I had the pleasure of attending LANDLADY‘s concert at Columbus Theatre in Providence, RI last month. Having never been to the theater, I pleasantly discovered it in still brilliant shape – truly a “old fashioned” theater house, now run by volunteers for a variety of events. Upstairs, where the show was being held, was comfy with well-worn leather seats – a peculiar place which set the mood for the evening.
Opener Ian O’Neil (Deertick) took to the stage first to warm the small crowd, composed of couples and young adults; his strong acoustic set relaxing everyone into their seats. After a fair delay in between sets, Landlady finally took to the stage – you could’ve heard a pin drop in those precious moments, as a wave of awkwardness creep back over the shy crowd. Being that most bands have a “look” of some uniformity, or at least “belonging” together, I couldn’t help but smile a little – the five members of Landlady appear so very different from one another, as if each had been plucked off the city streets at random just hours before.
As they launched into their set, I couldn’t help but become restless in my seat – Landlady’s music is infectiously, incredibly catchy. With a range, sound and style as unique as their appearance, there is nothing to quite compare them to. With a rock core and pop melodies, elements of jazz, ska and world music come through – yet they make it all work, to perfection. Their sound and influences change from song to song (or even verse to verse), keeping you on your toes and being deliciously exciting to listen to. Constantly mixed to different rhythms and beats, vocalist Adam Schatz commanded the stage and audience, with enough humor and quirkiness to leave no time for wandering minds.
Personal favorites from the night came in the form of “Dying Day” – a single off their upcoming album “Upright Behavior”. Introduced with the line of “You know how sometimes you look in the mirror… and you notice a new spot and think ‘Huh. That wasn’t there before,’ and that’s how you know you’re getting old? That is what this song is about,” Schaltz said no more, letting the lyrics speak for themselves. The song confronts the morality head-on, in a layered, catchy form of delicate guitar work and tight, intricate beats. Take a listen below:
Whether they be quite to your taste or not, Landlady is a band worth watching in live performance. Their style is like no other – odd, quirky and refreshingly, amazingly different. They are a band to watch this year, with “Upright Behavior” being officially released Tuesday, July 15th on Hometapes.
View NYC release show information, stream the full album in advance and find tour dates HERE. They will be touring throughout much of the U.S. the rest of this summer and fall with Man Man and Rubblebucket.
