The Wrens
Hanging out with a bunch of folks at The Field before the show, we were talking about The Wrens. I was completely unfamiliar with this band I was about to see, though intrigued with their music and their story. It’s an all-too-familiar tale of mishaps and missteps, navigating the treacherous music biz in search of that elusive “big $$ recording deal”, though informed with a particularly charming, older-and-wiser cynical as hell world view. They’ve been performing (and on the rare occasion releasing something) since 1989, and a particularly dedicated Wrens fan who had driven up from New Jersey for the show marveled at their longevity, “they’re really old – they’re in their 40s!” (thank you honey, excuse me for a moment while I go slit my wrists). Fortunately, The Wrens (and I) have a sturdy and time-tested sense of humor, and after seeing their full-on crazy and wildly energetic, sweeping and majestic, ultra-classy performance, I’m very glad to have gotten out of my rocking chair to come out to see them. A new fan is born.
The Wrens @ The Middle East Downstairs
The Wrens are guitarists Charles Bissell and Greg Whelan, bassist/singer Kevin Whelan, and drummer Jerry MacDonald. In their 20 years, they’ve put out three full-length albums – Silver (1994), Secaucus (1996), and The Meadowlands (2003) – plus a handful of 7″ singles and EPs.
I was going to repost their sarcastic and extremely jaded biography, as it’s required reading for any lover of indie rock bands, but you can check it out yourself, and I highly recommend that you do. Funny and sad, it’s a story with a happy ending, because they continue to this day to make lovely music anyway.
The show itself was a heartwarming mix of relentless rocking, complete with crazy jumping and working things up into a chugging, sweaty groove; and then elegant keyboard for slower, more introspective songs. I caught enough of the lyrics to be very impressed, wanting to sit quietly somewhere so as to fully hear and appreciate. While I enjoyed the flat-out fury of the hard-rocking numbers, what really sparked and held my interest were the quieter moments. As I sit here listening to their latest release The Meadowlands, I can happily report that this slightly melancholy, wistful contemplation is well represented on this recording, it’s absolutely wonderful, and if you enjoy wistful contemplation, you should race off and buy it.
What in the end won my heart, in addition to great musicianship and thoughtful songwriting, was the obviously hellacious fun they were all having. Totally infectious. They invited requests from the audience, and when everyone starting shouting out their personal favorites all at once, Kevin remarked “you guys are worse than a record company!”, which then elicited a flood of boos, which in turn got the band laughing even more, asking us to boo again, this time giving it all we had. Definitely cool guys. After explaining they were going to play some new songs, he said, “wish us luck” (an attempt to lower expectations?), and then proceeded to play something for which I have a frantically scribbled line with stars all around it – “before the leaves touch the ground… love finds your voice and turns it into sound”. Frustratingly, it is indeed a new song, and though I was assured later that it would likely be on the next CD, judging by how long it takes these guys to release anything, I hope I’m still around to see it!
Not being so familiar with their music, I’m guessing they played all or most of Meadowlands and at least one new song (the one I loved and wanted to take home with me… but couldn’t). As if on cue from the Wren-faithful, at one of the looser, funnier moments of their set, someone yelled out, “when’s the new CD coming out?” to which (I forget who it was) responded by putting his hand to his ear as if he hadn’t heard him, “sorry, what?”
The encore - all hell breaks loose
The Wrens (and friends) - show those young'uns how it's done, yeah!
Unfortunately I missed the first band, Southeast Engine, but I did catch Boston’s Choo Choo La Rouge, who came on just before The Wrens. There’s a down-to-earth groove and rootsy feel to their music, along with an intelligence and an appealing cynicism and caustic wit in their lyrics. Timothy Bracy (The Mendoza Line), speaking of their latest release Black Clouds (on Kiam Records), makes comparisons to Randy Newman and Warren Zevon, and those references are well-warranted. They performed several songs from Black Clouds, including “Regular Guy”, “Mostly Air”, the slower and quite pretty “Honey Shove”, and ending their set with the rollicking “The Relentless Money Love Blues”, with the refrain “money, love, love, money, money, love”. There was also a very nice cover of “Maiden” to honor the late, great Vic Chestnutt.
Singer/lyricist Vincent Scorziello and bassist Chris Lynch of Choo Choo La Rouge
Jon Langmead of Choo Choo La Rouge
tammy
sounds like a really cool night. great photos too.