ALIALUJAH CHOIR, WILD ONES
(Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark #110) It wasn’t supposed to happen, but somewhere along the way, Alialujah Choir became a band. Adam Shearer, Adam Selzer, and Alia Farah made some recordings back in 2008, solely for their own entertainment. Shearer (of Weinland) and Selzer (of Norfolk and Western) wrote a handful of tunes, and Farah did the arrangements, which involved impressive counter-harmonies and gentle folk backing. They recorded it on their own, with no one else present in the studio. And that was supposed to be it. Now Shearer, Selzer, and Farah have completed a second Alialujah Choir record, Big Picture Show, and it’s lush and diverse, with Beatlesque pop tunes, Stax-informed soul ballads, and Neil Young-ish folk-rockers, each reaping the benefits of Farah’s remarkable gift for vocal arrangement. In other words, it’s a perfect record to encapsulate both Alialujah Choir’s current state of being and the unforeseen future of Revolution Hall. NED LANNAMANN Read the full article on Alialujah Choir and Revolution Hall’s opening night.
CATFISH AND THE BOTTLEMEN, WILD PARTY
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Bands like Catfish and the Bottlemen make me feel old. Not because I don’t like what they do—what they do is called “rock ‘n’ roll” and I like rock ‘n’ roll—but because they’re apparently a pretty big deal and I somehow missed it. To wit: The band launched a North American tour behind its debut album, The Balcony, last weekend with more than half of the 25 dates sold out in advance. Pretty impressive for a Welsh act with a thin résumé. It’s easy to see why folks are snapping up tickets. Catfish and the Bottlemen seem to crank out catchy, scruffy rock songs with ease, sounding like a cross between the Strokes and the Vaccines, without reaching the heights of either. You know how you’re supposed to paint a home a neutral color if you want it to sell? Catfish and the Bottlemen are kind of like that. BEN SALMON
KRIS ORLOWSKI, BALTO, WINTERHAVEN
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) Some years back, Daniel Sheron fled his life in Moscow with little more than a guitar and what can be presumed to be a bold case of wanderlust. In Siberia, Sheron’s ultimate destination, the seeds of Balto’s 2011 debut, October’s Road, were sewn. Sprouting confessional folk compositions rich with imagery of the bleak Russian landscape, Balto’s debut was a great introduction to Sheron’s refined wellsprings of sound. Fast-forward to 2015 and Balto is back, following up their 2012 release, Monuments, with a new LP, Call It by Name, from which they’ve leaked the single “Saints and Crows.” If the new track is any indication, the upcoming album is a more expansive disbursement of their rock sensibilities. Balto’s road-weary Americana feels nomadic, practically mid-transit. You may want to keep an ear out for where that journey’s headed. RYAN J. PRADO