[ATTENDED: July 18, 2018] Two Inch Astronaut
I had heard Two Inch Astronaut on NPR and loved them. I put them on my list of bands to check out. So I was really excited that they were opening for Speedy Ortiz. I got there early and wound up right in front of the stage where I was able to watch Sam Rosenberg play amazing and complicated riffs right in front of me.
Matt Gatwood was also great on drums–he hit really hard but in sophisticated rhythms that really worked with the jagged and noisy guitar that Rosenberg played. On my right was Andy Chervenak on bass. He was all over the fretboard, playing low and high notes to complement and contradict everything else that was going on. It was a terrific package of music.
Until about four songs in when Rosenberg explained that this was their final tour. They were breaking up after the next show. It was an amicable breakup, “Nothing dramatic — still get along and love playing, but we’ve been doing some form of this band for almost ten (!?) years and it’s time to shake things up a bit,”
But still.
Damn I am glad that they opened up this show because their set was incredible.
They even played at least one as yet unrecorded song–he said they’d have to record it posthumously.
Two Inch Astronaut plays loud punk but with tons of musical changes throughout the songs. A complex guitar part gives way to a bashing middle section before a really catchy chorus.
They opened with the lurching “Part of Your Scene.” A song with a wonderfully catchy chorus that occasionally devolves into noisy guitar. “Foulbrood” is a slower song, but it features lots of loud and rough edges.. I love the falsetto notes that he sings. And the way the rhythm section really pushed the song forward.
I really enjoyed the way the guitars and bass played a kind of call and response on “Can You Please Not Help,” but it was the loud/soft, chord/riff dynamic of “Snitch Jacket” that really blew me away.
When he said they were calling it quits, they played this astonishing song. On the setlist it’s called “Shaker” and it is a wonder to be hold. Incredibly work from Rosenberg playing about 7 different songs in 45 seconds.
They played songs from throughout their career, with three from the Foulbrood album and one that went back to 2012’s Red Pancake and the Dark Energy. They even played two songs from Bad Brother (I initially heard two of their songs from this album, but they didn’t play either one of those).
They ended the night with the slow “Andy’s Progress Report” which is, indeed, sung by Andy Chervenak.
It was very different side to the band, with the guitar taking a backseat until nearly three minutes in, when the song builds to a noisier exploration.
But they didn’t let the show end this way as Rosenberg launched into a solid but sloppy version of Ozzy’s “Crazy Train.” The guitar was right on, the vocals were pretty close to the original. But it was clear they weren’t planning to play the whole thing, which is kind of a shame as I would have loved to hear Sam’s take on that classic guitar solo.
It was an excellent show. I would have loved ten more songs and, now, ten more albums.
But I’m also pretty interested to see what the band members do on their own.
SETLIST
Part of Your Scene [FB]
FoulBrood [FB]
Snitch Jacket*
Can You Please Not Help*
Shaker
Check the Yard [BB]
Cigarettes, Boys and Movies [FB]
Big Surprise (Big Inflatable Guy) [RP]
Andy’s Progress Report [Pers]
[RP] Red Pancake and the Dark Energy 2012
[BB] Bad Brother 2013
[FB} Foulbrood 2014
[Pers] Personal Life 2015
* Can You Please Not Help 2016
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