I came to see Film School. I left with Airiel still ringing in my ears. The nearly deafening set of the Chicago four piece was the surprise of my night. The band opened up for Film School Thursday night (March 20th) at Spaceland.
They are surely the hardest band I’ve ever seen at the Silverlake venue, and surprisingly so. From the recordings to the live assault of sound remain the residue of airy effects affected shoegaze vocals and feathery, legato melodies, but most of the ubiquitous electronic backdrops that are the hinge of their sound on recordings only appeared between songs, or were quickly overpowered by thrashing guitar and muscular drums.

Taking here and there from many genres, the thumping bass lines, heavy guitars and power drumming give this band a truly solid sound with or without all the electronic frills. It was a fresh, prominent sound. Something I’m not used to hearing at Spaceland among all the artsy boredom and fashionably detached pretense.

Hell, I think the band might need to give itself more credit (if you disagree skip to last paragraph). Their MySpace currently looks like a fan site for the Film School kids and other bands they’ll be playing with. Maybe it’s a dedication and display of appreciation to bands they like, but I think they should shamelessly promote themselves from now on! A highlight of the set, “Mermaid in a Manhole,” was the epitome of the bands sound -- adrenaline injected star-gaze vocals, a rush of sound bulky and precise with each instrument amplified and distinct in sound quality.

Following Airiel was the much awaited Film School, standing theatrically with daunting David Lynch red lights cast on their faces and a singular thread of sweeping noise with distinct hiccups from the bass drum pulsing underneath. The comparisons to other bands are endless, but the band manages to claim its own ground. From the recordings to the live performance back to the recordings I’m still confused. I like this band, or maybe not so much. No, I like this band.

Let me explain: from what I heard I thought I was going to dig seeing this group, but I started to feel tiny, irritating pangs of ennui during the set. So, I went back today, listened and realized I only REALLY like a few of the songs. The rest are harmless, but the comparisons I could make suddenly become significant because while elements of their song making are almost inherently pleasant, like a Monet painting – who doesn’t like all the pretty colors and swirling brush strokes – I’ve heard it before and I can’t help but start to tune out.

Some songs I liked that didn’t quite deliver live: “Lectric” with its dark, buzzing merry-go-round bass line; “Compare” with all the delayed gratification you can ask for and delectably inaudible vocal meanderings like “I can’t believe the things that you say,” that feel like words you say in the back of your mind worming their way out of your head and mouth. And also, not surprisingly, currently the first two songs on their MySpace page. Don’t get me wrong, here and there I nodded along to some of the more nicely laid grooves and thought-out noise; and this band deserves a listen, a few minutes of your time to listen and decide for yourself.

A confusing ending for a slightly confusing review: listening to their recordings you might think the opposite -- that Film School is lush, dangerously pretty, symphonic-sonic-bitter sweet-serenity, and that Airiel is gluttonous even cheesy with its superfluous synth foundations that overwhelm what could otherwise be pretty raw, nice stuff.

Even I was surprised, but this is a live review and I gotta to tell it like it is.

Photos & Review by............

Alisha Ways

Bringing you all the noise you haven’t heard, off the track corners of L.A. you haven’t seen, and stinging cool like you’ve never felt before. Alisha’s on the L.A. music beat like vibrations from a blasting amplifier and reporting it all straight to you.