Body Language gets tapped for this week’s Indie Inkling, a column on the wide world of indie music from the perspective of a young talent buyer working in New York.
For small, dark, sparse venues, Mercury Lounge has some cache. The combination of the basement-show vibe and the faint glamour that goes with any of the Bowery Presents venues created the perfect environment on a hot, summer Friday night for Body Language, a New York foursome that weaves a fine brew of funky electronic hipster hop freak rock.
Though Body Language was headlining when I saw them play, I had actually gone for Savoir Adore, the second-billed band, and hadn’t really done my homework on Body Language to prepare myself for their set. I don’t think that listening to their MySpace would have really given me any idea of what to expect, though. Their recordings are very electronic and ethereal, while their live performance has much more energy and much more… sex.
Though dancing with abandon doesn’t really seem to be the thing to do in New York, Body Language will have you twisting and shaking your hips as your clothes stick to your body from the sweat produced by the heat of the room and the efforts of your dancing while your mind gives up and shuts down to let your body do its thing. Front woman Angelica Bess sets a great example for this whenever she isn’t too occupied singing and playing xylophone. Yes, xylophone. Props to her on that. Though the songs are sprinkled with xylophone and a bit of tambourine, the real melody – and bass line, actually – comes from the keys and synths that Matt Young and Grant Wheeler pound away at while adding their voices (both unprocessed and as heard through talk-box-like distortion) to Angelica’s. The backbeat to this whole spectacle is usually set by drummer Ian Chang, but the 7/31 Mercury Lounge show was played by dark, handsome and mysterious Zack. Or Zach, he was much too shrouded in mystery for me to catch the spelling of his name.
On top of the sex, drugs (I’m sure they were there) and rock and roll, there were also visuals! I’m sure they were there for those involved in the drugs part of the aforementioned drugs, sex and rock and roll. Though I’m a bit of a sucker for the multi-media thing – who doesn’t like pretty dancing lights? – other than some bike graphics during the song “Huffy Ten Speed,” the projections were a bit monotonous and didn’t add as much to the experience as they could have.
With or without the graphics, Body Language is a multi-sensory experience and one that I would recommend, especially on those nights when you feel the need to disconnect your mind and body and just go.
Hear More: Visit Body Language on MySpace
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Amanda is a talent buyer for a most hoppingest venue in Hipster Haven, Brooklyn and a guest columnist for TheNewConfusion. Reach her at ascontrada@gmai
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