Lohio, Karate Coyote, The Randys - Rumba

In the middle of Lohio’s set at the Rumba Café on Friday night, lead singer Greg Dutton led the band through a song called “You’ve Got a Lot of Nerve,” during which he repeated this sentiment several times: “I can tell you’ve got some things to learn.” Each time I heard it, I couldn’t help thinking of that adage about the pot and the kettle.

Lohio has much to learn. The Pittsburgh fivesome is pleasant enough on record, merging the squeaky-clean indie pop of bands like Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin with intermittent doses of introspective folk-pop. But onstage it was all quite bland—not awful, by any means, and certainly not devoid of talent. There just wasn’t anything the least bit distinctive in the performance to set the group apart from countless other bands charting a similar course. Lohio is so safe that it’s entirely unremarkable.

The band was at its worst during the slower, more folk-leaning songs, which highlighted the weaknesses in Dutton’s voice as he sang in a low, unconfident register. The band was at its best during more upbeat songs like “Modern Days,” adding some much-needed energy to the performance. But regardless of range or tempo, Dutton was pretty much devoid of charisma, which enervated even some of the band’s bounciest songs.

A bad mix could have been part of the problem here. Dutton’s voice was always soft, and the bassist’s harmonies (I assume?) were inaudible. But here’s the bottom line: There are some bands that can convincingly and engagingly pull off a song with a chorus that consists only of “Hangin’ out with you.” This was not one of those bands.

Despite having shared the stage with bands like the Avett Brothers and American Music Club, Lohio looked and sounded bush-league. And it seemed even more bush-league following the Rumba’s early-show act, the Randys, which kept a shoulder-to-shoulder happy-hour crowd dancing and grinning.

The Randys are actually the perfect happy-hour band, despite the fact that you might not recognize a hefty chunk of the songs they cover from the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s. No matter. The band has a way of resurrecting genres you may have mentally discarded (e.g. polka). On Friday, the band even strung together five or six Hawaiian tunes with spot-on harmonies, ukulele and lap steel guitar. Quite impressive.

The Randys manage to do what so many cover bands (a misleading label) can’t: that is, conveying authenticity for whatever period they tackle while also allowing the songs to be influenced and strengthened by their own musical histories and attributes.

Karate Coyote closed down the night on some high and low notes. With only one EP out (Move E.P.), the young band made the odd decision to start the show with old and new songs that aren’t on it, none of which I was particularly fond of.

Sound problems didn’t help here, either. The second guitarist was lost in the mix, and despite having the strongest pipes of the indie-pop collective, female vocalist Sam Corlett was barely audible. Even so, I much preferred the songs she led to guitarist Ryan Horn’s tunes.

I was happier once “Move Yourself,” the strongest EP track, came along. “So Far So Good,” a song CD101 has been pimping, sounded pretty good, too, as did “Incogneat-o.” But the band has some more work to do before its stage show does justice to its recorded material.

(Also at The Other Paper)

Local roundup

Reviews of recent (and not so recent) Columbus albums:

The Lost Revival - Homemade Confetti
Let me first say that I'm way late on this one. The Lost Revival released its debut, Homemade Confetti, earlier this year, but it somehow passed me by. That band wasn’t hiding under a rock, either. The seven-piece multi-instrumentalists have become known for their intense live shows, earning them a spot opening CD101’s Summerfest this year.

Homemade Confetti, which was apparently recorded in one weekend, doesn’t sound the least bit like a rush job. It’s a big record, with lots of atmospheric layering in the background, providing a thick blanket in which to wrap Kevin Collins’s throaty vocals--like a less lackadaisical, sea-urchin-swallowing version of the Black Swans’ Jerry DeCicca.

Collins must be a Bob Dylan devotee, given some of his phrasing, harmonica style and religious imagery. (Not to mention the intro guitar riff to “Jailbait” sounds just like “Hurricane,” and “Thin Man’s Mile” is probably not a coincidental allusion to “Ballad of a Thin Man.”) But with all those instruments and dark overtones, any sort of “Americana” tag would be misleading--especially on a song like “A Bird on a Chain,” the best on the album. The Lost Revival has a sound entirely its known, and a good one.

Karate Coyote - Move EP
Just the name Karate Coyote exudes playfulness, so it’s no surprise this up-and-coming band’s debut EP, Move, is filled with hand claps and a friskiness that brings to similar-minded acts like Los Campesinos!.

Playful is cool with me, especially when it’s done this well. “Move yourself to dance,” instructs Karate Coyote on the bouncy leadoff track, “Move Yourself,” and if no one’s looking, you’ll no doubt find yourself heeding the advice. Surprises abound on this little EP, like the bluesy guitar solo on “Easy” and the synth outro on “Incogneat-o.”

KC is a new band, so there’s room to grow, of course. I could use more of the back-and-forth guy-girl vocals, and I think the singers in general are buried too deep too often on these tracks. They’re good enough to be front and center--a position Karate Coyote should get used to if it continues down its current path.

mp3: Karate Coyote - Move Yourself

Melty Melty - Rise of the Birdmen
A few weeks ago I told you about the whole debacle Melty Melty went through while recording Rise of the Birdmen, i.e. losing the entire album to a computer crash and having to start from scratch. It makes for a good story, but good stories only matter if the record follows suit. This one is so good you won’t really care how it came to fruition.

Like Sean Gardner’s other projects (Bookmobile, Winter Makes Sailors), Melty Melty continues his pattern of making highly accessible but no less artful indie rock, this time with an unmistakable deference to Pinback--a comparison I wouldn’t make lightly.

Rise of the Birdmen is polished and spacious. “Walls” is built around a simple, repeating guitar bend, and “Killing Time” is Melty Melty at its dreamiest, Gardner and former Kopaz compadre Kevin Davison making tasteful use of analog synths, eerie guitar and found sounds. “Same Situation” would be the obvious first single, if singles still mattered. Gardner’s instantly recognizable tenor has a tendency to wander too far into whiny land, but it usually anchors the songs nicely; his inventive vocal melodies provide the majority of the album’s hooks.

Nothing against the band’s label, We Want Action, but Melty Melty deserves something bigger, and with this debut, the band just might get it.