By: Pat O'Brien
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Arab Strap - Publicity photo by Gill Flett
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The 7th Street Entry seemed like too small a venue to give A Whisper In The Noise or Arab Strap a fair shake, but as it turned out it was a near-perfect setting for both on Friday night. Both bands have “big” sounds, but still have the intimacy that lends itself to well to a small venue.
Local favorites A Whisper In The Noise got things going earlier than expected, hitting the stage a full fifteen minutes before their scheduled start. This proved to be a minor mistake, as they began the first song only to discover the mics weren’t on yet and the sound guy wasn’t yet in the booth. After a few minutes of tension and people in the crowd shouting “Welcome home, Whisper!” the set began again with “The Tale of Two Doves.” On paper, AWITN is something that would seem exceptionally boring, with instrumentation that consists of keyboards, bass, French horn, violin and drums. It doesn’t exactly scream “music for the masses,” but somehow AWITN create something greater than the sum of their parts, music you might expect to hear if you were to visit a bordello in purgatory.
Singer West Thordson’s lyrics are obtuse, but they draw you into surreal stories. His voice isn’t traditional, but like The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn it functions almost as an additional instrument, oscillating from hushed spoken word to pained screams, adding to the already prevalent haunting quality AWITN create. Drummer Nicholas Conner was the real surprise; I was under the impression they augmented the percussion with drum loops, but it turns out it’s solely Conner. My eyes kept wandering to the back of the stage in awe of his speed and precision. After the shaky start, AWITN recovered nicely and delivered the type of set that makes you want to go home and start a band of your own.
Arab Strap took the stage to a deafening roar from the now slightly smaller crowd (many people were there just for AWITN, apparently). The “band” is singer Aidan Moffat with Malcolm Middleton handling all the instruments in the studio. On tour Middleton is on lead guitar, and they fill the other spots (keys, bass, drums) with other musicians. They opened with the ferocious “Stink” from their new album The Last Romance and rolled along nicely from there.
Arab Strap sounds a little like Doves, but where Doves’ songs are about lost loves and sadness, Arab Strap’s songs are more confrontational. Moffat’s lyrics are overtly about sex and the damages opening oneself up to another person can cause. The music is brooding and difficult to shake, and while the lyrics that call for the burning of bedding after a tryst would seem almost comical in less capable hands, Moffat’s handling of them coupled with his delivery (his Scottish burr never disappears while he’s singing) make your emotions boil. I found myself identifying with his actions more than I want to admit. Moffat seems like a jaded misogynist at first blush, but the more I listened to the lyrics, the more I realized he’s just a hopeless romantic who keeps getting screwed over; anger and cynicism are just shields he holds up in defense. They drove that point home with a cover of “Fool’s Game” during the encore, and though Moffat was off-key it somehow couldn’t have been more perfect.
Location Info:
7th Street Entry
Artist Info: A Whisper in the Noise, Arab Strap
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