Thursday at the Mohawk offered up a delectable variety of southern inspired indie artists that ranged from blues and country to psychedelic rock and Americana. First up was Tyler Jordan who performed with cellist Erin Davis and drummer Robby Pettinato. It made a real difference, and resulted in, what I consider to be, a huge improvement from the last couple of times I’d seen him solo. Jordan’s songs are heavy on acoustic guitar with simple chord progressions that really hook you.
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The overall sound could be considered “indie folk” but I hate that term. It’s very general. He is, as the song goes, a little bit country and a little bit rock n’ roll. But in a more southern Americana way. Definitely falls into this whole singer/songwriter wave that’s sweeping the whole damn nation. At times it seemed that Davis and Jordan were on two different levels, with Pettinato keeping rhythm in the background serving as their fulcrum. Still, adding Davis and Pettinato’s talents allowed for depth. The light percussion and harmonies achieved a certain diversity that aided Jordan’s old songs, like “Ella” and created better new ones, like the one about Lake Jackson. When Davis began playing the saw it was apparent how the small addition of other creative sources made the overall vibe more interesting; plus it was fun to watch and the ethereal tones were wonderful.
Aside from the fact that it was catchy and fun, there was also a familiar feel to most of his tunes. Predictable songs about love, living in Austin, doing drugs, and working for tips did abound. He was not quite engulfed yet, but stood on the verge of falling into the cavernous abyss of monotony that so many singer/songwriters do.
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Next up was Austin based quartet, Western Ghost House. Their sound at times confused me, but it was an appealing confusion. Lead vocalist, Jesse Pantoja, would go from a sort of tender to screaming voice. Yeah, screaming. Backup vocals made those moments less abrasive than they’d be without. Smooth rhythms would meticulously build up into these somehow appropriate fits of rage, especially in songs like “Buoy/Knife” and “Pale Girls.” It was unexpected, but not overwhelming. At first I thought, oh, another rock band doing some emo thing. But contraire! Bassist Steven Garcia and Andrew Romero on guitar played so cohesively, they together formed a singular strong layer of moving bassline that was psychedelic in nature. But Romero’s bottleneck slide technique paired with Panotoja’s acoustic melodies in the forefront gave an eerily southern feel. Combine that with Adrian Carillo playing strong drum parts and you get something that was, like I said, comfortably confusing.
Live, Pantoja was constantly making me think of Jack White, especially when paired with that heavy drum background. When I listen to it recorded I wasn’t so sure. They definitely moved with a Modest Mouse style of rhythmic fluctuations; yet, they managed to provide their own unique sound. They were great to watch because they are so in sync with each other and truly put talent out there for the audience to see.
The crowd began to thin out a bit as Birmingham native Celeste Griffin took a seat at the keys with her band Monarchs. First thing I noticed was the booming blues of a voice that came from Griffin. She’s got some cords, no doubt, and knew how to put together a good hip swinging song. Jon Hoskins on bass, Rhett Flowers on drums and Alex Tomaino on guitar followed her whims to a tee using classic guitar riffs and soulful rhythms and blues bass lines. The instrumentation is obviously a pedestal for her voice and story to be heard, but during the breaks the band shines through. At times it was repetitive, “Here I Go Again” especially, though still enjoyable. Her voice sounded great all night even without the regular backup harmonies from Chelsea Marcum. For most of the remaining set she sang and didn’t play the keys; pouring her heart and body into her ballads.
From love songs to stories about life and loss, her lyrics came out in the same style an old folk tale would, only it was set to a tune reminiscent of Citizen Cope. Cat Power (Chan Marshall) is an obvious influence along with other strong female vocalists of soul and blues. The band backing her up was good though because it isn’t at all as minimalist as Marshall’s music usually is. In a cover of Robert Palmers “Addicted to Love” she performed solo and the Cat Power thing was a little distracting because it was very similar. Although she sang it well and it sounded pretty, it was hard to tell where she put her personal touch on it. A personal touch is necessary in a cover and it just wasn’t there.
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Finally locals Crooks took the stage. A cowboy was apparently playing at the Mohawk. No, really. I think he was a real cowboy, he had the hat and the boots and everything, even that drawn out twang to this voice. The set was played with a skeleton crew where Sam Alberts would intermittently play the trumpet or banjo, sometimes nothing, and Rob Bacak played drums on most of the tracks with Josh Mazour (who doesn’t actually wrangle cattle, but looks like he could) up front. The semi-real deal. And I liked it. It reminded me of the kind of country music that I listened to growing up. The kind that CMT destroyed. “My First” is a song about guns! With a western dual trumpet solo leading into what could have easily been the background music for a 1960’s Clint Eastwood movie. It didn’t stop there, and it wasn’t simply one dimensional. A honkey tonk hard rock feel is what you got listening to them and Bacak didn’t hold back when they switched into that mode. Like in “Lord Knows” when they rocked so hard it was almost too loud.
Backwoods banjo and well placed percussion made the songs about little ladies and cheap booze ring with blues influences. I hadn’t seen this type of music performed in a while so I really enjoyed myself and suggest you also check it out. Crooks are playing an unofficial SXSW show with Western Ghost House at The Moose Lodge on the 18th. Tyler Jordan plays again March 12th at Flipnotics, but Monarchs won’t be doing a show until April 9th at The Moose Lodge.
