Space Rock: A New Hopewell
Friday night, I arrived late to Luna Lounge and missed nearly all of J.Dimennas opening set. The 2.5 songs I did hear were quite impressive, especially the use of a drifting steel guitar.
Secondly came The Silent League, whose sound strongly resembled the elegant psychedelic nature of the great Mercury Rev. This comes to no surprise to anyone familiar with the band, as lead singer Justin Russo played keyboards for Mercury Rev at one point. That being said, the band created enough of their own magic on the stage of Luna Lounge to make a fan out of any casual listener that was in the audience.
NYC music scene veterans Hopewell followed The Silent League, with another Russo front and center. Brother of The Silent Leagues Justin, Jason Russo led his band to the type of captivating performance that Hopewell has become known for. Taking cues from Mercury Rev, whom he also spent some time with, Russo displayed that he has learned exactly how to transform a space with an expansive sound. Much of Hopewells set focused on songs from upcoming release, Beautiful Targets, which promises to be a treasure.
La Laque brought close to the night with a mesmerizing set. As a first time listener, I was totally wowed by the groups combination of moody organ, drifting mod/surf guitars, and singer Deverys breathy French vocals. The eerily beautiful music comes across as Jane Birkin lending her most seductive vocals to a David Lynch soundtrack. Oddly enough the band, despite its French moniker and vocals, is not actually French, and is Brooklyn-based, so catching another one of their performances shouldnt be that challenging.
J. Dimenna
The Silent League
The Silent League
Hopewell
Hopewell
La Laque
La Laque
Photos courtesy of [Jonny-Leather]