By: David de Young
 Luke's Angels at the Turf Club - Photo by David de Young (click for full size) |
Members: Amy Carson - vocals/bass Official website: http://www.lukesangels.com |
Reviewed by David de Young
By midnight Friday night, the Autumn Leaves had already played a straightforward set of their pleasant melodic pop, and Faux Jean had rocked the Turf Club with one of their most energetic and dead on shows since their First Avenue CD Release Party. A tough act to follow? You bet. Could Luke's Angel's do it? It was a drop in the bucket.
Luke's Angels, a 4-piece rock ensemble comprised of guitar playing sisters Jennie and Melissa Kalpin, bassist Amy Carson and drummer Jamie Bollman had been off my local music radar for too long. That was until friend Sean Hoffman tipped me off about them and they burst into my life and PO Box with a pre-release of their new CD a few weeks ago. In the days that followed that CD was in my player with frequency, as much to listen to it myself as to play it for any lucky fool daring enough to walk through my front door.
The Jacques Wait-produced eponymous album from Luke's Angels rocks from the start with opener "One Small Glimpse" (available as an MP3 download from the band's website.) The song grabs you in seconds as if late Joy Division/early New Order had been fuel-injected and met the Go Go's. And if you think that's too good to be true, the 10-song album sustains its top-notch quality throughout. (In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to find it on my top 10 local releases of 2003 come New Year's Eve). Taken as a whole, Melissa Kalpin's Bernard Sumner meets Secret Agent Man guitar leads, sister Jennie's rocking and sometimes raunchy yet dead on rhythm guitar, Carson's bouncy bass lines and a tight and Jamie Bollman's strong pop beat that keeps your head nodding, Lukes Angels couldn't have more synergy if all the members had been hatched from the same egg.
There was no lack of energy at the Turf when Lukes Angels took the stage at 12:15. Faux Jean are friends of the band, and their fans are big supporters; the same people who had gathered by the stage for the earlier set remained for Lukes Angels, including the Faux Jean members themselves. And to their credit, L.A. and crew had been positioned up front supporting the opening acts with their entourage since the start of the show.
I'd already cast my City Pages Picked to Click vote for Lukes Angels as a band to watch for in the coming year before even seeing them live, knowing that this terrific CD would get things "clicking" for them immediately. I was in no way disappointed by their live performance and I am all the more glad to find the band dishing out their well wrought tunes casually and with great karma. This is pleasant, feel good music that seems to spring from some sort of deep, devilish joy within the band members. Tallish Melissa stands stage center, flanked by sister Jenny and friend Amy (tonight both sporting I "heart" L.A. t-shirts.) Onstage communication is clearly visible between the sisters and Carson as well and Melissa frequently smiles in a reserved dignified manner, clearly enjoying herself and respecting her guitar duties and while the other women do the singing. Bollman sits attentively behind the drums as movies, with a special selection for nearly every song are projected on a screen behind them by band associate Josh Richardson.
Luke's Angels drummer Jamie Bollman
4 Songs into the set the band breaks into to Luke's Theme. (All great bands should have their own theme song, don't you think?) This one features a Bonanza-style guitar line that breaks into a veritable cowboy song before it ends, chronicling cross country travels listening to Bob Dylan, with the twisted line "Sarcasm brings out your charm." A few songs later, the guitar line on one of the album highlights "Geological Wonder" can't help but remind me of a kind of pleasant, upbeat "Atmosphere" by Joy Division.
The 13-song set--that concluded with the album opener, "One Small Glimpse"-- included every song from the CD, one new song, and a cover of Ride's "Black Night Crash." This left little material for an encore, though the crowd still demanded one. The Twin Cities new 2 a.m. bar time allowed one or two more songs after 1 a.m. with a nod from sound technician Rob Rule. Perhaps in celebration for drummer Jamie Bollman's birthday, he traded his drum kit for Jennie Kalpin's guitar for the first encore. The band closed with a cover of Beat Happening's "I Spy" from the Olympia Washington lo-fi pop group's 1985 debut. A cover of a Grandaddy song, vociferously requested by Faux Jean's Nicole Kalodrich did not materialize, but is perhaps something to listen for at a future L.A. show.
Fans of the Soviettes, Revolver, and Faux Jean will love this CD and are advised to check out Lukes Angels as soon as they can. Check their website and howwastheshow.com's calendar for upcoming shows.
Location Info:
The Turf Club
Artist Info: Luke's Angels
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