Kid Theodore @ The Alphabet Lounge

One of the bands whose set I was most excited to see at CMJ last year was Kid Theodore‘s. True, I had hardly heard any of their music, but what I had heard, I liked. The reason I really wanted to see them was their story… How many bands do you hear that come from Utah these days? More importantly, how many of them do you hear getting radio play because they decided to show up and perform in the station’s parking lot unnanounced?

So, yeah, I knew I was going to like these guys right off the bat.

Unfortunately, the band’s first New York show was at The Alphabet Lounge. Let me devote a little bit of time to how much I hate that place… It’s a small bar with an elevated area that would almost work as a stage if it weren’t for the railing cutting across it or the fact that the only bathroom is right behind the performers. On top of that, it’s cramped and has terrible lighting.

But trust these gents to take it in stride. At one point, the guitarist whipped out a couple of drumsticks and incorporated the rails into the set, using them instead of the cymbals I guess he’d usually use in the song.

Far more important than the venue is the music… Listening to Hello Rainey, you will hear a more vintage sound than you would expect. At times the music carries the simple rythyms and smooth sounds of 50′s rock n’ roll (“Call of the Wild”, for instance), while at other times, with it’s jangly pianos and contrasting choruses (see: “Fashion_able”) it seems on the verge of collapsing into a sonic anarchy worthy of The Cold War Kids.

The energy of the singers is almost unexpected and reveals some serious vocal training. It’s also apparent that they really love their music and love to perform, which makes them that much better to watch.

I heard about these guys at first from KEXP – also known as the best radio station ever. They drove from Utah to Seattle to play in their parking lot in an attempt to get on the radio. These guys are very enthusiastic and approachable. When Ryan, the bassist and one of the singers, learned that was how I got to their show in the first place, he was really happy. “We had no idea that it would work, but thought we’d try it anyway,” he said, “And it did! It was pretty awesome.” Here’s that video of them performing “Fashion_able.” The sound quality isn’t the greatest, but it should give you a good idea of the energy they bring to a performance. They get major props for having the balls to do this on a whim.