Image by Liz Schroeter
The Acorn lets loose in New York
May 6, 2008, at Mercury Lounge
By Liz Schroeter
Published: May 7th, 2008 | 9:20pm
I’d first heard mention of the Acorn while at SXSW this spring. A Canadian friend insisted it was one of THE bands worth seeing at the festival. I failed to follow his advice while in Austin, but got my second chance on May 6, 2008, when the Ottawa, Ontario-based group made its way back down to NYC to play a few shows. Thank god for second chances.
The Mercury Lounge on a Tuesday night was not quite hoppin’, at least not as much as it would be later that night when veteran Sub Pop artists Love As Laughter took the stage. The modest openers that they were, the Acorn’s singer Rolf Klausener thanked everyone for coming out on a Tuesday when they could be catching a discount movie or something. “You fucking skipped Iron Man to see us pussies,” he gratefully exclaimed, quickly apologizing as only a polite Canadian would for his foul mouth. (Sorry Rolf, I know you didn’t want your mom to know, but we’re New Yorkers — you were speaking our language there! Fuggetaboutit!)
For all its delicacies, like acoustic instruments including ukuleles and wood blocks, the frenetic energy of the Acorn’s melodies still got the attentive audience moving. It was hard to not let the toes tap, the body sway, and the head bob when the band’s two drummers, Jeffrey Malecki and Shaun Weadick, built up the rhythm of songs like “Crooked Legs,” or when all of the band members clapped their hands in unison to the closing number. Sometimes bands have multiple drummers just to impress, but the Acorn uses it to full effect, creating a danceable, occasionally tribal beat that makes the songs sound like the band is rattling apart at the seams. I hate to make lazy other–Canadian–band comparisons and bring up the Arcade Fire, but both bands do share a playful energy, especially when all members start crooning along with un-miked “oohs” and “aahhs.” It gets under your skin.
On songs when the band slowed things down, the percussion sounded more like the clatter of wind through the screen door or branches tap-tapping on the window pane. Combined with the quaint melodies of the ukulele, it brought to mind the avant folk of Lullaby for the Working Class or any number of Saddle Creek Records bands. It seemed strange that a band from the Great White North could make music so sunny, so Americana. Then again, Neil Young was from Canada.
At times the tempo of the songs took on the catchy breeziness of the Sea and Cake. Other times , bassist Jeff Debutte backed up Klausener’s lead vocals with high harmonies; the Garfunkel to his Simon. Keiko Devaux, the band’s resident lady, took the helm at the keyboards for most of the set, taking turns also with maracas and backup vocals while guitarist Howie Tsui multitasked with an e-bow in one hand and a uke strapped to his shoulder. Live, the Acorn was really at its best when the pace picked up and every member of the six-piece band was letting loose on their respective instrument, which is exactly how they wrapped up their set at the Mercury Lounge — heads thrown back, mouths wide open, singing loud, music jubilant.
Issue #35
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