Review by Christien Lauro

A surprisingly sparse crowd stood in the late afternoon sun on the banks of the East River this past Sunday to see what I fear will be an odious new trend of nostalgia mongering – bands performing entire classic albums that are not their own. Headlining the inaugural 2010 season Free Pool Party show on the Williamsburg waterfront, all current members of the avant rock acts Deerhoof and Xiu Xiu tore through Joy Division’s seminal debut LP Unknown Pleasures. While I had faith that Xiu Xiu front man, Jamie Stewart, could successfully captain this ship away from the jagged rocks of the unmitigated self indulgent disaster it seemed like it could turn out to be, I was still a little leery that this would be something worth standing outside in the July heat for.

Anyone familiar with Jamie Stewart’s absurdly, sometimes almost comically, disturbing emotional output can easily see the influence of a band like Joy Division and more specifically their troubled lead singer, Ian Curtis’ lyrics, legend and persona. It doesn’t take much imagination to hear echoes of Joy Division or New Order’s music in Deerhoof’s darker and dancier moments either. In fact, it is pretty difficult to listen to much modern music without hearing at least a little bit of Joy Division, really. But does that mean that we need to hear anyone, other than perhaps a money-hungry, reformed New Order, play an entire Joy Division album? Well…no, I suppose not … but damn was it fun!

The moment Greg Saunier’s opening drumbeat to “Disorder” came through the very loud and very clear sound system all apprehension evaporated and as the even louder bass and guitars chimed in, I essentially became a kid jumping around my bedroom, singing along and pretending to be Ian Curtis all over again. Jamie Stewart obviously felt similarly; his stage presence and delivery was (if you’ll forgive the description) completely straight. He left his trademark histrionics behind and delivered truly fantastic vocal performances of the material. He didn’t try to ape Curtis’ iconic baritone nor, thankfully, his legendary ‘dance’ moves but rather used his own unique voice to express the emotional impact Curtis’ lyrics obviously had on him personally and by extension the audience, who, from where I was standing, all seemed to be reasonably familiar with the material and to enjoy the performance.

After playing urgent but relatively faithful versions of “Disorder” and “Day of Lords”, Deerhoof’s ax slingers finally branched out and frenetically filled up the spaces in the original composition of “Candidate” with squalls of feedback and noise. Not to be outdone, Stewart delivered an intense vocal performance on “Insight”. Most recent Xiu Xiu recruit, Angela Seo, also kicked into high gear on this song with her beautiful updating of the studio original’s rather cheesy keyboard freak-out during the chorus. The appropriately ferocious noise escaping from the speakers as she pounded the keyboard with her fists and Stewart’s screamed refrain of “I’m not afraid anymore!” seemed to challenge the rest of the musicians to answer in kind. As “New Dawn Fades” began everyone was playing furiously. Stewart’s upfront vocals were quite touching as he sang lines such as, “it was me seeing me this time, hoping for something else.” His voice really seemed to channel the feelings of frustration, sadness, desperation and dark humor that anyone who misspent their youth listening to Joy Division would identify with instantly, while at the same time, singing in his own voice. It seemed like something (amps, speakers, audience members) was going to explode if they maintained that level of intensity.

As luck would have it, next up was the caustic hit song of the album, “She’s Lost Control”. Several audience members danced along to the tension release of their reverential rendition and Stewart, himself, even came dangerously close to dancing for a moment during the instrumental break. The band’s performance again became increasingly frenzied during “Shadowplay” culminating in an absolutely unhinged rendition of “Wilderness” which flowed perfectly into the straightforward traditionally punk rocking “Interzone”, during which Stewart actually pogoed, albeit briefly.

I have to admit I was very curious to see what they would do with “I Remember Nothing”, the very odd, icy, violently ambient closing track to the album. The original version’s creepy experimentation seemed to readily play to both Deerhoof and Xiu Xiu’s various strengths. The version they played was actually pretty faithful with guitar feedback replacing the original’s keyboard drone. The highlight, aside from Stewart’s barely controlled maniacal vocals, was Seo’s smashing and grinding of dozens of champagne glasses in a large metal trashcan to create the glass breaking effects of the original. All that destruction accompanied Stewart barking lines like “violent, more violent his hand cracks the chair, moves on reaction then slumps in despair” very effectively.

And on that happy note, all the musicians took their leave and did not return. I was hoping for an encore of “Transmission” but it was not to be. The band certainly allayed all my trepidation and I found that I actually enjoyed their performance quite a bit. The fact that none of the musicians significantly changed or rearranged any of the compositions yet any of those songs could easily fit on either bands’, or indeed many modern bands’, current albums is a testament to the enduring originality and power of Joy Division’s music. That this performance seemed much more a violent celebration of Joy Division’s brilliant songs than a inappropriate cashing in of hip, well worn influences is a testament to the valuable continued work of these two leaders of the current underground music scene.

Here’s hoping that Deerhoof and Xiu Xiu come around next summer playing Closer in its entirety.

Here’s some links to check out:

Brooklyn Vegan’s review of the show

More on Deerhoof

More on Xiu Xiu