this is a bit overdue, but i picked up a one-off job this past week and i got set behind. anyway, last tuesday, i caught young love at walters in houston. for any of our readers that don’t live in the city, walters is kinda dirty, but is also one of the most intimate venues for a band to play in. the stage is about 1-2 feet off the ground. anyway, down to the show.
first up was L.A.X. any of you ever listen to at all cost? well, the singer of AAC and some chick started a new project that is right up the alley of young love, except with less integrity, and more of the following: synth, vocoders and mustaches. for what it’s worth, they put on a solid live show and definitely got the crowd moving, but i have a hard time believing that i’d listen to the band outside of a live setting. from what i heard in the lyrical content, there is much left to desire.
next up was paper route, a solid little band out of nashville. the group not only put on a good show, but their music had me and many others interested. after a bit of research, i’ve come to find that they have a couple of EP releases under their belt and have JUST released their debut-LP entitled absence. [ed note: major label debut?! eesh.] the seemingly 80s-inspired (the dark, more depeche mode side) fused with a modern sound, reminiscent of a band that’s musically between the old killers and mew. yeah, i know. definitely take some time to check out their tour documentary and some of their music.
after a short lineup and quick set-up times, young love finally hit the stage around 10:30. i’ve seen dan keyes and the rest of recover play a few young love shows before, and at the same venue. not that they sounded bad, because their live sound was very close to their recorded sound, but something was off that night.
i’m not sure if dan ate a bad texas burrito, but he didn’t seem to be feeling the crowd out too well. halfway through the set, dan said something along the lines of, “you guys are pretty cool. so we’re just gonna play some random songs we feel like playing.” odd at first, but we did get songs like “take it or leave it” and “close your eyes” from that.
young love touched base on old and new, but the setlist was somewhat disappointing. skipping over songs like “underneath the night sky” and “closer to you” from too young, and “unafraid” on one of us was definitely not a good look. and we’ll look past the fact that the headliner only played for about 45 minutes. i can’t really understand a 45 minute set when you have two albums worth of songs to play.
all things considered, it was a good show. young love puts on a good live show, and paper route is surely going to get a few listens from me.
one of us is in stores now. it’s a good listen, but it’s missing the little lasting value that the songs on too young to fight it had.
setlist and downloads after the jump.
-young grizzlies
download:
paper route – carousel
paper route – tiger teeth
young love – unafraid
young love – the picture
young love setlist:
one to ten
discotech
get me up
the picture
too young to fight it
black boots
some slow song i didn’t recognize
close your eyes
take it or leave it
find a new way
note: the main picture post is not from the houston show, it’s by way of nicky digital in nyc.
WEWOREMASKS IS DEAD. 