Last Friday’s Black Cat double feature was a trip down memory lane, steeped in nostalgia for a period of music that doesn’t yet fully exist.
Twin Shadow’s searing new wave seemed immersed in love for the late ’80s, a time when most of the audience — and some of the band members — were unaware of this splintering of genres. George Lewis, Jr. — who performs as Twin Shadow with a backing band that makes his live performances a little more dynamic than just a guitar and some controls could allow — let his lyrical chops shine. Lewis is never quite as relaxed as his chillwave counterpart Ernest Greene of Washed Out, but Twin Shadow’s compositions put you in a holding position, waiting in a darkened basement for what’s upstairs, never sprawled out on a couch but perched on the edge of your seat. The band’s eight-song set seemed ruefully short, but set up The Pains of Being Pure at Heart for a set that celebrated that time in the early to mid-’90s when Empire Records was plausible and boy-girl vocal androgyny was de rigeur.
Peggy Wang held her own against Kip Berman, which is difficult when the deck is stacked in favor of female keyboardists who fade into the background. Together, they channeled the best parts of D’arcy Wretzky and Billy Corgan’s early, pre-meltdown dynamic — opposed, but polished. Wang pounded out her parts with aplomb and matched Berman note for note. Kurt Feldman’s drumming was spot-on; at times his rapid fire delivery stole the show. The band started out with “Belong,” a hopeful wall-of-guitars ballad in the vein of My Bloody Valentine, and the title track of their second album, which was released just last week. They followed this up with their debut eponymous album’s “This Love is Fucking Right!” before returning to newer material.
A band that rises to indie-fame so quickly needs to flesh out their touring fodder, and with a twelve-song set The Pains of Being Pure at Heart managed to strike a balance between the old and new. With “Heaven’s Gonna Happen Now,” “Too Tough” and “Strange,” they proved they are no one-hit wonders, while rewarding the fans who have been by the band’s side since the beginning, which wasn’t such a long time ago.
