Montreal based rock group the Lovely Feathers played Schubas Tavern last night to a moderate sized crowd. The size of the crowd and the easily forgotten opening bands did little to the testament of the Feathers’ ability: The main act had style, but the first was a group you’d expect to see at a high school battle of the bands, with every kid on stage playing their instrument over the next one to please be noticed. The second band played innocuous background music like you’d hear at a brunch. They pulled me in from the front bar for a brief moment when I heard something slipping under the doors that sounded like rock n roll, but didn’t hold me long enough to forget about my fries at the front before they could get through their uninspired cover of a Lou Reed song.
The combination of preparing for the Feathers while watching opening bands that belonged in a high school competition and my very faint knowledge of their last album set me up for disappointment. So I was pleasantly surprised when the Lovely Feathers managed to entertain the crowd with really decent sounds.
They’re much better live than their latest album lets on. Bands sometimes struggle to live up to their fans’ expectations for seeing them live, but the Feathers have the opposite problem. While there are obvious improvements in each recording they release, they haven’t figured out the secret to making all of their interesting ideas really mesh - subtlety. On Fantasy of the Lot, the band’s different influences are prevalent, but even though the musicians they emulate are all outstanding, (Bowie, Pixies, and The Clash) the way each influence is highlighted is distracting. Live, however, no one is fiddling with production, and the background noise and lingering keyboard sounds lessen the too-clean transitions.
The Lovely Feathers saved their better material for the middle of the set and the encore. What makes them interesting are the brief flashes of genius exhibited throughout several of their songs. Each time you get ten seconds, maybe 30, and then they go back to playing it safe and become just another band searching for a sound. They have excellent ideas, and they need to force them on us, expand on them, and then please blow our minds. But instead they go back to the safety zone, grabbing back onto some catchy hook, letting the genius float over the crowd’s heads and simmer in a half full drink at the bar.
I kept finding myself thinking, well this could be the sound they’re looking for. In one song they’re a new-wave dance band - in another they just need an accordion to play gypsy folk. The variety of sounds along with the front man’s witty banter kept the audience entertained, but I kept looking for some common thread to give them their own unique identity. It lies in those simple strokes of genius which come through in so many songs, but the band doesn’t seem to know what they could have if they stepped out of the safety zone. A bass rig would help a lot, but what the band really needs is to focus on what they’re good at and create something out of it. If they do that, I’ll be happy to go see them at their next Chicago gig.
