It's the chance of a lifetime

The Rapture / Under the Influence of Giants
Tallahassee Beta Bar
January 26, 2007

Who are Under the Influence of Giants? Or UTIOG? I still don't really know. They're on a major, so perhaps I should. Jimmy Kimmel tells me they're huge on iTunes and myspace. The consistently entertaining but rarely useful 'moods' function on AMG says they're quirky, amiable, trashy and indulgent, and ideal for a girl's night out. Not sure what any of that means. They played pleasant enough rock n' roll with some funk basslines (bass player looked like a badass, btw) but all the songs sure did sound the same. Their singer, Aaron, wore a big coat, paced around a lot and gave off a Johnny Borrell vibe which kind of bugged me. Their last two songs were easily their best, and the last one especially was really heavy and dynamic and would really have made a great set-opener. So-so band, shit band name.

What you gonna do? What you gonna do? When The Rapture comes for you? Maybe they could put that on a t-shirt. One thing that can be said about the Brooklyn foursome - they don't mess around. All bangers. No slow jams. Lots of energy. Mostly songs off 'Echoes'. Call and response for 'Sister Savior' and 'Get Myself Into It'. Old-school rave vibes through 'Killing' and 'Don Go Do It'. Luke Jenner playing with his back to the crowd on set-highlight 'Pieces of the People We Love', and throwing dance moves on 'W.A.Y.U.H.' And of course, as that delayed guitar hits the start of 'House of Jealous Lovers', everyone goes ape. It was a very fun set, but the guitar was often way too high in the mix, and sounded muddy. Plus, I realized that a lot of their songs sound the same. So if you didn't know any of them coming into the gig, you'd probably have been quite bored after three songs. But as a fan, I enjoyed it a lot, and as they finished with 'Olio' and the house lights came up, and we all realized quite how much sweat we'd lost, it was all worth it.

Today's download was all over the net a few months ago, but because I can't find it active anywhere else at the moment, here you go. It's essential.

[download The Rapture - Whoo! Alright! Yeah! Uh Huh! (Simian Mobile Disco Remix)]