10 Years of Mom + Pop at Brooklyn Steel brought together a handful of the record label’s most talented performers who filled the evening with unforgettable sets and celebrated the label’s unique and interesting voices it has accrued in its ten years.
Alice Merton was one of the first performances of the evening and while it was brief, it made a lasting impression. Between the funky guitar riffs from “No Roots” and Merton’s deep and recognizable vocals, the songs transform from standard pop tunes to expressive artistry. She rounded out the set with her newest single “Why So Serious,” a song with catchy and cheeky lyrics that lingers in the listener’s head for days afterward.
Neon Indian played shortly after and filled their performance with dancey synth and brought glowing beach balls for the audience to bat around while they played. They performed a cover of Orange Juice’s “Rip It Up,” and lead singer Alan Palomo danced around to the funk and electropop. Their set would be incomplete without “Polish Girl,” and the audience jumped and danced as the first repetitive keyboard notes and synth hit their ears. They ended with an oldie but goodie “Vamos a la Playa” and flung inflated beach balls out into the crowd. The glowing orbs bounced around as Palomo hurled himself across the stage before he thanked the crowd and slowly walked off the stage.
Sleigh Bells was next, but not before a short video about the label and the artists it represents was shown. After it ended, giant Marshall speakers were wheeled out onto the stage and as the lights went out, lead singer Alexis Krauss made her entrance. They opened with “Tell ‘Em” and the guitars and heavy beats surged out of the speakers and infiltrated the crowd. They seamlessly transitioned into “Comeback Kid,” and Krauss explored her vocal range as she hit the high notes while the manipulated guitar played in the background. “Crown on the Ground” was the loudest song of their set and Krauss threw her head around with reckless abandon as the strobe lights bounced around the venue. They brought the energy down a notch with “And Saints” before bursting into noise again with the added help of Tom Morello on “Bitter Rivals.” As soon as their set ended, Morello began his. He only played two songs, but the energy and skill in his performance outweighed its brevity. He played “Battle Sirens” and stoner rockers and house music fans rejoiced as the grainy, unrefined guitar paired with the heavy synthesized basslines. Morello ended with the Bruce Springsteen song “The Ghost of Tom Joad” and applied raspy vocals to his impeccable guitar playing.
The final set of the evening was one of Australia’s greatest exports, Courtney Barnett. She started with the folky “Small Talk” and weaved a simple but clever story involving all the topics covered in small talk. She played “History Eraser” and crammed so many incredible lyrics into a three and a half minute song that the listener got lost in lyrics like “I found an Ezra Pound / And made a bet that if I found / A cigarette, I’d drop it all and marry you” and “The Rolling Stones, oh woe is we, the irony / The stones become the moss.” For “I’m Not Your Mother, I’m Not Your Bitch,” Barnett sang with her deadpan vocals and channeled her anger into lyrics, “I’m not your mother, I’m not your bitch / Did I stutter a little bit / Sit down and shut up it’s all the same.” She brightened things up with “City Looks Pretty” before performing one of her most recognizable songs “Avant Gardener” where listeners heard the sound and vocals that are so definitive to Barnett and the witty lyrics that make her stand out from other songwriters. She ended with “Pedestrian at Best” and the universal sign of fun at a gig, balloons falling from the ceiling on top of an uncontrollably excited crowd.
The celebration of Mom + Pop was a night oozing with talent where any and all pretentiousness faded away and all of the performers went up on stage, gave it their all and had incredible and fun time doing it.
Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat
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