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Japandroids’ Brian King, guitarist/vocalist, and David Prowse, drummer/vocalist, might not cross their t’s or dot their i’s, but in this new arena where less is more, they have come out on top. Minimalism is key, so save the convoluted, and cut to the chase. The formula is rigid: “Super easy chorus, super easy verse. You will know it in about 30 seconds” as King described his catalog when introducing a new song at the Billiken Club that will come out on a 7” early next year. It is always a beautiful thing when a band understands its own appeal. They never disappoint. Although the performance wasn’t flawless, they knew what they were doing, and they did it well. Holding to the theme, let me cut to the chase: King is astounding (not to say Prowse isn’t). King might as well be three guitarists. I mean the guy had three amps set up for his one guitar to prove it. Not only did he play each song (most from their recently debuted album, Post-Nothing) to perfection, he was pleasantly entertaining as he did so. He ran back and forth between his two designated spots on stage – the bright red cushioned microphone with supermodel fan blowing in his face, and the self-assembled mini stage pushed up against the kick drum. The feeling evoked by King penetrated the crowd with each slick guitar lick and lyric belted. And when the whole crowd erupted into, “I don’t wanna worry about dying. I just wanna worry about sunshine girls,” it was clear he was doing his job right.
When push comes to shove though, they are a team. King could not do it without Prowse whose drums faced King and not the audience. The chemistry between them was astonishing. King was a QB reading the defense, the crowd, and signaling to his star wide receiver, Prowse, who always made all of the right moves. The duo meticulously played through each and every song happy to be performing for a boisterous, west of the Atlantic crowd, after playing a long stretch of polite and mellow shows in Europe. The Japandroids have accomplished what so many bands have not: the ability to be simple yet still have context and saturating feeling. This task isn’t easy though. You need to be perfect to pull it off, and the Japandroids are.
Surfer Blood absolutely killed it as well!