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Joe Lally / Capillary Action

live in Bloomington (2007)
Dischord Records

Reviewer Rating:


Contributed by: Jesse
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Published on January 23rd 2007


I met Jon from Capillary Action way back when he sent his band's album to me to review. I dug it, ya know? It was pretty schizophrenic -- metal riffs, jazz breakdowns, dissonant chords and stuff. I saw them live as like a seven-piece band; it was sweet. So when Jon told me he was coming through my new town with Joe Lally, and that Cap Act would be Joe's backing band, I thought, "This could be sweet."

Cap Act played first, trimming their outfit down to four: just guitar, bass, keys, and drums. New drummer, new bass/trombone player. And man, was it tight. The band blew through most of the debut release Fragments as well as some other tracks too. It was rad, 'cause they'd rip some metal riffs and then run straight into some crazy prog transition and then they'd go all quiet, and then that shit would be totally everyone screaming their face off and thrashing on their instruments, and then it'd rip right into hardcore, straight up, jazz. And I mean jazz. The new drummer and bass player are both classically trained jazz musicians. Some songs had parts that sounded like Devo on crack. Others had some actual singing on them, moving the group away from being just instrumental. Their show is indescribable. You have to go see it for yourself.

Joe played next, since Cap Act already had their gear set up. I didn't know what to expect, since I hadn't heard a lot of Fugazi before in my life (yeah, yeah, just crucify me now 'cause I know there are going to be like eight "OMG FUGAZI" posts in this thread). Joe got his bass hooked up, and then broke into a song that was just a repetitive riff over a light drum part and singing. Very sparse, very powerful with an emphasis on the lyrics. As the songs progressed, so did the instrumentation. Most songs were just a dialogue between the heavy, solid bass lines and say, the drums. Or the keys. Or the guitar doing little background, reverb-heavy sounds (like in an old Western). And sometimes the trombone was played over it. Joe's lyrics were powerful, and each song made me think of protest songs that were written to be shouted through a megaphone by 20 to 200 people. Anthems, really -- about war, about guns, about strife and poverty. Joe's set was powerful and captivating. It was like polar opposites, seing Cap Act blow everyone's mind, and then have Joe play this minimalist set.

Last was Push Pull, a local Bloomington band that sounded a lot like a bad Weezer rip-off with half-assed prog-rock riffs every once in a while and an AC/DC attitude mixed with bad jokes and two metal riffs and some upbeat ska guitar. Whew, I mean, wow. It was pretty bad. But a lot of people liked it, so whatever. I wouldn't pay money to see them play, but a lot of other people did.

SO, that's the wrap up. Cap Act = awesome. Joe Lally = awesome. Push Pull = not awesome. But Push Pull isn't on tour right now, so you don't have to worry about it. Just go see Cap Act and Joe Lally when they come through your town.



People who liked this also liked:
Jason Collett - Here's to Being HereThe Makai - The End of All You KnowWarren Ellis - Crooked Little Vein [book]Pretty Boy Thorson & the Falling Angels - Ain't It FunnyBlonde Redhead - 2331 Knots - The Days and Nights of Everything AnywhereOf Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?The Brokedowns - These Colors Don't Run (The Musical)Joe Lally - There to HereTin Armor - A Better Place Than I Have Been

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    Jesse (January 24, 2007)

    It was at the Art Hospital.

    Anonymous (January 23, 2007)

    Joe's album was one of my favs from last year. I also was thinking of reviewing it, but my reviews aren't really top notch.

    Anonymous (January 23, 2007)

    your a fuck for the brainless fugazi comment in review. eat fuck.

    tenwestchaser (January 23, 2007)

    Where was this at? Rhinos?

    vocalyouth (January 23, 2007)

    I thought Cap Act was really pretentious and boring when I saw this tour in Pittsburgh. I really wanted to leave when they were playing. Then, I saw that they were backing Joe and I wanted my money back. Thankfully, they were a lot more tolerable behind Joe Lally. I enjoyed Joe's set.

    osloboditelj (January 23, 2007)

    That last post was me, forgetting to log in.

    Also, OMG FUGAZI

    Anonymous (January 23, 2007)

    There to Here is really cool. I'll review it, since it's not been yet.

    Anonymous (January 23, 2007)

    "I met Jon from Capillary Action way back when he sent his album to me to review".

    This doesn't make sense unless he posted himself with the album.

    threechordsandthetruth (January 23, 2007)

    OMG FUGAZI

    (#1)

    Jesse (January 23, 2007)

    Or maybe it's Bloomington, MN!

    It's pretty funny, because out of all three Bloomingtons, Bloomington, MN is by far the largest, most wealthy, and most famous (home to Mall of America AND the MPLS airport), yet no one knows about it outside of the state.

    But actually, it's Bloomington, Indiana. I live miles from the Mason-Dixon line, and it scares me.

    Dusticles (January 23, 2007)

    are we talking about blooming illinois or bloomington indiana?

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