Hologram Jams will also be Jaguar Love’s first release as a dance-beat heavy duo. After parting ways with J. Clark, Johnny Whitney (vocals, keys, drum machines) and Cody Votolato (Guitars, vocals, drum machines) chose to produce their sophomore album with all-star producer/mixer John Goodmanson, to create beats that are sure to invade parties across the states in the spring.

When not creating the album, the duo has apparently kept busy hand-crafting “a limited number of Jaguar Love wristbands that will be hand numbered, and will be included free with the pre-purchase of Hologram Jams.” And imagine how dedicated a fan you would be, sporting the wristband to one of the band’s upcoming West Coast tour dates. Jaguar Love will be headlining The Rumble presented by Future Sounds, which promises to be “a musical rollercoaster of epic proportion.” After listening to “Up All Night”, you can check out the track-listing and tour dates below.

Check Out:
“Up All Night”

Hologram Jams Tracklist:
01. I Started A Fire
02. Polaroids And Red Wine
03. Cherry Soda
04. Don’t Die Alone
05. Up All Night
06. Jaguar Warriors
07. Everything Is Awesome
08. Evaline
09. Sad Parade
10. A Prostitute An Angel
11. Freak Out

Jaguar Love 2010 Tour Dates:
02/01 – Seattle, WA @ Havana Club
02/02 – Portland, OR @ Holocene
02/03 – San Francisco, CA @ Café Du Nord
02/04 – Los Angeles, CA @ Three Clubs
02/05 – Oceanside, CA @ The Royal Dive
02/06 – San Diego, CA @ Bar Pink
02/07 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Aruba

First up was Jaguar Love, a Portland, Oregon duo comprised of frontman Johnny Whitney and guitarist Cody Votolato. I’ll be the first to admit that screaming vocalists do very little for me, especially when they sound like MGMT’s Andrew VanWyngarden shrieking for dear life. So, in fairness, the band was going to have a difficult time winning me over. Still, Whitney seemed preoccupied with strutting around the stage as if he were heir to Mick Jagger’s throne, while Votolato attacked his guitar with admirable energy. The two were backed by prerecorded beats for every song, and the frustrating part was that the music sounded interesting. It had a frantic energy to it, and might have even given way to some catchy hooks, had it not been for the distracting singing on top of it.

Paris-based Plastiscinestook the stage next and immediately provided a stark contrast to the American Apparel appearance of Jaguar Love. Plastiscines are comprised of four females, three of whom evoke 1960′s Nancy Sinatra’s with their puffed up hair and vintage attire. The band’s sound is a cross between the rock of The Donnas and the alternative party attitude of The B-52s. On certain songs it was easy to write the band off as just another four-piece garage rock band with a record deal (who happened to sing an occasional French tune), but then on the next song the group flashed some originality. The set closer, “Barcelona”, proved to be a lively lovesong to the titular locale, and let lead vocalist Katty Besnard show just how smooth her voice is.

The final opener was Living Things, who are doing their damnedest to fill the void in college prep garage rock that The Hives and The Strokes left behind. Frontman Lillian Berlin did the disinterested vocalist act pretty well, and the rest of the band stuck to the simple three-chord template without faltering. Nothing in the 30-minute set was original, but none of it was bad either. It was just there. Part of the blame goes to the night’s sound engineer who mistook loud for better. At times the music was just so amped up that, yes, you heard everything and your drink was rippling from the bass, but all nuance was gone. On record, the band’s lyrics rise above the genre and help make interesting music. Live, it was all lost in translation.

Finally, at 11:20, long after the 7:00 time on the ticket, Wolf’s band-comprised of a violinist, a bassist, a drummer and an electronics guru-walked onstage. The opening sirens of the brief “Kriegspiel” blared over the speakers and Wolf marched out in white tuxedo jacket over his bastardized black suit. The South London native’s bleached hair was paler than his powdered skin, and his eyelids were adorned with glittery green eyeshadow. The song then faded into “Oblivion”, a track off of this year’s excellent The Bachelor. Strapped with a Flying V guitar, this was obviously a more rocking Wolf than last came to town in 2007. Backed by his band, Wolf sounded like someone who was finally allowed to burst out of the confines of a recording studio. His albums are consistently strong and intricately produced, but live he’s not afraid to let sounds bleed together and perform some vocal acrobatics.

On “The Bachelor”, the Celtic rhythm that drives the song became a screeching, nightmarish folk song that you could almost dance to. Wolf played the piano while his drummer pounded away like he was calling for war.

The set mostly drew from The Bachelor, though he did give a few nods to each of his earlier efforts. “The Libertine” and “Tristan”, both from his breakout 2005 LP Wind in the Wiresproved to be crowd favorites. They also had a distinctly more aggressive tone than before. Where his earlier performances and records were something in the electro-acoustic vein, on Monday night he was a rocker who happens to use strings and digital samples.

