Review: Youth Lagoon and Lady Lazarus @The El Rey 4/17

Josh, the host of the Noodle Incident from 1:00 - 2:00 pm on Thursday's, recently saw Youth Lagoon and Lady Lazaru at the El Rey on April 17th, 2013. Read his review below with photos by Lisa Sondora. For more from Josh visit http://incidentalnoodle.tumblr.com/.  

Since Coachella’s recent expansion into a two weekend affair, several acts have taken advantage of their extended stay to embark on small west coast tours in the interim. As part of this overflow, often dubbed “Localchella,” Trevor Powers recently found himself in Los Angeles’ beautiful El Rey theater under the guise of his soaring-ly introspective musical persona, Youth Lagoon.

            The night began with California native, Melissa Ann Sweat, taking the stage under her Lady Lazarus moniker. Equipped with but a solitary piano illuminated by a single stage light, Sweat’s presence befitted the El Rey’s old-timey aesthetics. Her piercing, operatic voice laced over elegiac piano lines that often circled back into a morbid cocoon not unlike a less bleep-bloopy Zola Jesus. It’s a shame then that Sweat’s stage presence isn’t quite on the same level as Nika Danilova’s, as her folksy dirges were soon swallowed by a crowd presumably antsy to hear “Seventeen” and split.

            After an exhaustive sound check, Youth Lagoon emerged – accompanied by the same soundscapes that opens Powers’ newest LP Wondrous Bughouse, which may be best described as the aural equivalent of an underwater carnival ride (an image the awesome cover art seems to visually portray). These opening moments were just as important on stage as on the record, setting the terms for Powers’ more cacophonous approach to songwriting before materializing into the thudding, melodic hook of Bughouse single “Mute.”

            This was followed by a string of Bughouse cuts that further differentiated the Boise act’s sound from the nostalgia-soaked anthems of its predecessor, Year of Hibernation. The crowd did, however, visibly express their appreciation when the band launched into Hibernation highlight, “Posters.” The relative lack of Hibernation tunes served the night well, though – allowing Bughouse’s spell to more fully envelop the crowd in its singular charm.

            “You’ll never die” Powers repeatedly screams during Bughouse standout, “Dropla,” and for the duration of his performance of that song – all 10 odd minutes of it – I believed him.