Jun 09 2008
Titus Andronicus @ Market Hotel in Brooklyn
Titus Andronicus opened for Gringo Star and the Black Lips on June 5th in Brooklyn. Unable to stay for the headliners, I made it out to the show to see Titus Andronicus nonetheless, and gladly so (ignoring the fact that I was completely drenched with sweat and gasping for breath at the insanely humid venue).
Market Hotel is a venue that takes you back to a rowdy college party on a Saturday night. In this setting, the boys of Titus Andronicus have found their niche. Thunderous, loud, and derisive, the group is masterful at putting on a high-energy show for a crowd of niche-seekers who vicariously live out their secret vengeance by listening to the harsh, abrasive sound and singing along to lyrics filled with unresolved teenage angst. Armed with a screw-the-world, see-if-I-care attitude, lead singer Patrick Stickles hollers words of hatred and disdain, while at the same time having enough trust in humanity to unabashedly fling himself into the moshpit, at the mercy of a flailing sea of hands.
Their lyrics tell the story of a sorry world where a circle of fire from judgmental eyes burns holes in your being from all directions. It’s tempting to throw the emo label their way, but Titus Andronicus is so comfortable in its pessimism and walk so sure-footedly in a cruel existential world, that it wouldn’t do them justice. Their themes may be dark and dismal, but their songwriting is clever and bright. In fact, so much so that requests for lyrics from non-paying fans inspired them to post the words on their myspace.
Masters of raucous lo-fi garage punk, these boys create noise of epic proportions. Market Hotel was a full house for Titus Andronicus, even though they were the first of three bands that night. Named after the bloodiest of all Shakespearean plays, Titus Andronicus have aptly christened themselves with a name that references a story of revenge. The crowd consisted of mostly of twenty-somethings happy to hear their own private thoughts howled from the stage. Despite the recurring themes of hate and self-loathing, the show had a surprisingly upbeat vibe to it – people were smiling. Their high intensity, crowd-pleasing shows prove that Titus Andronicus is a band that is ready to headline on its own.
Their album The Airing of Grievances has garnered enthusiastic reviews, scoring a generous 8.5 on Pitchfork. They are currently on tour until August to support the release of their first album. Check the dates here.
These folks are the greatest thing to happen to music since sliced bread
Titus Andronicus sounds amazing live. They sound pretty good from the songs I heard on their MySpace page. This is really the type of music that blows me away. I like to call it intelligent rock, judging from the lyrics, band name, and what I’ve read. They are playing a ton of NY/NJ/PA dates, so I’ll have to make it out to one. You wrote a great review. I linked to this from BrooklyVegan. Thanks.
I’m glad you liked the review, Star Child. I enjoyed writing it, and I enjoyed the show even more, although it was so insanely hot in there that I could feel drops of sweat chasing each other down my leg. I”m glad it was dark at the venue, or else it may have seemed that I soiled myself with overexcitement. It’s all good, I guess!