangly acoustic guitar with some good hooks and fairly amusing lyrics (they were careful to explain Scandinavian idiosyncrasies, noting that “The Borders of this Land” applied to Finland and a song about a ferry boat ride referred to “that special ferry place in-between Finland and Sweden.” Ahem.). By night four I broke down and picked up their CD. The audience had also broken down by this point and started openly heckling the preening and posturing of lead singer Mattias Bjorkas, who appeared to be simultaneously channeling the spirits of Morrissey and Johnny Cash to ill effect. Observing Bjorkas wander Popfest events with his short-panted and satchel-clutching band members made one wonder if this twee thing could be taken a bit far…one got the impression they were all stars of their very own DIY movie of dubious genre, and we were their unwitting extras. Can you really be a fan of a band with such a ridiculous image? Well, I suppose my affinity for Falco is a case in point. Check out “Higher Grounds” on their first release, “The Province Complains.”

Cats on Fire performing “Mesmer and Reason” at Union Pool for NYC Popfest.

• Tullycraft—on the other side of the coin were Seattle’s Tullycraft, who appeared to have the most genuine fun by far of any band performing at the festival. Despite thunderstorms outside and cramped quarters within, the faithful gathered for an afternoon in-store performance at the Cake Shop on Saturday featuring Tullycraft, Action Biker, and the Cannanes. Despite hailing from Seattle, I have not focused much on the pop side of my hometown’s indie (rock) scene. Sweaty and cramped in the back of the Cake Shop, Tullycraft provoked pogo-ing and sing-a-longs, dispelling any potential dismissals of them being too twee. They just plain had fun, as did the rest of us. Smiles all around.

Tullycraft “Every Little Thing” @ NYC Popfest 2008

• Another Popfest dichotomy was between legendary Glasgowians the Orchids (C86 era, Sarah Records fame) and the Canannes (described as the world’s “most indie band”). The Orchids played a long, heartfelt set at Saturday’s show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg to adoring fans, but to me they didn’t quite shake off the sense of a reunion band, glad to be at the state fair. That said, it was a unique opportunity to see them.

• The Cannanes were half the reason I went to Popfest, having missed their recent Chicago appearances at Reggie’s and on Chic-A-Go-Go (vocalist Frances Gibson confided Reggie’s wasn’t her favorite venue, so maybe I’d get a better performance in NYC…). The band members exuded warmth and ease and were clearly having a fine, laid back time of it; they’d not toured the U.S. for eight years. They ended the Popfest itself on Sunday night with a performance culminating in a joyful maraca chorus with members of the audience (apparently to unload a bulk eBay purchase). Nice. Time for bed, everyone, and see you next year.

• Honorable mention: NYC’s The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (Your new favorite band. Yes. Buy now. Love.), the Hermit Crabs (think Camera Obscura), Brooklyn’s My Teenage Stride, and the Silent League (who woke me up from my weekend stupor at the Popfest Recovery BBQ. Not necessarily easily fitting in with traditional lalala indiepop, the Silent League bills itself on myspace as soft rock. I don’t know, but watching them you were immediately drawn in and amazed that this unbelievable sound was being created, seemingly out of the blue, on stage. Beautiful. Hints of its Mercury Rev lineage.).

The Hermit Crabs | Union Pool – NYC Popfest | 6.15.2008

My Teenage Stride – Theme from Teenage Suicide

For More indiepop excitement:

• Colour Me Pop—Jennifer and Martin are DIY indie pop gig promoters who also DJ between acts: http://www.myspace.com/popchicago

• Slumberland Records—this revitalized label is bringing out releases from many of the bands that played Popfest and a ton of others. You might still find Vol. 1 and 2 of its Searching for the Now split single series at Reckless Records, or just keep up with the whole lot at: www.slumberlandrecords.com

• Other festivals include Gainsville, FL’s Popmayhem!, Northampton, MA’s Popfest! New England, and the Indietracks Festival in Derbyshire, England.