obits | cake shop
Rick Froberg formed Pitchfork and Drive Like Jehu and Hot Snakes and, as a result, is the kinda dude who can stand in the middle of a crazily packed basement filled with drunks, ne’er-do-wells and rock fans and command complete silence. As Froberg and his three cohorts began tuning up before the first-ever show of their new band, Obits, last night at the Cake Shop in NYC’s Lower East Side, the packed-to-the-pills room came to a standstill: everyone on their tip-toes to get that first glance, their knees mid-hinge and ready to stomp and, more than anything, a collection of people who felt deliriously lucky and happy to be there, to see what the hell Rick was going to do next. This will sound way melodramatic, but in those first few pregnant moments, it felt like the unveiling of a king or the presentation of the Ark of the Covenant. Dudes were rapt.
It was really, really packed
Obits, who have only a handful of mentions anywhere on the web, have been Froberg’s project for the past two to three years (depends on who you talk to), and who, until last night, had yet to play a single show. They’ve been a rehearsal band — a common affliction that results in eternally opting to “get that last song perfect” rather play for People Who Are Not Us. It’s an understandable condition, and one that’s not surprising for Froberg, who always felt like the shy guy to long-time bandmate John Reis’ relative glad-handing.
But there is no Reis this time around (his new band is called the Night Marchers), and I’m somewhat chagrined to say that I don’t know who the other three members are: there’s a late-thirtysomething dude with glasses who plays guitar and occasionally sings; there’s the Michael Penn-looking bass player; and the young buck drummer whose name is Scott. For them, being in Obits has to be a mix of amazing and just a little annoying: they get to play with someone like Froberg, but at the same time, they won’t get credited for much of anything should they break big. It’s the indie rock version of being anyone in Wings that isn’t named you-know-what.
And so the set started with the second guitarist playing a slowed-down Hot Snakes riff, and then Rick jumping in with a big G-chord that he let ring — Obits are open for business. At the first moment when Froberg let out that scream of his, everyone had an “oh shit” epiphany: smiles everywhere. Still, the song was odd: way more classic rock than I had ever expected to hear from him, and strangely mid-tempo.
For a few more pictures from the show, check out my Flickr set
Ends up that was the case for maybe two-thirds of the songs they played, with the other third sounding like good-to-great post-hardcore songs in the vein of Jehu/Pitchfork/Hot Snakes. The schism between the two kinds of songs was striking: typically the tempo would be about 60% slower than you would expect, they were packed with guitar solos/call-and-response guitar interludes (I kept thinking: is Rick just writing songs for Guitar Hero now?) and, strangest of all, they were often blues-based. During the last song, for instance, Rick repeatedly bellowed the line “when that evening sun goes down” (or something that sounded very close to that) while the song itself sounded more than just a little bit like George Thorogood. Bizarre!
Don’t get me wrong: some of those songs were good. The slower, open sound suits Froberg’s voice well — packs a lot of punch — and two of the songs that featured long, extended jam sections were among the best. Yet the hallmark — to my ears — of the whole Pitchdrivesnakes school was the flirtation with tension/release, the way a song like “Salton City” can just live in this little chasm of balance between completely losing it and playing it cool and dance a little bit with each but always maintain that core. It’s unlike any other band I’ve ever heard. And there was some of that from Obits, but nothing to that level. Which, again, is understandable: in those other bands Froberg had played with his compatriots for years if not decades, and this was Obits’ first show.
My theory is that, during this two or three years of practicing, this band has gone through two distinct phases: one clearly based on Froberg’s past, and another based on — I cringe to write this — boomer rock. And again, let me repeat this, some of that stuff was good, but it was so out of left field that my obsessive-dork personality has been theorizing as to why: Did they start out playing the Hot Snakes stuff and Rick got bored? Was that bass player — who seemed to like walking the frets just a little too much — the impetus behind that song that could have been on Meet the Beatles? Or was I just an asshole for analyzing a first show — A FIRST SHOW — so damn hard? (Answer key: no, no, YES.)
So yeah, I was disappointed, but I was also expecting the world. Both Jehu and the Hot Snakes rank among my favorite bands ever, and that I am a critical son of a bitch. I have little doubt that, should a record ever come (if it takes this long to play a show, how long does it take to make a record?), it will be great. The first gingerly steps of Obits were not what I or my friends were exactly hoping for, but it was still, despite my ungrateful bitching, a good show. Can’t wait for gig #2.
Hey Yancey,
Someone directed me to your posting, which I just read. Thanks for dedicating so much time and consideration to our first show. It’s very flattering, even we didn’t measure up to your “pitchdrivesnakes” expectations. For whatever it’s worth, I do want to clarify a few things.
First, being in this band is, quite honestly, neither amazing nor annoying. At least not any more so than being in any other band. But I realize that for people outside of our group, folks who come to us based on a familiarity with Rick’s previous bands, the point of view is clearly and understandably skewed as such. I can’t stress enough that the 35 minutes of music you heard the other night is the sum of the four musicians playing it. That said, I thought your Wings comparison was pretty funny.
The second thing I’d like to address is your mid-tempo, blues-based, classic rock, Guitar Hero comments. Video game soundtracks aside, I won’t deny our love for music from the 60s and 70s, but in writing our songs we are actively trying to find a place for those kinds of melodies and structures among an equal affection for punk rock and a lot of other kinds of music from around the world in different eras. Without having to unnecessarily reinvent the wheel, I think it’s very exciting to explore the area where there are similarities between otherwise disparate kinds of sounds. Where CCR meets the Dream Syndicate, the Standells or the Music Machine meet Silver Apples or Suicide, where 13th Floor Elevators meets Neu!, the Beatles meet Wire.
