Asobi Seksu Play it Heavy

Seattlest has been a fan of NYC's Asobi Seksu since getting a copy of their debut disc from a friend. The KEXP darlings recently released their new album Citrus, and played Chop Suey Saturday to show off their new material (which you can preview in its entirety on their site). Unlike the last time Seattlest saw them play there, the masses showed up, despite the show's early start. Asobi Seksu provided a powerful performance, validating all of the press they've received and our continued fandom.

Openers S started the show to a crowd of just over a dozen. The duo on stage noted that they were playing without their drummer, so they brought their "fake" drummer along for some songs. Seattlest enjoyed their set despite the multitude of mistakes, which we considered more endearing than anything. We were most struck by the juxtaposition of the lead singer's sweet voice and rough around the edges exterior. We'd love to post a link of some sort to the band, but the limitations of the band name make it impossible to search for, so we fault them more for that than their mistakes.

Asobi Seksu tourmates Darker My Love left far less of an impact on Seattlest. They were loud and had tinges of Southern rock in their sound despite being from California, but it all sort of just fell into the background as we read The Stranger under the skylight. When we looked up, we were confronted with blinding blue, as Chop Suey's new lighting system gave the band a freaky ultraviolet glow. We can hear the band's appeal, but we felt that their set suffered from a lack of variety.

By the time Asobi Seksu took the stage, the crowd had swelled to fill the main area of Chop Suey, with Asobi Seksu appreciative of the turnout. The band worked their way efficiently through their set, mainly playing tracks from the new album. Their performance had more teeth than their recorded output, with a lot more guitar and distortion complementing Yuki's vocals, creating shoegaze-inflected dream pop that would have fit in nicely on the still-excellent Lost in Translation soundtrack. Each of the band's members lost themselves in their respective parts, none moreso than bassist Haji, who has perhaps the best "bass player bliss" face we've ever seen.

The set closed with an extended aural assault, a wall of feedback and distortion that fit with the night's heightened aggression, which cleverly segued into a cover of the classic "Then He Kissed Me" (listen to "Strings" and you'll hear how the song is already referenced). The band left the stage thinking they were out of time, but after getting the OK returned for a quick encore, giving the crowd just the right close to an altogether satisfying performance, the perfect show for the transition from optimistic summer weather to a gray, slightly melancholy autumn.

Image from flickr user petenema.com, who's got some great shots from the Toronto show.