[photos courtesy of Edwina Hay for Impose Magazine]
NY band LVL UP joined the merry mix of locals and out-of-towners for Ad Hoc’s post-CMJ car wash show, and delivered a tight eight-songs that included some of the ones that led Stereogum to call their 2014 album on Double Double Whammy/Exploding in Sound Records, HOODWINK’D, one of the best albums of the year. The band makes what I’d call straight-ahead alt-rock, with a dual vocal attack on top of minor-chord-driven guitars. This is a band that knows how to write a hook, with songs that are rainy-day intimate but fun to listen to. The band has cited Superchunk and Jawbreaker as influences, among others, and that feels right. Certainly, this show, inside of an abandoned car wash, had the feel of an independent rock show during those bands’ rise, with the amps cranked and the overwhelming feeling of the sound the most important thing. The band served up two of the three songs from their 2015 7″ EP, “Blur” and “The Closing Door,” and the two had a different but complimentary feel, with the former a short burst of pop energy, the latter a more considered coda. You can catch LVL UP at plenty of shows at all of Bushwick and Williamsburg’s better-known haunts, and we’d recommend you do that. In fact, they’ve got a show coming up on December 1 at Shea Stadium.
I recorded this set with Audio Technica 4051 microphones and a soundboard feed. The sound quality is reflective of the “DIY” nature of the space, but is still a good listen. Enjoy!
Download the complete set: [MP3/FLAC]
Stream the complete set:
LVL UP
2015-10-17
Ad Hoc Car Wash
Hand & Detail Car Wash Center
Brooklyn, NY USA
Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack
Audio Technica 4051 (LOC, FOB, PAS) + Soundboard>Roland R-26>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, edit SBD)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects, image)>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )
Tracks
01 Five Men On the Ridge
02 Pain
03 Soft Power
04 DBTS
05 Blur
06 Angel From Space
07 I Feel Extra Natural
08 The Closing Door
If you enjoyed this recording, please like LVL UP on Facebook, go see their shows, and buy their records on their bandcamp page.
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