Also, Rick and I have never been in bands where the guitar, our primary instrument, had a chance to step forward and experiment with a more traditional voice. It’s fun for us to see what can happen with that and to try and find our inner Tom Verlaine and Neil Young. We also have a goal of not making the songs too long so, again, it’s a balance. And one in which The Adverts will always win out over the Allman Brothers, but maybe not the Yardbirds.
As for the last track in our set, it was a cover of Milk Cow Blues, a song Kokomo Arnold wrote in the 30s and which has been performed by everyone from Robert Johnson to Aerosmith. Our version is a take closer to the Kinks, who have a nice performance clip of it on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M3xoxvitsU). The Dave Davies ending Stones/Velvets-y rave-up with toggle switching and a touch of feedback is particularly great.
I too can’t wait for gig #2 and hope that whenever and wherever it is, if you’re around, you choose to introduce yourself. I’m the “late-thirtysomething dude with glasses who plays guitar and occasionally sings.”
Cheers,
-Sohrab Habibion.
P.S. We have started work on a record and, with a little bit of luck, will have it finished in the next couple of months.
hey sohrab!
thanks so much for your thoughtful and generous response. everything you’ve said completely makes sense. i couldn’t tell if that was a cover of milk cow or a song inspired by it (hence the paraphrasing of the lyrics), and i hear you on the 60s and 70s stuff.
normally i wouldn’t have even blinked at that sort of sound/feel, but based on rick’s history — and yours! (i had no idea who you were — dude i loved edsel!) — it just seemed very strange, and very much a big departure from both of yr previous work, so much so that i couldn’t help but to theorize as to why. and i *still* find it odd, kinda like when you run into an ex-girlfriend and suddenly she’s gone from punk to prep and you wonder “what happened to her in the past seven years? has the same happened to me?” and of course the level of anticipation — among my dorky corner of the world, anyway — for this show makes it difficult to resist serious “analysis.”
anyway, thanks for stopping by, thanks for playing, thanks for all of it. i will definitely introduce myself when i next see you guys. take care!
yancey
Man, this is sweet news for an old jehu / hot snakes fan like myself. I’m really looking forward to hearing these guys. While I could listen to hot snakes until the sun goes down, I think its cool that Rick’s going in a new direction with this band, especially since its a direction that I’ve been into as long as I’ve been into his and speedo’s music.
Guy from Jehu/Snakes guy from Edsel = good news. I will be the mid-30’s guy who sometimes wears glasses who gets their record when it comes out. Okay, one of the many mid-30’s guy who sometimes wears glasses, but still…
(I see emu doesn’t have much Edsel but folks should certainly check around for them)
HS, RFTC, DLJ, and Edsel are some of my all-time favorite bands. can not fucking wait. can’t believe i missed the show.
As someone who clicked on this article in the music feed in horror because she thought it was an obit for Cake Shop, I have to say I breathed a sigh of relief.
(I moved to LA 4 months ago, and would never have forgiven myself if I missed the closing of one of my haunts!)
That being said, I’m still pretty upset that I missed such a momentous occasion. (Can some of you guys move out here so I don’t miss NY so much please? Both Drive like Jehu and Edsel were pillars of my teenage soundtrack.) It sounds like the boys have stuck a very important balance-one between moving forward into musical territory they haven’t already occupied, and and not alienating their pre-existing fan base. It excites me that they’re doing new things and experimenting with sounds in an area less-traveled today. It usually goes that when bands (and artists in new projects) change the formula, it upsets fans, but generally they all come around when they become comfortable with hearing something other than what is expected. Hopefully, we all end up the better for it. Can’t wait for the album, and the ensuing west coast tour!
So, as someone who doesn’t know any of the bands mentioned, I’m just dropping by to say “DAMN, you can REALLY write!”
Great post.
hey yancey take some time and give the blues a chance. don’t worry about your punk rock shred cred, because you are going to find why a band of inspiring guys like this, including rick, could be so inspired by “boomer” rock and the music that inspired it.
man, hot snakes and edsel were definitely two amazing bands that had nothing in common musically, i can’t wait to hear some music from obits!!! demos on myspace please?
steve, the show was recorded by an audience member and is out there on the interweb.
The drummer is named Scott and he is in another band you have available right here on emusic: Shortstack.
Hey Yancey,
I just wanted to let you know that gig #2 has been confirmed. We’re playing at Union Hall (www.unionhallny.com) in Brooklyn on Saturday, March 8 with Pretendo, who are celebrating the release of a new record. If you’re around, I hope to meet you there.
Cheers,
-Sohrab Habibion.
I just had to note that this is just about the first time that I’ve ever read a blog on a band that was actually answered by the band, and that was introspective and evaluative without being critical. pretty damn cool.
- VERY late ’30s guy who always wears glasses, never sings, but occasionally drums and is a John Reis/Rick Froberg fanatic.
Goddam! Yeah i wasn’t at the show (and yeah also I am another middle-aged guy w/glasses) but I have to weigh in with a considered opinion regarding the band. The single (named appropriately, 7″) somehow landed in my brain-space and fuck if it isn’t the best thing I’ve heard in like, well, a while. Also, I am very proud of Rick for holding out hope for us born in the 60’s. Will we get old? Hell no.
And as to the change in sound from Hot Snakes. There’s something in the water in NYC. It’s an infection that runs through the place … Ramones, Dictators, Fleshtones, Pussy Galore, Obits. I’m serious, but ‘One Cross Apiece’ is like the best thing ever. She-it. Dang. Time for another beer.
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