Tacks, the Boy Disaster
Live shot
Reviewed by Audra Schroeder, Fri., July 7, 2006
Tacks, the Boy Disaster
The Parish, July 1
There seems to be a national (and local) trend toward having a lot of people onstage. Alex Dupree, a tall, wiry 21-year-old with a shock of curly hair, opened the Saturday night triple bill with a few solo songs before slowly bringing the five other members of his Trapdoor Band onstage. Dressed in suits, the Band emitted a 1940s cemetery-blues vibe, Dupree delivering the quivering eulogy while the big noise explosion of their final song rained down Neil Young. Local improv guitarist Jonathan Horne took up the middle slot, explaining he was there "for contrast." For 20 minutes he assaulted his guitar, beating out distorted screams and giving props to Glenn Branca. The headliner, local quartet Tacks, the Boy Disaster, not even a year old yet, delivered nearly all the songs from their impressive debut Oh, Beatrice. It was a dizzying affair, from the woozy "Matilda" to the Beatles tap of "Forget Me Not," which features one of singer/keyboardist Evan Jacobs' gems: "See death will try to snag us all, she'll rip the portraits off your wall. Got to burn them all." The end of the divine "Paris" dovetailed into a jazzy experimental jam led by drummer Jason Friedrich, with Jacobs flailing behind his keyboard on a mixture of ecstasy and mania. There's no one source for Tacks; a new number sounded like something on Factory Records and closer "Frozen Feet" could almost be Bowie. They had the formula down: a killer hook, ear-teasing lyrics; and the crowd was doing something that rarely occurs at shows anymore – dancing. This disaster was beautiful. Go out and buy this CD.
