Jun. 23, 2008 at 2:32am

Saturday Night Floater Show

Saturday night at Hell's Kitchen, the Frinklins, Frietai, and Izenmania joined AP and the legions of his fellow Floater cultists. This was my first trip to the Kitchen, and my first exposure to Floater.

Trip The Light Fantastic
Unexpected to say the least, Trip the Light Fantastic features two guitarists, bass and drums with a smattering of keyboards but no vocals.TTLF brings a blaring, brittle punk-funk sensibility to almost prog-rockish extended musical passages. Think early Chili Peppers if they tried to play Interstellar Overdrive several times over and you get the idea.TTLF is an intense, almost somber band, with only bassist Joseph Yohann showing much emotion, and that might be too much, as his playing seems to get sloppier the more he leaps around. Trip The Light Fantastic seems a band more to the admired than enjoyed, as the approach they've taken is resolutely anti-commercial. Yeah, the market for instrumental alt-rock issmalller then you might think. The band might also consider turning down their amps a bit in concert, the work on their website is far more intricate and detailed than what comes through on stage.

Mos Generator
The first thing I noticed about this band was that these guys look like they could have opened for Ten Years After around 1970. This piqued my interest, as I have an abiding love for bluesy proto-metal bands like Deep Purple, Sabbath and Blue Oyster Cult, extending even to crap like Blue Cheer and Frijid Pink. Yes those are real bands that had real hits. I clearly need help. Mos Generator does too, as they are seriously on my wavelength. They busted out monster riffs and melodic hooks like they were meant for the AM radio on a 1971 Camaro. Mos Generator is no postmodernist band, mixing seventies touches with ironic detatchment, they really mean it. Other than slight nods to thrash, they act like heavy rock stopped about 1976, and sing songs about the Gods of Olympus. And that is why Jesus loves them.

Hell, Blue Cheer shows up on their MySpace friends list. How can I resist?

Floater
Most indie bands don't stick around for 15 years, but Floater has. A genre-bending power trio with a small but seriously devoted fanbase, a case can be made for Floater belonging not the grunge scene of the northwest, but as harbinger of such postmodern prog rock darlings like the late, lamented At The Drive-In and TV on the Radio. Opening with the brooding, brilliant "Ghost in the Making" the band powered through their set on almost pure intensity. The connection with the band and the audience was palpable, especially during the sing-along, shoulda-been-a-bigger-hit "Sad Ballad of Danny Boy". Bassist-vocalist Robert Wynia, guitarist Dave Amadador and drummer Peter Cornette are all accomplished players, but all three focus on the song, eschewing showy, senseless solos. Amador especially, is at times an astonishing guitarist, capable of both heavy riff and blazing lead lines. The emotion in Floater songs is obvious, sometimes even overwrought, but that matted little to an audience clearly filled with established fans. The only complaint? The band left without an encore and little explanation as to why. The crowd clearly wanted more.