ROBYN HITCHCOCK @ SPACELAND

lar_import — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:59:14 +0000

Eros was much on Robyn’s mind and thighs this evening as he frooged and prophesied with his folk-rock supergroup the Venus 3: Peter Buck of R.E.M. on 6- and 12-string Rickenbacker, furry-hatted Scott McCaughey (pronounced like “McCoy”) of Young Fresh Fellows on bass and vocals and William “fucking” Rieflin of Ministry on drums—who also play together in the Minus 5 and in R.E.M.’s touring band. The opening mind-raid of “I Often Dream of Trains,” “Kingdom of Love,” and “Brenda’s Iron Sledge” ate each individual member of the Incredible String Band for late supper before feasting on the audience’s hopes and dreams and burglarizing their emotions in a venereal insect frenzy. I mean it was good. The lucky customers were treated to “Television” with Robyn’s comrades Gillian Welch and David Rawlings sitting in and Rieflin joining the others (except Buck, who does not sing) on harmony—which I mention because I did not know Rieflin sang; and then the happy patrons delighted in the gorgeous tonalities of hits old and new: “Airscape,” “I’m Falling,” “Up To Our Nex,” “Madonna of the Wasps,” though I was too busy enjoying myself to keep track of the set list. Hitchcock’s singing voice is in top form and his distinctive instrumental voice cooks food; there are echoes of Robby Krieger and Richard Thompson in his guitar style, but it would be hard to mistake a Robyn Hitchcock guitar part for anyone else’s if you ever got to hear him on the radio. During one song I did not recognize, Hitchcock took a wild fuzztone solo while still singing the lead melody, which is not a thing people can just do. Rieflin delivered a brief studious lecture about how to make a proper studio recording as human hands grew from spectators’ eyeballs and undid the Gordian knot that binds commerce and music in our post-industrial society. Welch and Rawlings returned for the encores, “Queen Elvis” from Hitchcock’s masterpiece Eye, and the Soft Boys’ “I Wanna Destroy You.” One of the great rock performances of all time. Adroitly opened by Parson Red Heads, who remind me favorably of Teenage Fanclub and have sweet vocal harmonies and a steel guitarist. This seems like a good opportunity to say that Hitchcock’s Groovy Decay, which I once derided in print as “unlistenable,” now strikes me as a really good album that ought to be reissued in an expensive sleeve.

—Oliver Hall

L.A. RECORD » William Rieflin

ROBYN HITCHCOCK @ SPACELAND