MGMT and Yeasayer @ Walter's On Washington

This is a big time for bands that fall under the umbrella we like to call indie-rock. People are sick of the same old thing on the radio, or on that certain music television channel we all love to hate. More and more people are now searching out music that they can't find on the Billboard Top 200 (or top 2000 for that matter). One of the major reasons for this is the ever-growing popularity of the independent music scene. This growth is particularly evident in types of bands we are now seeing at all of your major music festivals. I am pretty sure that I can speak for Cereal, Doughnut and Coffee when I say this: I have been eating this damn indie-rock thing up. I can't get enough of it! I used to be excited when I heard that a band like Umphrey's McGee or Particle was going to be in the area. Not that I don't now, but in my new indie-rock-discovery-mode I wouldn't think twice about skipping them to go see The National or Yo La Tengo. Fortunately, I did not have to miss another band on Sunday, January 20th when Walter's On Washington played host to MGMT and Yeasayer, two of Brooklyn's finest new offerings to the indie music scene.

Check out the review, pictures and video from the show

I hadn't been listening to either band very long before seeing them on Sunday night. As previously reported in our most recent Breakfast-Approved Shows post, MGMT's Oracular Spectacular hasn't really left my stereo since I picked it up a few weeks ago. I did not have Yeasayer's newest album, All Hour Cymbals, going into the show, but through many streams, and free Pitchfork downloads, I had a good idea of what they were going to bring. The energy and vibe of the crowd at Walter's was pretty lively, but the 18-and-over crowd was notably much heavier on the 18's than the overs. Hey, at least they weren't allowed to drink!

Yeasayer was providing support duties during this leg of the tour so they were the first to take the stage. They are made up of a very unique grouping of individuals. At first glance, you would not expect these four guys to make the music that they do, let alone play that music together in the same band. Here is Jambase's description of Yeasayer:

"The singer: a mustachioed and handsome hipster; the bassist: a big lug in a wife-beater with long hair; the guitarist: an Indian dude with long, flowing, Fabio-like locks; the drummer: a white dude in a dashiki-kinda shirt."

Their music is self-described as Middle Eastern psych-pop-snap-gospel. Throw about ten more genres into that mix and you have Yeasayer.

Their short set consisted of many of the tracks off of All Hour Cymbals. Keyboardist and vocalist Chris Keating led Yeasayer through a very tribal take on "Wait For The Summertime", while guitarist Anand Wilder had several inspiring solos on their first single "2080". The rhythm section of Ira Wolf Tuton on bass and Luke Fasano on drums were the focus in a very heavy version of "Wait For The Wintertime". This was their first time in Houston, and they definitely made quite an impression on me and the rest of the Breakfast On Tour crew. Hopefully they won't wait too long before making it back to the Bayou City.

MGMT was definitely the band to close the night. Headlining over a group like Yeasayer has got to be a pretty arduous task, but they handled the closing duties just fine. MGMT was formed in Connecticut when Andrew VanWyngarden (guitarist) and Ben Goldwasser (keyboardist) decided to bring their lyric and music writing skills, respectively, together. While on tour they feature an additional guitarist, a bassist and a drummer. Their sound on Oracular Spectacular at times conjures sounds originally conceived by British prog-rock bands like Yes or Genesis, but on other songs shifts to sound more like a Wal-Mart version of Queen.

With both bands lacking a large cannon of songs, they seemed to stick with what they knew. For MGMT's set they decide to play mostly tracks from Oracular Spectacular. Their first single "Time To Pretend", their tounge-in-cheek call for stardom, received the best reception from the very attentive crowd. My favorite track off of the album, "Weekend Wars", made it on to the setlist, as well as their current single "Electric Feel". Although I felt MGMT could have pulled a few more songs out, their short-but-sweet set left me with a big ol' grin on my face.

These bands showed me that there is still music out there that is not stale, boring and over-played. Who really needs Fergie, Diddy, Shakira or any other one-named pop star that are all over Top 40 radio? There are a multitude of bands like MGMT and Yeasayer that are playing in your city every day. My advice would be to take advantage of that.

Check out more pictures and videos from the show.

Until Next Time,

Eat Your Damn Breakfast!

-Eggs