It's always amazing to me how the experience of catching a band perform live can change the way their albums sound to you. When I first heard #japandroids I though they were just a frantic Superchunk rip-off. Being a little older and not having finger on the pulse of indie rock anymore I was quite surprised to squeak into a sold out show in an illegal venue in Brooklyn. I was there to catch local noise/shoegaze heroes A Place To Bury Strangers, but the sea of canned beer swilling hipsters were there for Japandroids. The duo took the stage and expertly navigated their set of frantic sweaty pop songs. The steamy warehouse shouted back choruses that were unfamiliar to me but we're obviously beloved by everyone else. I felt like an outsider and a couple songs into the show I had decided I had to revisit their CD I had picked up at home. I don't remember why I bought it, it may have been a suggestion from one of Buffalo's old guard of aging indie rockers. I have it another cursory listen before flying to NYC since I knew they were on the bill. It hadn't offended me but it really didn't hold my attention either. When I returned home from my weekend in the Big Apple I pit the disc on and wondered how I had missed the hooks before. To be sure the songs are obscured a bit by the nervous speed they are played at, and the cacophony is even more impressive after seeing it reproduced live with only two people. I suppose I am a little jaded having been in bands and knowing how much studio wizardry goes into making the magic that appears on these five inch plastic discs. Seeing the same sounds conjured with flesh and sweat live gave street credit to the stuff on the album. Apparently that was the viewpoint I needed to enjoy this CD.
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