architecture

architecture finished their set at Burlington with a cover of R. Kelly track "Pregnant". It so works. I had to listen to the original and its so hilarious.  They do far better justice to it by taking the complete piss out ...... "put that girl in my kitchen".  There is something about having a female shoegaze band covering R. Kelly. They were here to release tracks I've been waiting since seeing them performed late last year at Empty Bottle, and I believe with Agent Ribbons. I was just starting to get into bb beware.  It was the last song they played, Rebecca smacking the cymbals with her bare hand to add to the effect of Jose's drums was the last image until Burlington.  Diamond Mind is a two song Ep released on vinyl under Notes+Bolts. This CD release was at Burlington on a Wednesday and the first since the debut when we were young. They are Melissa Harris and Rebecca Scott. Yeah, the same one with Panda Riot. If you are already familiar with Panda Riot and I have gone on about them, well then architecture is Rebecca Scott's other active project. Both of these bands are releasing new work for this year. This one is the road not taken with her usual PR bandmates but with partner Melissa Harris. 
  I'm mousy as shit. So when I arrive it was nice to be recognized by the band as all are milling about between the two rooms of the Burlington. I notice that Chicago is almost peppered with small venues. I have not been to a place the size of Metro....well, only for Scary Lady Sarah's Nocturna. Anyway Burlington.....Venue small, parking good. Zig on time. The front room has a DJ and the back has the live music. No I don't recall the name of the band that played after. I did like them. I recall a good crowd for them at Burlington, very enthusiastic. No, I did not count. I only do that to highlight how few went. This is not the case. They got the kind of crowd a middle act gets. You get the people that are for the headliner as well as your own. I like seeing when the acclaim one sees on paper in reviews and such is briefly reflected in spontaneous moments with your audience. And I do read a good amount of acclaim for Northern Automatic Music, the Pandas most recent. Its a little harder to find print on architecture, as well deserved as I believe it is. OK, they are separate bands but are you seriously going to like one thing and not even look up the other, to be willfully ignorant? 
  Hmm, that first album, I gotta say in the morning brings out fondly the memory of waking to a Saturday morning with darkening clouds gently tapping your window with the promise of a rain and thunder show. You can kind of enjoy the grey-ness and how perky it can still look, and beautiful. You don't care if it rains or pours. And lets make it summer so that its not cold. You marvel and ponder safely inside. If it helps to approach this as two projects from one person, Rebecca Scott. On her right hand is Brian, Cory and Jose and on her left since 2011 at least is dream pop sister Melissa. Whatever changes the band has seen Melissa and Rebecca have always been the constant dream pop duo. I mean I've seen different people play in the band. Jose was briefly drumming with them. At first this did not strike me as that much different from Panda Riot.  A lot of what I can say about PR I can say here, they are both dark shoegaze that is easy to dance to. And thats short hand for saying they know how to keep your attention to the music as your own experience.  In PR you are exploring outdoors, a landscape, an urban environment, the streets in whatever car you want to be seen in. Well, there is more to exploring than that, like kids in a Frank Lloyd Wright house in the middle of the night. The interior, detailed texture needs that extra time, slower beats, as if walking. Even your meandering has purpose. And there is more to see from architecture. The EP is great on it's own and you can't help but anticipate great things from them.
Zig