“Scalable” music trumps “arena ready” every time. Relying foolhardily on a singular and singularly overwhelming volume, a single timbre or pitch, unable to conform to conditions, can sink any live performance. What is the use of heavy, thumping bass if it only crackles unintelligibly, or sweet synth hooks if they come out garbled, or are buried beneath heaps of overambitious noise? This isn’t to say that every small venue show should be some stripped down, preciously MTV Unplugged-like affair, but there are more and less expert ways to translate your sound to more cramped quarters.
In this vein, Hooray for Earth still has some learning to do. Granted, the New York band, about to enter into its sixth year of existence, is going through growing pains. Their recent intensive synth-pop twirler True Loves has garnered them a bit of buzz and a dedicated – if small fanbase as they set out on a five-week tour (their first outside the Northeast) in support of it. These growing pains manifested themselves, at least for their Mississippi Studios show in support of Cymbals Eat Guitars, in an almost painfully loud set that left the crowd, the band and their sound more than a little unbalanced. Leading off with “Sails,” vocalist and guitarist Noel Heroux’s turn, low-key but well-timed on the album, came across as barely enunciated, more or less mumbled, and definitely not in keeping with the song’s steady time. Crunchier than on the album version, it verged on the muddy at times, as if the controlled sonic overload on the album could never translate live, the band closing the song with an unnecessary long and loud outro. (At first, I considered that my aversion to the volume was due to early-onset codgerliness, but even the front row fanatics wore somewhat pained faces.)
Next up was the falsetto-laden “Bring Us Closer Together,” an explosively light-footed, Trevor Horn-laced dance track that the band essentially strangled onstage. At one point, with the band almost working at cross-purposes, drummer Joe Ciampini lost his headphones and fell out of step with Heroux (mumbling again) and Chris Principe (manning bass and keyboard), reducing the song to chaos broken by spells of programmed synth despite the best intentions of all three to keep the track well-heeled. Album standout “True Loves,” in the rolling style of the Dodos or Animal Collective, lost its professional sheen live, done clumsier with too much reverb on the vocals and too many elements competing for supremacy.
“No Love” lacked energy, its perfect pitch rendered all mixed up, with the band giving a genuine effort but losing ground to the only thing seemingly able to keep time: the pre-programmed synth hooks, initiated with enthusiasm by Principe. True Loves opener “Realize It’s Not the Sun” was preceded by a Tecate break for Principe and a bit of mic-wrestling by Heroux (either too high or too low, angled improperly or deserving some other adjustment), the song’s slow burn the most readily translatable. Album closer “Black Trees” was last in the incredibly brief seven-song set, representing a late attempt at a rally coming from the band, Ciampini marching along with the track expertly (without his headphones this time). All the echo, pomp and punch of the album version was preserved, but with a sustained crackling and latent stab at jamming drawing the song out infinitely longer than it needed to be. If the extended ends of each song were totaled up, and each track were left to expire on time rather than drawn out in sustained bouts of noise, Hooray for Earth could’ve fit a whole other song into their set. But with more lessons to learn and each new show a notch in their nascent touring belt, these and the other troubles of this particular live set will probably help, not hinder, the band in the long haul. At least let’s hope so.
by Joe Clinkenbeard
