DOWNLOAD Then SEE: Pictures Of Then + Felili

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Feb 23, 2010 8:00PM

It's been a while since we saw any bands passing through Elbo Room that piqued our interest, but tonight sees not one but two promising bands appearing on the club's basement stage.

Opening tonight's show is Texas to Brooklyn transplant Felili who is touring behind her debut, The Moon. The album is a melange of production styles creating aural pastiches around Felili's bright but slightly smokey vocals. Her bio compares her delivery to that of Karen O, and while Felili certainly doesn't share O's grasp of abandon and danger, they do both have powerful instruments at their disposal. The Moon is a promising debut but we admit we're curious to see if it's subtle touches and flourishes will carry over to a live setting.

Closing out the evening is Pictures Of Then, visiting us from Minneapolis. Their latest album And The Wicked Sea has undergone repeat listens from us primarily because we've been trying to discern whether we really like their tuns, or if they're just especially adept at manufacturing music that hits the right buttons. There's a touch of glam, a healthy dose of Britpop, and an odd but totally fitting injection of Midwestern roots rock (read: swagger, not countrified Americana). The fact that the disc has warranted so many repeat listens may make whatever eventual critical judgment we arrive at moot since it's already done a pretty fine job of doing what some music is just meant to do; feel good. As long as the band avoids the smidgen of plodding numbers from the middle of their latest album their live show should prove an energetically god time.

MP3: Felili "Hotel"
MP3: Felili "Paradise"

MP3: Pictures Of Then "When It Stings"

Pictures Of Then and Felili play tonight, February 23, at Elbo Room, 2871 N Lincoln, 8 p.m., $7, 21+