Le Loup & Ruby Suns: Less is more.... more or less.
Document Actions
Two emergent bands opt for decidedly different approaches to delivering their swirling polyphonies of sound.
Send this to a colleague
Sam Simkoff leads 8-person Le Loup on vocals, he writes the songs, fiddles around on banjo and delivers an odd pants-down coiled-snake energy. And, you can't get away from it, Simkoff embraces the stare over rim of an emaciated Elvis Costello, Sam can't stand up for falling down.
Remarkably, considering the evident familial affability of the band, he pulled it all together from Craig'slist just last year. But are there too many parts for a coherent whole? In these very cool, but 'honest' venues like Holocene, no fancy lighting hides inactive players, and the stage crams large bands at close quarters, hard-lit. There's visual distraction and interest everywhere: During the all-in crescendos they're all involved, but is it tight enough for complex polyphonies? And how do you become inconspicuous during quiet interludes wafting like incidental plants at the fence-line?
Q & Eh? Le Loup
Would it be fair to compare you to the band Boston?
May: Flattering
Nicole: I like Boston, I listen to them every morning and dance...
How many swans do you recommend, per bathtub?
Nicole: Fifty, I have fifty.
So you have a big place?
Nicole: Yes, back in Washington DC...
A house?
Nicole: yes, a big white...
Do you use an alarm clock?
May: My cell phone
Nicole: Me too. All of us.
So you all wake up with cell phones?
Nicole: Yes we all sleep together, in one room.
And all your phones go off in unison?
Nicole: I'm not kidding, touring's hard.
What's the first logo that springs into your mind, and do you like it?
May: Shell... is that alright?
It's what it is.
Nicole: Pepco - that's a gas station too isn't it?
When did you last run, and why?
May: Green Lake - to keep in shape.
Nicole: Lake Austin
Bit of a coincidence that, both lakes, and why?
Nicole: I was running from our hordes of fans
Ah yes...
What are a few of your favourite things? + Can you make it scan...?
May & Nicole joined by Dan:
Hot chocolate, yoga, and a lay-down seat in the van;
Quaaludes, coffee and micro-brew and sleeping in my own bed.
Add that verse next time you sing it, thanks.
May Tabol (guitar and violin) says that Le Loup aim to keep their multiple parts in order by orchestrating simple contributions, and it's evident that there aren't many competing egos in the band, no dueling soloists. The delightful Nicole Keenan on keys also played the French horn skillfully, but all too elusively.
More horn, less banjo then Sam?
More horn, less banjo then Sam?
Well no, because on the CD Simkoff's banjo flits like whimsical dancer and a sound approaching Mercury Rev's emerges.
Despite the title, Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millenium General Assembly, the songs are well-penned, but oddly themed with endings and gods and worlds, a bit like an inverse of early Hawkwind albums. That the printed credits don't list the band members, inferring a near solo effort by Simkoff, but it is well worth buying, and includes a great hope and hook closer that would befit A-House. On it Simkoff sings "This is the end... and restless potential"; that's what they have, that's what's there to be resolved.
Not that it mattered much, even though McPhun was unwell, he forced a nice pent-up performance out of himself and as the band moved between songs they huddled in pairs like laboratory technicians discussing progress or test results, while the layered sounds swelled, sometimes indeed, rather like Stereolab.
Q & Eh? Ruby Suns
What do you find ironic about the Alanis Morissette song "Isn't It Ironic"?
Amee: It's not fucking ironic. She doesn't know how to use the word.
You're the first person I've asked who realises that.
Amee: Yeah, all those things are just coincidences.
Have you ever thought of having a pet pig?
Yeah! I'm a big animal fan, and in New Zealand you can get minature ones, and they behave like pet dogs.
Potatoes or rice?
Brown rice.
What do you always forget to take on tour?
... [lots of blank space...]... more blank space]...
OK let it go...
No. MARMITE! Oh! I have a hangover and I want marmite - marmite on toast.
The rest of this Q& EH was snatched by an avid fan (let us know what it said luv....
McPhun led on most vocals, but all three have excellent vocal control and fine sense of harmony as well as rhythm - Robinson's voice, in particular was delightful when more prominent. On the latest CD, Sea Lion,
there are strands of the Go Betweens strewn like fallen sheets, also, from the first stumble on stage McPhun reminded me of David Byrne, and on songs like Oh Mojave there it is, what you wish Byrne was doing now.
The Ruby Suns joined Le Loup's on stage for their closer, a big acoustic party and a big happy troop. The Ruby Suns, with a couple more years behind them, have trimmed and emerged with a fine sound. Lets hope Le Loup can advance without breaking up the family.
Le Loup contact INFO {at} LELOUPMUSIC {dot} NET
Simkoff photo: ronan thenadey - photographe
Ruby Suns appear on Lil Chief records http://www.lilchiefrecords.com/FUN website at http://lilchiefrecords.com/therubysuns/ drawn by Amee!
Le Loup contact INFO {at} LELOUPMUSIC {dot} NET
Simkoff photo: ronan thenadey - photographe
Ruby Suns appear on Lil Chief records http://www.lilchiefrecords.com/FUN website at http://lilchiefrecords.com/therubysuns/ drawn by Amee!
Posted by
zaphmann
on
Apr 06, 2008 11:05 PM
