live - The Royal Bangs

Hail, hail the ROYAL BANGS, who made a well-received return at the Pilot Light last night after the loss of two members and months of inactivity. What didn't kill them made them stronger, apparently, as the tangible loss of Joseph Gillenwater as a foil to lead singer/guitarist Ryan Schaefer has obviously had little effect on the formidable creative momentum with which the indie rock band has made a name for itself. The Bangs charged ecstatically through an extended set, debuting several new songs and putting on a characteristically wild, unpredictable show as the entire band migrated from instrument to instrument and gracefully sidestepped a mid-set technical snafu leaving their MIDI triggers and laptop accompaniment out of commission. It's a testament to the songwriting that frustration and the disruption of the band's deceptively careful arrangements did nothing to hinder the songs or performance; but, then, Schaefer's songwriting has always been the cake under the icing of the band's gleeful aesthetic experimentation and infectious performance ethic. The band continues to work on a follow-up to 2005's stellar Julius Vampire Breath (their first record as the Royal Bangs after two as the Suburban Urchins), and Knoxville holds its breath for the ensuing boom. The Royal Bangs were the first band to really get me excited about Knoxville's music, and they just keep getting better and better. It's almost unfair.

RIYL: Broken Social Scene, Pavement, Radiohead vs fifteen bottles of Southern Comfort

MP3: "Lucas Newman Vacation Log" (3:59)