The line-up of Northern Lights features a couple of Beachwood Spark-ers and a tambourine-wielding frontwoman mining a predictably retro vein, in this case pumping out a Stone-inflected freedom rock with space for the occasional country-tinged ballad. Their sartorial choices alone signified that it’s time to party like it’s 1973: one does not don a shawl or ascot, or certainly grow out a ridiculous mustache, without malice aforethought. The good news is that the Lights succeed on the basic level of such an endeavor-- they rock convincingly.
But the good times riffery and burning guitar solos could not cover up the weakness of most of their material, blah melodies joined to strictly trite sentiments, exhorting the audience to “let someone in,” open “the gates of my heart,” and “come on down to get back up again.” The players displayed a definite love for the music, more heartfelt tribute than winking pastiche. But one has to wonder what makes this stuff qualitatively better than, say, the Black Crowes, who can at least write a good tune once in a while. We can hold out hope that Northern Lights will develop material that fully earns them the praise that their pedigree and contacts will no doubt bring.
Following the B. Sparks spin-off was the Folk Implosion v. 4.1. The Implosion originated as a jokey home recording partnership for friends Lou Barlow (ex-Dinosaur, Sebadoh, numerous solo projects and collaboratives) and John Davis (uh, not the guy from Korn). Matters were complicated when hip hop-inspired soundtrack work made them a natural one hit wonder. Under record label pressure the principals reluctantly picked up a short-lived backing band for live dates. After the Implosion’s first album for Interscope, One Part Lullaby, Davis abruptly dropped out of the collaboration altogether, leaving Barlow alone to hit the road with acoustic guitar and improvised home-made samples in tow. A recent national tour with dirge-metallers the Melvins saw the Folk Implosion turning into a rock band, and it was this line-up that took the stage in Silverlake: Barlow on bass and vocals, augmented by the men of Alaska, guitarist Imaad Wasif from Lowercase (picture India’s answer to Guy Piccioto) and Russ Pollard, also of Sebadoh, behind the traps.
This sea change recasts the alternately breezy and menacing sampler-based electro pop of the Folk Implosion as straight-up rock. What the noisier, more performance-driven style obscured in terms of lyrics and melody was handily returned by the seldom-seen spectacle of Lou Barlow shaking his groove thing and actually seeming to have fun onstage while rolling out the sinuous l(o)oping bass lines that anchor many Folk Implosion songs. A well-planned set effectively shifted from the funkier songs to slower, quieter material, finally climaxing with less groovy, thrashier offerings. Barlow called for Northern Lights to join the band for the set closer, probably deploying their talents in their ideal setting: a raucous, silly Bob Seeger cover.