The Firebird Band Apes the Cure?ro;”And That's Good!

When a man sings about wine-stained lips, I listen. Not that there's a slew of songs about wine-stained lips to choose from, but when singer Christopher Broach works it into his lyrics:?"Live with what you say and kiss me on my head/That string around your finger to help you forget/Red wine-stained lips"?it's brilliant.

Like "Kiss Yourself," many of the Firebird Band's songs borrow from a Cure record or two. Not only do they blatantly rip off guitar and bass lines from Disintegration, but Broach has the audacity to sing the words "kiss me, kiss me, kiss me." Where most people would write this off as a coincidence, unoriginal or obnoxious, I love this modern adaptation into a postpunk kinda feel. Plus I'm a sucker for sexy, pathetic attempts by cute frontmen to express themselves.

My friend Ashley and I arrived in time to watch one of the opening bands. Within minutes we realized they had one too many Fugazi records in their collection and retreated to the back of the bar to take in a drink or two. It was there we spotted Broach quietly observing this band. When the Firebird Band started playing we made our way to the front of the stage. I was more excited than I probably should have been to see them play, since I'd missed their September show. Besides Outkast's Stankonia, the Firebird Band's The Setting Sun and Its Satellites is the only new record that I have truly appreciated these last few months. We were anxious to see if they could invoke the feeling live.

After their first song, I thought to myself: why didn't this guy sing more when he was in Braid? He's more creative and not as monotonous as Braid's Bob Nanna was. Luckily, Broach realized his talents weren't exhausted when Braid called it quits and went a different direction from Hey Mercedes, the band Nanna formed (with the other two Braid members), who sound exactly like their Chicago punky predecessors. My favorite song of this set was "Forever," a seven-minute epic with winding guitars and lyrics about lost love. And with a two-and-a-half-minute introduction of swirling guitars a la Disintegration, the lyrics being, "I see you crying? Listen to your heart/and walk away? Keep you here forever/In my heart/In my arms forever?" The song continues to build until the climax hits: "Give me one last kiss/Say good-bye/Give me one last wish? To kiss you good-bye." Very Cure, yet punk rock at the same time.

Unfortunately, the sound guy added something like a Mickey Mouse effect to Broach's voice, so the song came off sounding more comical than on the album. It wasn't until "Nothing Not Dance Party" that the band was warmed up. Then their drum machine started giving the band trouble so they had to cut their set to five songs. So we were off to a neighboring bar for some dysfunctional sexual bingo.

Lisa LeeKing