Captured Hearts: Love is All / Video Hippos

June 16, 2008 by william alberque  Send to a Friend

all photos: Lara Warman

Love Is All played their brand of hyperactive, joyous noise to a pleasingly-full Backstage at the Black Cat on Wednesday night. I was a little taken aback by their Backstage billing. This is the third time through town (2005 at DC9, 2006 at the Cat upstairs), and I expected a near-sold-out show up on the main stage. Indeed, they had the additional attractions of the superb boys from We Fought the Big One on the decks, and the alarming but highly entertaining local boys (Baltimore, right?) Videohippos as the opening act.

Still, with a (slightly disappointingly) ridiculous tour-only covers ep on hand, released under the “What’s Your Rupture” rubric, and the usual collection of lovely shirts and bags, hopefully, their DC sojourn was worth their while. It was certainly worth mine.

LIA was in town on the back of a seven-day mini-tour of the U.S., presumably to remind everyone that the brilliant Swedish five-piece is still around, and warming us up for the impending release of their second studio album, “A Hundred Things Keep Me Up at Night.” The first album, “Nine Times the Same Song,” is a brilliant collection of new songs and singles tracks, ranging in tone from the frenetic blast of “Talk Talk Talk,” and “Make Out. Fall Out. Make Up.” to the unexpected and lyrically beautiful melancholy of “Felt Tip” and “Turn the TV Off.” Last year saw the band release a remix CD, with predictably mixed results – only the brilliant frYars re-recording of “Felt Tip” is really worth the bother. Fortunately, the concert pointed the way towards an excellent new album.

As I mentioned in passing, Videohippos kicked off the show, and, if you’ve never seen them (believe me, you’d remember if you had), they are something to behold. Just follow the link to their website, above, and you’ll get the idea – video projections of hyper-saturated color absurdities played on a giant screen behind a guitarist and a drummer (sitting on a damaged amp?), both singing, with a sound that’s jarringly loud from right up front, but makes a great deal of sense from the back of the room (even more from just outside it, I found). The addition of a drum machine and keyboards on a few songs made the fast, attacking drums that much more of a risky gambit, but it paid off handsomely, adding a welcome complexity to what could otherwise be a very shout-y set. Still, with song titles like, “Bonehenge,” they’re not necessarily a lock on becoming the next Ratatat. Worth keeping an eye on that lot.

Rick and Brandon from WFTBO played the interstitials, introducing the assembled mass of kids to appropriately lo-fi classics from their justly-famed DJ night. And really, with songs, like “Lunna Lubbe” by Le Zarjaz and “First Night on” by Restricted Code in your quiver, how can you miss?

Thence, to the main act.

LIA came out to a very strange version of Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra, kicking off with three new songs –Wishing Well (increasing the comparisons to the unjustly overlooked Stockholm Monsters – see “Used Goods” versus “Happily Ever After”), “Give It” and “Last C” (the latter two I’m guessing at by looking at the set list). Ambitious to start off with unknown songs, certainly, but, anyone with a passing familiarity with Love Is All’s noisy, cacophonous, rhythmic attack would have been well pleased with the new compositions, and judging from the dancing and spontaneous smiles on the faces of the (alarmingly) young crowd, I think they were very well received.

New saxophonist James Ausfahrt (Åke to his friends) was given a chance to really stretch his legs during the next song, “Talk Talk Talk,” which gave way to “Ageing Has Never Been His Friend,” perhaps the best song ever about refrigerating your friends, and another firm crowd favorite. Another new song, “Seasick,” was followed by a transcendent live version of “Felt Tip,” one of my favorite songs from their cannon (though slightly better in the demo version on the Busy Doing Nothing single). The sing-a-long during “Felt Tip” was particularly heartening, and sprightly (and very fashionable) singer Josephine Olausson used her limited stage space to its full extent, singing it right back to the crowd.

Inspired by the recent covers, they launched into an insane cover of “I Ran” by Flock of Seagulls, featuring some nice interplay between Josephine and guitarist/singer Nicholaus Sparding, further ratcheting up the audience delight. Another new track, “New Beginnings” (see their MySpace page for a rough mix), followed, accompanied by a trio of old favorites, “Turn the Radio Off,” “Busy Doing Nothing,” and the euphoric, anthemic perfection of “Make Out. Fall Out. Make Up.” The NME famously described this last song as sounding as though:

the members of Bikini Kill, Madness, Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound and Nation of Ulysses got together on the Muppet Show and sang the best song ever written - backwards! Then the crazy spastic deaf genius that recorded it put all the microphones down a toilet while a dog (wearing shades) jumped all over the mixing desk, pissing wildly with excitement.

Truer words were never written. The audience would not be satisfied, though, and various demands were shouted We were rewarded with rousing versions of “Used Goods,” and “Spinning and Scratching,” leaving all in attendance (as well as the rhythm section of Johan Lindwall and Markus Görsch) slightly winded and thoroughly pleased.

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