Review - Siren Music Festival 2008

Originally published in Soundcheck Magazine (7/23/08)

Words by Andy Pareti

The ancient Greeks would be proud. In a time when indie fans in the five boroughs and beyond gather around the faded glory of the historic Coney Island park with unease and doubt in their minds for the Cyclone and other grandfathers of amusement park delight, the Village Voice delivered a free concert that, if just for one day, made everyone forget about the area’s potentially numbered days.

It seems, at this point, that every Siren Festival you attend could be your last. The controversy and red tape surrounding the potential redevelopment of the Coney Island area has spiked attendance at the attractions in recent years, and the Siren Festival has been no different. The free celebration of those overlooked, underappreciated, and simply undiscovered artists that we all love so dearly has been appropriated with the triple-threat of Greek mythology: a trio of bird-women-monsters who lure their victims in with an intoxicating, bewitching song. While the Siren Festival is, at least so far, non-fatal, many of the sun-scorched concert-goers could agree with the term metaphorically, under the corrosive, mid-July sun.

On Saturday, July 19, the eighth annual Siren Festival treated listeners to a great assortment of up-and-comers and established veterans. Headlining the day’s festivities were Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks and Broken Social Scene, but scattered around the nine hours of live music were great acts like Annuals, the Helio Sequence and Islands. They even had Ted Leo spinning records throughout the day. Here are a few of the highlights:

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks: A slightly out-of-it Stephen Malkmus led his Jicks through one of the stranger sets of the day, ending with a very unexpected but somehow fitting cover of Eddie Money’s “Two Tickets to Paradise”. Malkmus stumbled through a few lyrics and even accidentally knocked his mic stand off the stage at one point, but the band still managed some great live translations of their latest indie opus, Real Emotional Trash. The Prince of Feedback (sorry, Stephen, but Sonic Youth are still king) sure delivered in that department, as his numerous amps shot darts of fuzz through the crowd, rattling the pavement (sorry, I couldn’t resist).

Islands: If there was one band that upstaged the headliners, it was the late addition Islands. These Montreal natives sure know a vacation spot when they see one, and this time they transported the crowd down to the Caribbean, where they offered a mix of calypso, neo-psychedelia and electro-string sections. Singer Nicholas Thorburn came out to the stage with a garbage can on his head, later claiming it was a way to beat the heat. It lay idle until the end of the set, when the band began literally “bangin’ on a trash can.” Doug Funnie would have enjoyed it.

Ra Ra Riot: “Fuck my ears just a little harder!” someone yelled during Ra Ra Riot’s performance. That seemed to be the general consensus for the other late addition to Siren Festival. The Riot presented a chamber pop performance that resembled Arcade Fire somewhat, heavily rooted in the electric strings of Alexandra Lawn’s cello and Rebecca Zeller’s violin. An impassioned rendition of the wistful stomp, “Each Year”, was one of the show’s highlights.

Annuals: 3:30 was a rough time. Early enough that the sun still stabbed you but late enough you just started to feel your sunburn, Annuals were a cool, North Carolina breeze. The sleeper hit of the festival, the band showed why they are one of the most underappreciated live acts today. Opening things off with “Complete or Completing”, Annuals treated the crowd to a downpour of beach balls. Adam Baker wins the award for widest-open-mouth-during-a-delirious-scream, and Anna Spence hunched so far over her piano her reddish locks completely covered her face - like a Cousin Itt with nicer legs.

Dragons of Zynth: Opening the show to a patchwork crowd of semi-curious passer-bys were experimental oddity outfit Dragons of Zynth. Their strange mash-up of jazz, funk and what most closely resembles sludge rock, Zynth initially sounded as if they bit off a bit more than they could chew - kinda like how a little kid tries to mix a whole bunch of finger-paints together and ultimately just comes up with brown. But after a muddled start, the band developed a focus, adding sharp keyboard melodies and some rambunctious stage antics that included jumping off the stage and throwing random objects into the crowd. Overall, a solid litmus test for the steadily-growing masses.