Watching the audience, who was comprised of many undergrads with X’s on their hands, I realized that much of his theatrics translate much better live than on record. Rallying tunes “Battle” and “Vulture” are two tracks I singled out as trying too hard previously, but live they filled the crowd with a strange hopeful energy that is normally reserved for the universal anthems of U2 and Coldplay. Wolf is obviously not aiming for this same demographic, but he’s tapping into a left-of-mainstream demographic looking for someone who can revel in his own loneliness as much as he revels in unbridled joy. The clap-happy “The Magic Position” is a childlike romp that’s nearly saccharine, and yet it came only 15 minutes after he sang “The Libertine”, which describes self-mutilation and rape. All while wearing glitter, mind.  As he strutted across the stage, vamping for the audience that sang along to every word, he proved that an artist can explore different facets of their personality and the fans will follow.

Setlist:
Kriegspiel
Oblivion
Bluebells
Count of Casualty
Damaris
The Bachelor
Paris
Tristan
Battle
The Libertine
Who Will
Theseus
Hard Times
The Magic Position
Encore:
Vulture

Patrick Wolf 2009 Tour Dates:
05/15 – Northampton, UK @ Roadmender
05/16 – Brighton, UK @ The Great Escape
05/18 – Portsmouth, UK @ Wedgewood Rooms
05/19 – Oxford, UK @ O2 Academy
05/20 – Leeds, UK @ Cockpit
05/22 – Liverpool, UK @ Stanley Theatre
05/23 – Bristol, UK @ Dot To Do Festival
05/24 – Nottingham, UK @ Dot To Do Festival
05/25 – Birmingham, UK @ O2 Academy
05/27 – Norwich, UK @ Waterfront
05/28 – Sheffield, UK @ Leadmill
05/29 – Glasgow, UK @ Classic Grand
05/31 – Manchester, UK @ Ritz
06/01 – London, UK @ Electric Ballroom
06/05 – Seattle, WA @ El Corazon *^#
06/06 – Vancouver, BC @ Richard on Richards *^#
06/08 – San Francisco, CA @ Slim’s *^#
06/09 – Hollywood, CA @ The Roxy *^#
06/12 – Denver, CO @ Oriental Theater *^#
06/14 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Music Cafe *^#
06/15 – Chicago, IL @ The Bottom Lounge *^#
06/17 – Toronto, ON @ Mod Club *^#
06/19 – Buffalo, NY @ Tralf Music Hall *^#
06/20 – Philadelphia, PA @ North Star Bar *^#
06/21 – Boston, MA @ Middle East Downstairs *^#
06/23 – New York, NY @ Highline Ballroom *^#
06/24 – Washington, DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel *^#
06/26 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle *^#
06/27 – Atlanta, GA @ The Loft *^#
06/30 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theatre *^#
07/01 – Austin, TX @ Antone’s Nightclub *^#
07/19 – Berlin, DE @ Melt! Festival
08/02 – London, UK @ Underage Festival
08/13 – Cologne, DE @ C/O Pop Festival
08/14 – Hamburg, DE @ Dockville Festival
08/15 – Gothenburg, SE @ Way Out West Festival
08/23 – Erfurt, DE @ Highfield Festival

* = w/ Living Things
^ = w/ The Plastiscines
# = w/ Jaguar Love

After a while of sitting in the pub area listening to some of the locals perform old Irish drinking tunes, the bouncers opened up the hall for all the fans. Sadly, a good number of them were under eighteen and were asked to leave. I felt bad for them, to see their despair in their faces as they were not permitted to see the show. It was that “I’ve been there before” feeling deep down inside and yeah, I definitely saw that as a tough pill to swallow for some of these kids.

The show itself started right off the bat with a bang with Brooklyn, New York’s very own Black Gold opening with “Idols.” Frontman & keyboard player Eric Ronick sounded great on his keys and mid ranged alto vocals. Drummer Than Luu kept the thick beats behind him and the rest of the band followed in suit. Dashes of influences ranging from shoegazing, disco, classic rock and spaghetti western themes all came into place during the band’s thirty minute opening slot. With a rundown of all of their songs, Ronick took time to proclaim his love for Chicago and to thank the faithful house for coming out on such a cold, windy evening. With that the band launched into a hip-swaggering version of “Detroit” and never let up. Ronick then explained to the crowd that their debut album would be released in February of next year, but their current limited edition EP Picture Show, was available for the taking. With the final curtain call of the disco-infused driving closer “What You Did” the band got the Chicago crowd moving starting, rocking and stopping on a dime. For being an opening band, they certainly did a very tight and energetic performance. Could this be real? The word that summed up Black Gold’s performance was “tight” and for their hour in Chicago, they never sounded better.

After a lengthy intermission of tunings, light fixations and equipment swapping Portland, Oregon’s Jaguar Love took the stage and wasted no time making Chicago their electronic funhouse. Frontman Johnny Whitney graced the stage and howled into the microphone, electrifying the Chicago faithful. Guitarist Cody Volotato’s guitar sounded like a buzzsaw cutting through the grind and the rest of the band followed suit. Whitney’s manic antics on the stage throughout their first few numbers were nothing shot of awesome, but with the good came the bad. Someone in the crowd that decided to be the “big man on campus” yelled “You suck!” to the band, to which Whitney told him to “get the hell out!” This re-energized the Chicago crowd and got them back into the band’s set. However, to be honest, even though the band did do a pretty solid performance, Whitney’s vocal style divulged into repeated territory and began to wane after a while. The only criticism offered here was Whitney’s warbled vocals and incoherence onstage. While he was charming and had the power to back it up, talking to the crowd was not one of his strong points, and combined with his manic warbling, it just got old real quick.

