WOW Hall concert sports typical college vibes
Yeltsin meets expectations,
while Irving and the Wrens
prove less than captivating
By Ryan Nyburg
Senior Pulse Reporter
On my way to the WOW Hall on
Wednesday night to see performanc
es by Yeltsin, Irving and the Wrens, I
blasted my ears out with the gut
scrapping gutter punk of the Misfits
(Glenn Danzig version, of course), as
well as the intense aural assault of the
Blood Brothers.
Ihus having scrubbed my brain
free of all coherent thought, I felt pre
pared to experience a calmer side of
good ol' rock 'n' roll. My fellow atten
dees were about what I expected: nice,
sensitive looking high school kids and
pop-rock lovin' college folk. Most of
the girls had short hair and wore
glasses and cardigans. Most of the
boys had long hair and wore glasses
and cardigans. No deeper meaning in
that comparison, just an observation.
The show started up with minimal
fanfare. First on the docket was Eu
gene's own Yeltsin. Having reviewed
their sole recorded work, they were
the only band for which I had any ex
pectations. They certainly lived up to
them. Playing arrangements that
sound as much like the Ventures as
any modem indie-rock stalwart,
Yeltsin is ready-made for college radio
success outside of Eugene. I'll bet folks
as far away as Salem — maybe even
Portland — might dig them.
Until then, we here in Eugene
should enjoy them while they're
around. Because this band is tight.
Tight sound, tight arrangements and
tight playing. The songs leave no
room for air, not to mention instru
mental solos.
The audience, for their part, had the
Lauren Wimer Photographer
At Wednesday night’s concert, the Wrens displayed songwriting talent, but sounded sloppy.
usual Eugene crowd thing down cold.
In other words, they stood around like
a bunch of bong-toking sheep until it
was time to applaud. Nice work, folks.
Next up was Irving. This band put
me off in the beginning when they
played a song that consisted of them
singing tunefully, then making as
much chaotic noise as possible, then
singing tunefully again — rinse and
repeat for about four minutes. A
cheap tactic, not to mention boring,
but they picked up a bit after that.
The rest of the set consisted of en
gaging pop-rock with feedback
drenched rough edges. Irving has
some good tunes and the vocalists
were able to pull off some simple
three-part harmonies. There was a
lack of cohesiveness in the group,
however, something that more expe
rience might remedy. The band
promised to come back in spring;
maybe by then they'll have tightened
up a bit.
Last up was the main event, the
Wrens. These guys are making a fair
amount of noise on the college radio
circuit at the moment and audience
expectations were running high.
But the music was a bit less invigor
ating than the reputation. It was partly
because nothing they did got my
blood boiling. Also, they were work
ing with a sit-in drummer who had
had minimal rehearsal time. This
translated to a set that often felt slop
py. I can't blame the band for that,
though. For what it's worth, they can
play, but their songs were mostly
failed-relationship laments with some
mournful guitar parts. In the end, it
just bored the hell out of me.
What bugs me the most is that
they're a good band with obvious song
writing talent, but they are wasting it on
a sound that has been done before
(and done better, at that). Though they
would occasionally get things moving,
it was mostly a letdown.
So the lights went up and the audi
ence filed out. Looking around the
hall, one would never know that three
hours of music had just ended. That
might be poignant, but 1 doubt it.
Contact the senior Pulse reporter
at ryannyburg@dailyemerald.com.
Courtesy
Eugene-based band Yeltsin sounds ready-made for the college radio circuit.
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