| Up, Down, and Up Again With Frog Eyes |
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| Written by Robin Ziari | |
Frog Eyesw/ Alex DeliveryMay 19, 2007 at Union Hall 702 Union Street (at 5th Ave.) Brooklyn, NY 11215 unionhallny.com absolutelykosher.com/frogeyes.htm  Frog Eyes played a compelling set at Union Hall on May 19th... and yes, it is a cellphone photo.   Carey Mercer at Mercury Lounge in 2006 Frog Eyes' leader, Carey Mercer, came onstage with little fanfare, offering up a meek, sweetly Canadian "Hey guys, what's going on?" before delving headlong into the vocal aerobatics of his alter-ego, the fiery Mr. Hyde that emerges when Mercer performs. Taking a vocal cue from Pere Ubu's David Thomas and the Talking Heads's David Byrne, Mercer sings in an intense wavering half-scream that conveys loads of emotional depth. Frog Eyes' music is all about peaks and valleys--over the top howls ride up against fierce whispered passages in songs such as "Stockades" (from the just-released "Tears of the Valedictorian" on Absolutely Kosher Records)--and the sense of anticipation created by that formula sustains many of their best records. Live, the absence of Spencer Krug's sonically omnipresent keyboard work was notable. The band made up for it however, by simply rocking harder. The strong rhythm section of Melanie Campbell (Mercer's wife) on drums and Michael Rak on a cranked-up, slightly distorted bass pushed the tempo and filled the spaces that the keys would usually occupy. In a parallel to the rapid highs and lows of his music, Mercer's mellow between-songs persona was very different than his performance mode. At one point, after proudly admitting to being somewhat stoned, he launched into an indulgent road tale of illicit substances...something about a suitcase full of mushrooms and prescription meds. What makes Frog Eyes so great are these contrasts; it's intriguing that a slightly pudgy and polite guy like Mercer can bellow the way he does. This was displayed again as the audience applauded for an encore--Mercer and crew seemed to waffle bashfully on whether to go on with another song. Perhaps there was pressure from the Union Hall management to end the show on time, but after making up his mind to continue, Mercer launched the band into another new track, "Bushels"--which measures in at an epic nine minutes on the album. I guess that eliminates the problem of whether to play one or two songs in your encore. After something like 10 more minutes of psychedelic riffage, several emotional ups and downs, and another powerful dose of Mercer's vocal histrionics, band and audience alike seemed to leave the show feeling equal parts mental exhaustion and thorough gratification. |