After they ended their heavy shredded set with a literal bang (complete with dropping all of the microphones), there was another long intermission to which the headliners, Tokyo, Japan’s Polysics were to close the show. Unfortunately because the blue line here in Chicago doesn’t run too late, as it was getting late, I had to leave the show and catch the train. It’s a shame because they definitely have a great Devo-influenced sound going on. For the most part, definitely go check them out.

The Abbey Pub hands down is one of the best venues in Chicago. Black Gold and Jaguar Love did some solid sets, but both bands are young and starting out. They both have a long road ahead of them, but for now they’re doing pretty well and playing damn near solid.

Black Gold Setlist
Idols
Breakdown
Plans & Reveries
Detroit
Shine
The Comedown
What You Did

————–

Additional photo support via Radio Free Chicago and John Brunner…

]]> is true, and not having internet access for days can do that, but that still doesn't take away from writing up a great show that the Abbey Pub put on this past Sunday evening. For a chilly night, the faithful fans stood outside in the cold took their places and held their heads high amongst the cold. At times it felt like being at a high school prom due to the majority of fans being no older than nineteen years of age. Regardless however, these people from all over the place including Iowa, Minnesota, Indiana and California flocked to the concert hall complete with marked X's on their underage hands, vinyls in their arms and smiles on their faces. After a while of sitting in the pub area listening to some of the locals perform old Irish drinking tunes, the bouncers opened up the hall for all the fans. Sadly, a good number of them were under eighteen and were asked to leave. I felt bad for them, to see their despair in their faces as they were not permitted to see the show. It was that "I've been there before" feeling deep down inside and yeah, I definitely saw that as a tough pill to swallow for some of these kids. The show itself started right off the bat with a bang with Brooklyn, New York's very own Black Gold opening with "Idols." Frontman & keyboard player Eric Ronick sounded great on his keys and mid ranged alto vocals. Drummer Than Luu kept the thick beats behind him and the rest of the band followed in suit. Dashes of influences ranging from shoegazing, disco, classic rock and spaghetti western themes all came into place during the band's thirty minute opening slot. With a rundown of all of their songs, Ronick took time to proclaim his love for Chicago and to thank the faithful house for coming out on such a cold, windy evening. With that the band launched into a hip-swaggering version of "Detroit" and never let up. Ronick then explained to the crowd that their debut album would be released in February of next year, but their current limited edition EP Picture Show, was available for the taking. With the final curtain call of the disco-infused driving closer "What You Did" the band got the Chicago crowd moving starting, rocking and stopping on a dime. For being an opening band, they certainly did a very tight and energetic performance. Could this be real? The word that summed up Black Gold's performance was "tight" and for their hour in Chicago, they never sounded better. After a lengthy intermission of tunings, light fixations and equipment swapping Portland, Oregon's Jaguar Love took the stage and wasted no time making Chicago their electronic funhouse. Frontman Johnny Whitney graced the stage and howled into the microphone, electrifying the Chicago faithful. Guitarist Cody Volotato's guitar sounded like a buzzsaw cutting through the grind and the rest of the band followed suit. Whitney's manic antics on the stage throughout their first few numbers were nothing shot of awesome, but with the good came the bad. Someone in the crowd that decided to be the "big man on campus" yelled "You suck!" to the band, to which Whitney told him to "get the hell out!" This re-energized the Chicago crowd and got them back into the band's set. However, to be honest, even though the band did do a pretty solid performance, Whitney's vocal style divulged into repeated territory and began to wane after a while. The only criticism offered here was Whitney's warbled vocals and incoherence onstage. While he was charming and had the power to back it up, talking to the crowd was not one of his strong points, and combined with his manic warbling, it just got old real quick. After they ended their heavy shredded set with a literal bang (complete with dropping all of the microphones), there was another long intermission to which the headliners, Tokyo, Japan's Polysics were to close the show. Unfortunately because the blue line here in Chicago doesn't run too late, as it was getting late, I had to leave the show and catch the train. It's a shame because they definitely have a great Devo-influenced sound going on. For the most part, definitely go check them out. The Abbey Pub hands down is one of the best venues in Chicago. Black Gold and Jaguar Love did some solid sets, but both bands are young and starting out. They both have a long road ahead of them, but for now they're doing pretty well and playing damn near solid. Black Gold Setlist Idols Breakdown Plans & Reveries Detroit Shine The Comedown What You Did -------------- Additional photo support via Radio Free Chicago and John Brunner... ]]> http://consequenceofsound.net/2008/11/black-gold-steals-jaguar-love-squeals-at-the-abbey-pub-119/feed/ 1