The Apples in Stereo, Very Narrow

On April 25 at the Black Cat, both the Apples in Stereo and Superchunk gave the packed audience the type of show that all bands hope for, converting indifferent people (like me) into loyal fans who go out and buy everything they ever did. The Apples in Stereo, who restlessly continue to evolve with their recently released CD The Discovery of a World Inside The Moone, are also the band with the biggest, nicest smiles. I like to think this is one of their many allusions to the Beach Boys (in this case, the infamous Smile record), but it's safe to say they're wearing them just because they're happy, good-natured folks in love with music. Sadly, it took a long while to "drop that science" on ya!

In some sense, my introduction to the essence of the Apples began with a pre-concert visit to Black Cat's downstairs bathroom, where I unknowingly waited at the door for their leader, Robert Schneider, to finish his business. He came out and, with a smile, apologized to me, the next in line. He did not apologize for having done anything unpleasant to a stranger's senses, I should add, but because I think he hates to keep anything (be it person, muse or bladder) waiting. Well, that's a crappy anecdote, but it's a moment I doubt I'll readily forget, and seems a good reflection on the character of Robert and the Apples: this happy band are out to capture the music of their moments, no matter when it comes or how seemingly fleeting it may be, and they are determined to share it with us (at a precise date and time).

The Apples began their part of the show's festivities at the scheduled time of 9:30 PM, charging through nearly an hour's worth of music, from "Look Away" (their great new single) to old classics like "I Can't Believe", "Shine a Light" and "Strawberry Fire". The latter, from Her Wallpaper Reverie, is a Beatles ripoff so obvious that prior to this night, my opinion of it was quite different -- I could stomach it, I guess, but that's far from saying "You just gotta hear this", as I continue to say about their song "Heard About Your Fame". In concert, though, as the sounds of "Strawberry Fire" collided and reverberated from person to person in the crowd, I found it impossible not to sing along, with my eyes closed and my body in a near-swoon.

While Robert Schneider is far and away the band's leader -- in musicianship, singing, and self-deprecating stage banter ("Do you think we're rather shitty?" he occasionally asked the crowd) -- it is amazing how much the other members' enthusiasm brings to the live experience. They do not dance about, as members of Superchunk later would, but merely give the goofiest, happiest of grins after playing each chord, hitting each key or banging each drum. I cannot repeat this thought enough: the Apples are happy. Doctors of depression, I'm sorry.

As for the new songs, it appears that the Apples might be going decade by decade up the musical ladder. By Tone Soul Evolution, they were in a Beatles Rubber Soul period, and I was thrilled. After that, they turned to the post-Pepper Beatles, and now, they appear to be dabbling in funky pop like Sly and the Family Stone -- and, quite surprisingly, in 70's metal acts. While nothing worked me up as heavily as "Shine a Light" (one of the few truly timeless fluff pop songs ever written), the live Apples proved that they know damn well what they're doing, and it's all for our best to follow them up the path their musical muse is taking them. While their lyrics will always seem a little impersonal to me, you just have to see them to understand that their hearts and souls are in every beat of their songs -- which admittedly makes my few words on "Shine a Light" false. The Apples might make songs that seem like great fluff, but maybe they get more out of the little moments in life (like jumping in a puddle) than someone like me.

Following the Apples' performance there was about a 20-minute break, and the already-dense crowd grew thicker, leaving little room to get to the bar. I didn't need another drink anyway, and it was nice to watch the cameraderie shared between the Apples and Superchunk as Mac, Laura, James and Chuck began to situate themselves. As with the Apples, I approached Superchunk's upcoming performance with great interest, but not overwhelming enthusiasm. Mac and the band compose songs that, again, put all their heart and soul into the music, not the lyrics. They are a punk band, in a sense, but not one that really screams about anything they give a damn about. I mean this not as a criticism, by the way; it's just a different sort of aesthetic or style.

They're Super, they're Chunky... ...and they're here to rock.

Despite lyrics that don't tend to read like journals (though there are moments, as in "Without Blinking": "when you said you're sorry, you did it without blinking/and you can not know how much that hurts"), or Fiona-like antics where they're crying to be liked, Superchunk has still created quite a following. It's partly because their new songs are loads better than the stuff they were writing back when I (prematurely) gave up on them. It's also because, as live performers, they are fantastic, and amazingly energetic. Mac's the type who nearly throws himself into the audience, running like some 3-D Creature from the Punk Lagoon into the amps, and the way that Laura played bass was amazing. There was a time in the beginning of their career when Laura seemed to be in the band because she was a close friend; now, even if unbearable tensions were to occur (a near-impossibility, amazingly) between the band members, I don't think anyone could ever think of replacing her. Laura's just too good.

The show itself was the first of two Superchunk shows at which the set list was chosen by a fan (via a website contest at Superchunk's fantastic homepage). Tonight a guy named Jared chose the set, and while Laura and Jim (the fella besides Mac with a guitar) seemed to have qualms with certain songs (like "Detroit Has a Skyline", a punk rave-up released in 1995 and played live for the first time at this show), it was wonderful setlist for a person like me who knew their early material, and only fragments of everything else.

Among the songs, there was the early masterpiece "Seed Toss", along with "Saving My Ticket", "For Tension", "Watery Hands", "Driveway to Driveway", as well as a bunch of cool covers from Devo ("Just a Girl"), Sebadoh ("Brand New Love"), Pavement ("Gold Soundz") and even Bruce Springsteen ("Born to Run"). There was also a lot of humor and good-natured back-and-forth banter; at one point, after playing two covers back to back, Mac mentions that this is the time when Jared "seems to be obliging us with one of our own songs again".

While I loved the covers (particularly their earnest take on "Brand New Love"), the best moments (besides "Seed Toss") came with the newer material, on which the playing is more intricate and Mac's singing is perhaps a little more melancholy. Overall, like Champaign's ever-improving Poster Children, Superchunk amply demonstrated how much sense it makes for someone, ten years from now, to rush to the club the next time they hear Superchunk will be performing. I left the show quite happy to be a reinvigorated fan of Superchunk and the Apples -- and, as Robert Schneider once said after the end of "Strawberry Fire", they all definitely "earned a drinky!"

As a little epilogue to this liveline review, I should add that I visited the Superchunk website the following day, and read on their bulletin board what other fans thought of the night. One of the fans mentioned how he loves moshing, and how there were certain people who gave him nasty looks after he threw his body into them. He then said all these old fogey types at rock concerts should just "fuck off". Anyway, I'm happy my evil look got under his skin.