Landlady Album Release Party in Brooklyn – Review and Photos

We caught Landlady's album release party for 'Upright Behavior' in Brooklyn last night, and it was an evening of bands reaching into grandiose and psychedelic territory with significant success.

Openers Celestial Shore have a knack for rock melody and the control to keep their semi-psychedelic meanderings coming back to the hook. We found ourselves wishing, however, that they'd stick a little closer to those grunge-y hooks. Their strength is in their more straightforward rock, and at times, their musical journeys felt like a distraction.

The pendulum swung with Landlady, a band whose mission in life appears to bring about noisy and soulful climaxes and whose most ambitious sojourns are the most rewarding.

'Dying Day' is an epic tune that suits mastermind Adam Schatz's manically self-aware stage performance – a frantic, freaky pop song that allowed Schatz to stretch his arms and squeeze his eyes closed while his band laid down polyrhythms and sharp guitar.

The band -- which consists of two drummers, a bass player, and a guitar player, in addition to Schatz on keyboards -- grew as the set progressed, including backup singers and violins eventually. You get the feeling the band would be bigger than the audience if Schatz had his way.

Quieter, less gutsy songs like 'Washington State is Important' didn't stir quite so much emotion – which made the band's closer, 'Above My Ground,' all the more sweet, as it swelled with a practiced chant, its words – "always, always, always" – simple and perfect for the conjured moment.

The audience welcomed Schatz and company's willingness to reach for the crescendo, no half-assing (even literally, as Schatz accidentally pulled a piece of soundproofing off the ceiling during the final moments of the set). Landlady are a band that shows it pays to commit to pushing the crescendo one decibel louder – and we hope they push it even further in the future.