#drop electric

This is good news: Particle returns to Gypsy Sally’s on April 16th. Last time Particle was at Gypsy Sally’s they played a great show, and it was just days after rocking out at Luna Light festival in northern Maryland. They’ll be joined by DC locals, Drop Electric. Don’t sleep on the opener, these guys rock.

Who can possibly get downtown on a Friday Night for an early show?  Don't they know I need a good nap after a long week of work?  It seems the Howard Theater was pulling a double, with the bill for the early show (starting at 7pm... so early!) including local favs Drop Electric, up-and-coming The Walking Sticks, and Raised By Wolves.

Due to the early nature of the show, I actually missed the entirety of Raised by Wolves' set, and most of The Walking Sticks.  I only caught two songs by The Walking Sticks.  The first of those two was a cover of something, though I didn't actually register what it was, having just walked in and being wholly unfamiliar with The Howard Theater in general.  Actually, I'm not sure cover is the right word, since no one was playing any instruments (only a pre-programmed background track), it was more like karaoke.  

The next song, their final song of the night, I recognized from DC Music Download's Live Session as "Name On It".  Again there was pre-programmed synth/percussion, with funky 80's-influenced synths and sparse guitar.  Lead singer Chelsea Lea absolutely killed it.  From what I've listened to of their latest record, they tend toward a sparse, atmospheric dream pop sound.  It sounds very well-produced, and I think they'd go along really well with other DC favorites GEMS. That said, if they're going to keep their instrumentation and line-up so thin, it would be nice if they did something to fill up the live show more in some form.  Maybe push the instrumentation they do have to add the atmospheric layers that come across better on the record, or do something with the lighting or stage presence to make it feel more engaging.

The stage was changed over, and Drop Electric came on.  They immediately launched into what became a huge, loud, long set.  I've seen Drop Electric a few times, and they are always very tight.  They create  slow powerful builds--it's cliché to use the word "epic", but at times that's how it feels. The vocals were a little rough at the start, but maybe singer/guitarist/keyboardist Kristina Reznikov just needed a bit to warm up, as it blended more as the show went on.  Vocals aren't exactly the primary element of their music anyway.

It's easy to compare Drop Electric to well-known post-rock outfits such as Mogwai, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and Sigur Ros.  The last of those most apparently, since, like Sigur Ros, Drop Electric makes heavy use of slow piano chords as a foundation, and one of their guitarists plays some songs with a cello bow for that lathered-in-reverb feel.  

Most bands working in the post-rock genre, and Drop Electric is definitely no exception here, excel at creating moody and ominous tones, layers that cast multiple feelings resulting in a mixture of hope, fear, yearning, and bittersweetness.  Unlike most of the other bands, however, Drop Electric also instill a sense of primacy and urgency.  Maybe it has to do with their video projections, which often include live-action short films to accompany some songs.  Or maybe it's the way their guitars layer so much and get so loud, or the fact that their drummer Ramtin Arablouei is not content to just follow the slow-builds and marches, but hits full on power-drumming mode on many songs.