Still in Love with The Stills

It'd been a while since Seattlest had seen Montreal band The Stills. After their extensive year-plus of touring for 2003's Logic Will Break Your Heart, they took some time off and made a major overhaul to their line-up. They lost a guitarist, who they replaced with their drummer, meaning that they had to get a new drummer; then, on top of everything else, they upgraded their sometimes-keyboardist to full-fledged band member. And now they've got new album Without Feathers coming out May 9th, which means it's time to tour all over again. Phew! Being in a rock band: it's hard work.

Even with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs also in town Tuesday night, the Crocodile was packed for The Stills' headlining set. It was their last show in the U.S. before touring through the motherland, though the band is expected to return to this side of the border for a more extensive tour come late May. Despite the potential for road fatigue, the Stills brought a lot of energy to their performance and just seemed to be having a great time; as a result, the crowd was really into it too. The setlist was a well-balanced mix between their new album and old favorites like "Gender Bombs" and "Love and Death." They even threw in "Retour a Vega," better known as "that French song on the Wicker Park soundtrack."

Compared to their older songs, the new stuff is less tense, more melodic and piano-driven---we'd go so far as to describe it as "catchy" or even "happy." These words often sound the death knell for the sophomore release of an indie rock group, but it doesn't have to be that way. Especially now that former drummer/current guitarist Dave Hamelin has taken on a bigger role in the band. He used to just sing lead for one song ("Yesterday Never Tomorrows"), but now he trades off singing duties with Tim Fletcher. Hamelin's voice is richer and deeper than Fletcher's thin tenor, adding a nice contrast to the vocals. Plus, we're kinda sorta in love with Hamelin, since he's way cute, with a great head of hair and a big mouth o' teeth. Anything that gets him from behind the drumset and at the front of the stage is fine by us. Next time the Stills are in town, we'll totally be there, if only to further nurse our crush.

Photo care of David de Young / howwastheshow.com.