The Rosebuds, Land of Talk, Lillydale
Neumos, Seattle
Friday June 8, 2007

The Rosebuds visited Seattle in support of their newest album Night of the Furies and brought Montreal’s Land of Talk along for the ride. When I first heard rumblings about Land of Talk around the blogs and whatnot and listened to their myspace and first thought they had a close musical kinship with the Cardigans. I love Nina and friends irrationally and haven’t been able to find something that matched their wry dark lyrics combined with upbeat and friendly pop stylings. The few songs that I heard of Land of Talk hinted at that kind of potential so I picked up the album Applause Cheer Boo Hiss when I saw it on the rack, and was immediately pleased by the quality of it’s atypical brand of songwriting.

From the beginning for them it felt like things were going pretty right on stage. Initially they admitted that this was maybe the biggest venue for them yet, so that might have made the moment a bit more special, but it also looked like they may have been trying really hard to seize the moment. With Lead singer Elizabeth Powell’s assured caressing of her gibson axe, they powered through just about the entirety of their album to the pleased cheers of the lound and approving but modestly sized Friday night crowd. One could tell by bassist Chris McCarron’s ever present goofy smile that the band was feeling the love.

I had evangelized to Abbey that “Oh, yes, you will actually really like Land of Talk even though you haven’t really listened to them much yet,” and “we had to get a good spot” and the rest of that BS but in reality you just never know with bands you haven’t seen before, so I was sweating it a little bit. But it seemed she was a covert by then end of the performance just like everyone else in the Neumos that night.

North Carolina’s own Rosebuds headlined this evening of music with aplomb. The Rosebuds are the Husband and Wife team of Ivan Howard, who remained seated with the acoustic for nearly the entire set, and Kelly Crisp who helmed the Casio and the dance floor to his left.

Their set was divided evenly between older material and songs from their latest LP. The favorites from the first record Birds Make Good Neighbors weren’t forgotten with “Hold Hands & Fight” and “Boxcar” getting quality treatment this evening. The setlist overall was as diverse as their catalog suggests, mixing upbeat dance songs with dark and cool pop ballads seamlessly. Their down tempo songs “Silence by the Lakeside” and “Blue Bird,” which Howard requested they shine a light on the disco ball for, were hauntingly beautiful live, while “Get Up and Get Out” and the participatory “Shake Our Tree” were just plain fun. The next time either of these bands pass through I’ll be in the crowd guaranteed.

All pictures by Sound on the Sound.