By: Brian Marx
The thirteen people in attendance at the Human Television show in the Entry Wednesday night really enjoyed themselves. The sparse yet upbeat crowd was rewarded with a short but sweet set of jangly, nostalgic dream-pop from the Brooklyn-via-Philadelphia foursome. They only played for fifty minutes, but their eleven songs were potent enough for my senses to trigger my brain to release a refreshing amount of endorphins. This made me consider walking down to the Aquatennial parade on Hennepin and dragging back a few hundred bored parade gawkers to join the cheap and legal high.
Like many bands these days, Human Television proudly wore their influences and their emotions on their sweatshirt sleeves. At first listen, their perfectly sloppy “slack-rock” sound struck me as a medley of some of my favorite early ‘90s bands. Lead singer/songwriter Billy Downing’s voice comes off as a lower pitched reverberation of Band of Horses’ Ben Bridwell. Their backing sound is more hidden, mired behind a conglomeration of indie bands throughout the last decade, yet seemed to pay a subconscious tribute to the abrupt, laid-back, hook-laden gems that New Zealand’s The Bats continue to produce, albeit with more of a Wedding Present edge.
They took to the stage as most touring bands would do when about to play to a near empty venue – weary and lackadaisical. Then, with half of them still sleepwalking from their travels, they gradually, one instrument at a time, launched into an appropriate cover of the Everly Brothers’ “Stacy (Dream, Dream, Dream)”. Once they finished sauntering through their version of an alarm clock, they quickly perked up themselves and the rest of the room by blasting through their entire debut LP, Look at Who You’re Talking To, in one melodic breath.
“Thanks for coming,” Downing understated after their second song, “In Front of the House.” “No really, thank you for coming,” he reiterated again after an audience member returned the favor. And with that, they continued through their miniature set, playing crowd favorites “Such a Trip” and “Ten Minutes,” both songs containing simple yet highly contagious riffs with which you could whistle away almost any shitty day.
Their musicianship remained stoic in spite of it being their first nationwide tour. It may have been their first cross-country jaunt as a band, but they’ve been playing together for years. With a modest underground East Coast following brought about by their All Songs Written By EP a few years ago, Human Television could be everyone’s favorite band that no one’s heard about. Apparently, that held true to Minneapolis last night.
Location Info:
7th Street Entry
Artist Info: Human Television
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