Siren Festival 2008: Part 1

Summertime music festivals have long been synonymous with severe discomfort, due to thousands of sweaty bodies pressed close, overflowing portable bathrooms with sticky floors, and the furious beating of the sun’s remorseless rays. Why don’t they hold events such as these during those lovely times when the seasons are transitioning? But I’m not here to complain. The stellar lineup for this year’s Siren Festival made the day well worth the ordeal, and so as the Cyclone shook in the background, many, many music fans saw some awesome bands for free.

The trippy, noisy tunes of Brooklyn’s Dragons of Zynth began the long day with their fusion of electronic haze and jammin’ rock n’ roll. At times recalling pals TV on the Radio, they perfectly represented a summer’s day with their neon attire and the shimmering sound that backed most of their songs.

An experiment in how effectively noise can be crafted into ear-pleasing songs, the wildly energetic These Are Powers blend commanding beats with all manner of sounds. The percussion master banged in all directions on his uniquely built kit and suitcase of effects, while slinky singer and sometime guitarist Anna Barie yodeled, yelped, and danced up a storm.

Off to tour Europe after this glorious day of Coney Island’s rampant Americanness, Brooklyn-based Parts & Labor were downright rockin’ with their zippy electronics and rapid tempos. The rude vocals of BJ Warshaw sounded like a set of instructions, while Dan Friel played his robot-army parts with a wide grin that somehow brought a cutesyness to the loud. Their new guitarist Sarah Lipstate kept up nicely and added depth to their already smashed-up sound.

Bringing the noise down a notch, but not a very big one, LA’s Film School gave a more dreamy, surfy sound to the jamming that was making this day a very loud one (even though concerts are by definition loud). A bit more poppy than some of our previous bands but equal with their sonic exploration, this band’s current lineup is a strong one with their sometimes breezy, sometimes dark catalog.

The much-anticipated Dodos had a bit of trouble setting up, which sadly cut their playing time down a bit, but the numbers they did perform delivered just the energy and percussive grandeur their albums promise. The two main members compliment each other expertly, with Meric Long’s pretty folk songs taken to entirely new places with Logan Kroeber’s intricate and thundering beats. Kroeber enlisted the help of a tambourine taped to his foot in order to do the songs justice, while a third guy in the background banged on a metal garbage can and played some nice xylophone.