all words: Andy Hess
all photos: Brandon Hirsch

The Wrens are the most honest band in the world.

And the band’s tagline — “Keeping people waiting since 1989″  – might give a better description of the New Jersey quartet than any genre tag could do.

Twenty years of false starts and record label troubles have reduced the band to only three full-length albums, but you wouldn’t know it from the their live show which lasted over an hour and a half. Melodic and introspective on record, the songs roar and bite with much of the attention going to the band’s bassist and singer Kevin Whelan.

On stage, Whelan looks like he’s going to perform random acts of violence on the audience, the band and his instruments alike — slamming the keyboard keys, swinging his bass covered in duct tape around like a maniac, even tossing it into the audience at one point.

The music live is a completely different animal. You won’t recognize your favorite Wrens song until a few bars into the music. The band re-works guitar lines and drum beats making the songs come off as refreshing and new even though you’ve been listening to The Meadowlands, Secaucus and Silver for weeks straight in preparation for the show.

Every song came off as it was a number one record with the amount of group singing from the audience on standouts such as “The House That Guilt Built” and “Hopeless”. Easily the highlight of the night was the encore. The band brought the youngest audience member (the kid looked like he was maybe 10 or 11) on stage to help play piano on — the best Wrens track in my opinion — “This Is Not What You Had Planned” as the bassist lead the audience in quite possibly the most cathartic experience I’ve ever had at a show.

There was no appearance of the band’s “hit” — The Meadowlands‘ “She Send Kisses” — but it didn’t matter. This was the best show I’ve been to all year. Hands down. I just hope I’m as cool as those guys when I’m their age.

Poor But Sexy (PBS), featuring members of Dismemberment Plan and Travis Morrison Hellfighters, opened the show. Playing a mix of funk and what can only be categorized as Yacht Rock, PBS won over an audience that I thought was not going to respond well.

There were hints of irony, but PBS definitely can sell what they’re playing. As much as I love Hall & Oates and Michael McDonald I couldn’t help but enjoy the band’s 45-minute set. Sure, it doesn’t have the visceral edge I normally go for, but they don’t call them hooks for nothing.