I’m pretty sure that Drink Up Buttercup is pretty much everyone’s idea of a great live show. The songs were good too, but it didn’t matter much what they were playing as long as they were playing, though I was an instant fan of James Harvey, one of the three singers–this one providing operatic voices every now and then. I couldn’t even sit still while capturing the footage from my camera. The Lisps played after them, and it was a blast seeing them in a regular show, outside of their musical; without the need to stay in character, they seemed much more free to move to their own music, and this was more apparent in singer Sammy Tunis, who was strikingly dressed in a black dress paired with red stockings and red boots. It was great to hear a few tunes off their musical, The Futurity–that song about mathematics is pretty sweet. You’ll notice in the video that drummer Eric Farber even moves like a robot to create that mechanical beat. Go see for yourself–videos of both bands are after the jump, and there’s more coming next week.

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Drink Up Buttercup – Turn HD on.

Download “Mr. Pie Eyes“ | They’re playing Club NME on Feb 5 and The Living Room on Feb 8.

The Lisps – Turn HD on and watch in full screen mode

Download “Documents“

Drink Up Buttercup – Photos

The Lisps – Photos

Websites: Drink Up Buttercup, The Lisps

Download “Documents” by The Lisps | Friday night was the premiere of The Lisps‘ musical, Futurity. By 10pm the bar at the Zipper Factory was filled with people waiting for the doors to the theater to open. Observing the impressive turnout, I overheard a friend of the band say, “I feel happy for them”, which I’m pretty sure was a prevalent thought in the room. It’s not very often that an indie band from Brooklyn puts a musical on.

Jeremy Barnes was there; he was in town for two shows his band, A Hawk and a Hacksaw, was playing the next two nights. The doors finally opened about half an hour late, and an eager stream of audience rushed past the stage, where Luke Winslow-King’s three-piece band was already performing. Given that timing and their vintage-inspired sound, especially with the sousaphone, I kind of felt like we had all just gotten off a stream locomotive and Luke’s band was busking on the platform.

After that opening set, out came the dark shapes of Cesar Alvarez–writer of the musical and singer of The Lisps–and Sammy Tunis, also singer of The Lisps; these two would be playing the two main characters. The spotlights went on, and it began: “Dear Julian…”. The musical was structured around letters exchanged between Julian Munro–a Civil War soldier who aspires to become a writer and dreams up an invention of the “Stream Brain”–and Ada Lovelace, the famous mathematician Julian calls upon in his imagination for guidance. The chorus, which switched between playing Julian’s regiment and the scientific community that funds the inventor’s project of mechanical intelligence, was the main source of animated performances (the picture above captures a gesture at the mention of a whore); Andrew Hoepfner of Creaky Boards was in it, as were several artist and musician types from Brooklyn, it seems; Sheila Donovan, who plays with a band called Amolvacy, had one of my favorite singing parts.

Remaining members of The Lisps played from the pit above the stage–the drumming was notably filled with agile movements. Most songs were flavored with good ole’ Civil War era Americana; some were supplemented with stomps of the marching boots and fitting blows on the trombone, courtesy Sam Kulik. The lyrics covered an expanse of meandering thoughts, including the simultaneous destruction (of railroads) and construction (of a thinking device that would perhaps bring peace or turn against its own maker); and, amongst other things, the language of math as an expression of nature. Cesar had one song with an impressive rapid outburst of words, which came close to becoming a Civil War era rap. One or two times he would pause and Sammy, who slightly tilted her head up and intently looked on to Cesar for almost the entirety of the show, would refer to her notes and mouth a reminder. All of this was pretty fun to me, and the venue’s a cool space, too. I wouldn’t mind if other bands felt the urge to put up a musical at their next album release party. Perhaps their friends Salt & Samovar should go next.

Luke Winslow-King

Luke is playing a whole bunch of New York shows. I’ll add an mp3 from him shortly.

Websites: Futurity, The Lisps, Luke Winslow-King

The Zipper Factory
New York, NY
Jan 9, 2009