EDITORS | Warsaw Review

Editors played their first show in Brooklyn at Warsaw yesterday. This band seems ready to bring their sound to the American masses; yesterday was a warm-up for their sold-out show Thursday at Webster Hall. They started with "Lights" and I must say that the lights were the only thing that bothered me about the show. For those that have ever seen a picture of the band, the album cover, or the website, know that Editors make the most sense in monochrome and stark chiaroscuro. Their austere songs, driven by loosely abstracted lyrics, conjure scenarios where the details remain cloaked in the dark. I did not go there to see the likes of Tom, Chris, Russell, and Edward cast in hues of pink and purple and be blinded at the same time by these atrocious light cannons. When I arrived at the show, I was hoping there would be a strict dress code of black, white, or shades of grey enforced at the entrance to Warsaw but alas. However, Editors were in observance donning mostly all black except for Chris, the guitarist, who was wearing a dark maroon shirt — probably the only acceptable splash of color considering it is the color of vitality or blood, and Editors songs seem to have a bit more juice behind them than the oft compared Interpol. This band is no derivative of Interpol or Joy Division (many more could be listed) and I hope you do not write them off as such. At the show, I felt like I was at the front row of some bigger venue: Tom, the lead singer, would change guitars between every song (even all their guitars were black), he also was wearing an earpiece probably to ensure his singing was on key, and the entire band executed their songs with extreme precision. Either these guys are perfectionists or they are preparing for major things. Maybe both. Editors sound at Warsaw was big and epic, I hope they make their place in music that way.

Set list:
Lights / Blood / All Sparks / Fall / Bullets / Camera / You Are Fading / Munich / ? (sorry, got distracted) / Open Your Arms // Someone Says / Fingers In The Factories

Comments

[KRS]

Does anyone know (or have an educated guess) as to when Editors will go on at Webster Hall...thankns

[diana]

doors are at 7. i read there's only one opening act (the big sleep); they'll probably go on at 8. so, expect editors around 9?

[jerry yeti]

Spot on, Wes (aka: 'diana'). That last picture is f-ing awesome, even though because of it we could only see the band in silhouette.

[Matt]

To quote Andrew Earles in the most recent Magnet:

"Editors have balls. Editors do not give a fuck. To sound this much like a band that isn't particularly original in the first place takes serious guts."

Sorry, guys, but they are a ripoff of a derivative. At least the derivative can play and write tunes.

So let's see what we have on the music scene today:

Editors = Interpol = Joy Division / Early Cure
Band of Horses = My Morning Jacket
Tapes N Tapes = Pavement + Pixies
Bloc Party = The Cure's Three Imaginary Boys, plus some dance beats
99% of Everyone Else = Some combination of Gang of Four, PiL and Wire, but minus even an ounce of the political intellignece and originality with which those bands blazed.

As Carrie Brownstein sings on Sleater-Kinney's new record:

If your art is done, Johnny get your gun
Join the rank and file, on your TV dial

You come around looking 1984
You're such a bore, 1984
Nostalgia, you're using it like a whore
It's better than before
You come around sounding 1972
You did nothing new with 1972

It's not that these bands don't put out decent records, they do, it's just that I'm starving for something a little more original. I'm of course fine with people being influenced by older bands and borrowing from those bands (if something sounds like The Byrds, the Kinks or the Zombies, I'm pretty much guaranteed to love it). But so many bands today are borrowing so liberally from one tiny little period of post punk and doing absolutely nothing new with it. I loved Joy Division in high school, but, you know, that's not the only thing I loved. It's like everyone up and decided to become Red Lorry, Yellow Lorry. Worse, this isn't the first group of bands to borrow from that period. Go listen to some Pylon or BBQ Killers (mid 80s Athens bands), and you'll quickly see my point (in fact, if you see pictures or footage of the latter, you might wonder if Karen O ripped off her whole look and music).

Am I the only one who feels this way? There's a lot of original and exciting stuff out there, but it seems to be the derivatives that hog all the attention. It's like the US is becoming the UK, constantly in search of the next big thing, which almost always turns out to be crap.

OK, I'll stop ranting now....

[SF]

We get it dude; you are jaded, older, and cooler than all of us. Why be so negative? What is the point? Sounds like you are almost trying to disuade people from liking this music. If you don't have anything nice to say....

[Matt]

You seem to have missed my last paragraph in which I said there's a lot of exciting, original music out there right now. What's annoying is that it's the derivative stuff that gets all the attention. I'm not jaded at all, just frustrated that we see to be moving to a point where it's all about finding the newest thing rather than celebrating great stuff out there right now.

Things I absolutely loved in the last year or so that I felt didn't get the attention they deserved because they were overshawdowed by, I dunno, Arctic Monkeys or whoever: Crooked Fingers, The National (yes, they got a lot of attention, but they deserved much, much more), Portastatic, Steve Wynn & The Miracle Three, Wussy, Sleater-Kinney (still able to kick the ass of pretty much any other band), Malcolm Middelton, Kingsbury Manx, Magnolia Electric Co., M Ward, Tenement Halls, Mia Doi Todd, Teenage Fanclub and lots and lots of others.

Oh, and I'm 32. Not so much older than most here, I'd suspect. Last, my point was it's not supposed to be about being cool. It's supposed to be about being good. One thing I really like about ProductShop is it's usually about stuff that's good.

[Wes (not aka diana)]

I agree that there is a lot of exciting music out there and those are all worthy bands you listed. Magnolia Electric Co. was also playing that evening with Destroyer. I chose to go to Editors because I like their music better. It is hard to write a review about music that you don't connect with. Thanks for reading.

[diana]

wes? but, i'm diana...

can't wait for tonight's show. tuesday was definitely just a warm-up.

great pics, btw.

[Wes]

diana,

i am just as confused as you are. I have no idea at what jerry (see above) was getting at. it doesn't really matter. the show should rock, expect big things. I will be at ILYBICD.

cheers,
wes