Analog Jetpack at the Grog and Tankard
Robert Getzschman is, well, an odd man. (Just look at the picture on his myspace page. I would have gone for pasties myself.) Running The Frozen Food Section, a record label out of his native St. Louis, he decided to move up to New York's Lower East Side to pursue the "singer-songwriter thing." After stints there and in Boston, Rob moved to DC. The move to DC and subsequent job at an Apple store introduced him to drummer Robby Sahm, who in turn brought in Dan Ryan on bass to round out the band's lineup (full disclosure: Dan is a friend of mine). Now known as Analog Jetpack and producing music collaboratively, they are currently building their sound upon Getzschman's last solo album, Hypocrisy in the Genius Room and working on their first album as a band. Jetpack maintains Rob's love (or is it hate?) for dollar stores and wet dreams about consumption in a rich anti-folk tradition, while adding layers of rock, jazz, hip-hop and country to the repertoire at the Grog and Tankard this past Wednesday.
They began their set with "Low-low Price," a backhanded ode to the consumerism. On this song and many others however, sound issues plagued Rob’s biting and observant vocals. But "And the customer is always right / 'cause they don't know better / And they can't believe it's not butter / And it tastes nothing, it tastes nothing like butter," hits shopping right on the head. After the first song, the band slowed down for a bit, picking back up with a stirring three song arc of country tunes. Despite what Rob said about their alternation between country and rock songs in the break between songs, the twangy rock settled along fine amongst the folk. The standout of the three, "Manual Labor Pains," was particularly enjoyable for its vocals and slow blues. It also highlighted Rob's ability to twist labor into love while staring bleakly at work itself; because work in the world of Analog Jetpack is not fun. "Manual Labor Pains" contains the desperation and hope of a spurned lover, except that the heartbreaker is a job; you are betrayed from 9 to 5, and then lick your wounds from 7-10. Somewhere in there you get drunk or go to the local strip mall. Or both.
"Power Corrupts" channels Malkamus' lazy, dragging vocals and instrumentation. Analog Jetpack revisits this theme and stance later in "Old Ass Man," consorting with a fatigued and jaded "voice of truth. The Pavement-esque narrator of the song observes the world from his couch in the middle of nowhere. The anti-hero/narrator is energetic enough to touch, but too tired to grab at, the world beyond apathy.
The heretofore subdued percussion came out in full force on "Allons a la Boom." Robby drummed aggressively on this song, whipping the band into a frenzy, half-beat by half-beat. Rob met his contribution vocally, rapped spastically over the constant crashing of a trio of cymbals. This was followed by "Coast to Coast" a jangly pop tune about hopping trains. The bassist added some funk to it, while Rob spat lyrics with a country tell-it-like-it-is tone. Towards the end, the guitars provided hot vamping over steady percussive beats. The excitement even inspired one man with a cast-boot on his leg to begin hoping across the dance floor on his good leg, inviting the audience to cringe or laugh at the accident waiting to happen.
After an impromptu rendition of "Rapper's Delite" that ended five minutes too soon, Analog Jetpack went into "Tales of Woe," a song of country soul that had me yelling the refrain along with Rob at the end. In the intro of their last song, the drummer played frenetically for about 30 seconds with some spare bass and guitar backing him before they delved into The Postal Service's "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight." While their version was not as crisp as the original, Jetpack's syncopated rhythms and ambition to recreate an unwieldy IDM experiment live more than made up for its weaknesses.
After finishing their set, the staff asked them to keep playing. They invited friends on stage to MC while they laid down some improvisational R&B backing, leaving the audience with a parting shot of their genre-jumping talent.
Setlist:
Low-low Price
Savoir Sonic
Tearin' a hole in my chest
ICBM
Manual Labor Pains
Punish the Rental
Shampoo!
St. James Infirmary
Mashed Potato
Power Corrupts
Conflagration!
Allons a la boom
Coast to Coast
Outgun'd
Old ass man
Tales of woe
Make it Plane
The District Sleeps Alone Tonight