BrightestYoungThings: Live DC: Phantogram/ Junk Culture @ DC9

words by Phelps
photos by Jane Briggs

We arrived at DC9 post-Sesshin No-Fi but just in time for Oxford, Mississippi’s Junk Culture, a one man band in the form of Deepak Mantena. Armed with an MPD controller, mic, and numerous pedals, Mantena’s danceable set maintained a middling level of energy that held on by a single thread – his own vibrance. He implored the crowd to dance, many times, but verbalizing that over and over is like when someone tells you to “chill out” during an argument. It’s the last thing you want to do.

Still, he was vibing on his own energy and even ran through the crowd a couple of times. I can imagine if he had his bro Nitin on drums it would have been a whole different scenario but he still managed to shake the stage to the ground a few times and compensated for his lack of movement on stage with some accompanying visuals. Downhill skateboarding, summer camps, sports and – hey, is that B Real in a pirate outfit??? While in the crowd, his song continued for about 2 minutes without his assistance. This baffled me but I like Justice so it didn’t necessarily bother me.

While on the stage, he whooped and hollered with safari screeches reminiscent of Anim – hey was that a Brother Sport sample??? His cd on Bloomington, Indiana’s Illegal Art, home of Girl Talk, is worth checking out. Dude brings a party but the DC9 crowd was clearly fixated on the headliners.

The house was packed and people were turned away at the door by the time Phantogram’s Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter took the stage. A far cry from their sparsely attended show with The Pomegranates back in September 2009 and a clear testament to their touring fortitude, good press rolling in, and whatever the kids these days are using to replicate word of mouth.

Dressed in all black, the duo dumped napalm on the vibe Deepak had sparked and commenced banger after banger from their new album. There was confidence and belief in the material displayed throughout so that when the drum machine dropped the beat on “Let Me Go,” the crowd just ran with Barthel and Carter’s vocals as she swept the song out with her grimy synths.

Meanwhile, Carter lurched and stomped around like Angus Young as crowd favorite “Mouthful of Diamonds” incited a dance riot during the dismissive dissonance. Things slowed down for “You Are the Ocean” but steamrolled to the end with “When I’m Small.” An unfairly infectious 8-bit showcase of Barthel’s vocal prowess and Carter’s fuzzy but precise guitar lines, this had the crowd in deeper than the swine flu ever could.

Barthel cooed about dying as a more desirable option than “to be with you” but their overall presence was much more genial than the lyrics. Carter had the sound turned up at the behest of the crowd and Sarah powered through “Voices” during the encore. This was all in spite of her own voice which she described as “fucked.” The crowd responded in kind as they sang and moved in unison to a performance that would have crushed during a Liberation Dance Party.

I mentioned in an interview the other day that Phantogram may be vacating small clubs like DC9 soon and within days they’d been added to the Sasquatch bill and confirmed another national tour with The Antlers. With work ethic, powerful music, and a rabid fan base (someone offered me $30 to stand in front of me at this show) at their backs, I stand confident in that prediction. Hope she used her $30 for a t-shirt, an album, or a Randy Newman record for those hollering at the tall folks up front. Speaking of records, their vinyl is within the good company of Ghostly International and you can pick it up here.

Brightest Young Things

Live DC

Live DC: Phantogram/ Junk Culture @ DC9

TUESDAY 4/3

of Montreal w/ Loney Dear & Kishi Bashi @ 9:30 Club

Previously in Live DC:

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