11/9/07, Los Angeles: Fog, the great experimental pop band from Minneapolis have been touring with Jesu for the past few weeks, but the two bands spilt up for their Los Angeles dates. Unfortunately for Fog, it appeared that most fans chose to hit the Echoplex to watch Jesu (which was likely a great show), as only about 20 showed at Spaceland to catch Fog. But what a lucky 20 people they were, for Fog kicked it HARD. Do NOT sleep on this band.
The trio, led by singer-lyricist-guitarist Andrew Broder plowed through the majority of the tracks from their new Lex record Ditherer, with nary a glance at their extensive back catalog (in the early days, Fog was obstensibly a solo project for multi-hyphenate Broder). The small, but devoted, audience was treated to ear-splitting pop confections like "You Did What You Thought", "Your Beef is Mine" and "Inflatable Ape, Part 3", as well as the haunting ballad "What's Up Freak?" (the album version features Low's Mimi Parker). One of Fog's strong points (which, admittedly, can also be very frustrating) is that each song usually contains a multitude of perfectly-crafted pop riffs, some of which only last a few precious seconds. It's a constantly-shifting dynamic, like Tortoise or Fiery Furnaces, and there is noise and slow-burning guitar drone, like Boris or Sunn, but always with a pure pop heart beating at the center. After listening, you may find yourself humming a melody but you'll be unable to find it on the CD without an exhaustive search through each track.
Live, however, the trio extends certain parts and enjoys frequent noise freak-outs. Drummer Tim Glenn proves Einstein wrong by playing faster than light, and bassist Martin Erickson plays so fast and hard that his forearms would give Popeye and run for his spinach. Broder's high-pitched voice and effortless guitar skillz provide the perfect foil to his own skewed pop compositions (with head-scratching lyrics like "I am covered in glistening chicken fat on my mother's bedspread" and "One day a dumptruck will dump two tons of chicken on me").
Boom Bip opened with a run-of-the-mill DJ set, but he didn't introduce himself or anything, so much of the crowd ignored the set which featured some electro, some Beastie Boys and Boston's "More Than a Feeling." Awesome song. AWESOME.
The merch table was packed with unique Fog goodies, including stickers featuring Fog lyrics (example: "I want my fucking money back") and cassette tapes featuring new unreleased music (and limit to 25 each. 25).
They have a few shows left on the tour:
11/13 - Holocene, Portland
11/14 - Crocodile Cafe, Seattle
11/15 - Neurolux, Boise
11/16 - Urban Lounge, Salt Lake City
11/17 - Trilogy Winebar, Boulder
12/7 - Turf Club, St.Paul
BONUS! Recent Onion AV Club innerview with the boys.
Photos by Chinapixie.
