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Live Review: USA out of Vietnam in Providence, RI, 01.23.15

usa out of vietnam 1 (Photo by JJ Koczan)

It had been more than a month since the last time I was at a show, between holidays, injury and family stuff, and I think I needed it more than I realized until I made my way upstairs in Providence, Rhode Island’s Columbus Theatre. There were two Montreal-based bands on the bill, USA out of Vietnam and The Besnard Lakes, and I was there to catch the former, having dug 2014’s Crashing Diseases and Incurable Airplanes debut and its ambitious,usa out of vietnam 2 (Photo by JJ Koczan) progressive wash of post-rock instrumental melody, moments of doomer heft and harmonized vocals.

The room upstairs at the Columbus was seated. More of a theater space. Somewhere one might put on a one-act play or something of that sort, lots of talking, knowing nods in response, and so on. Lights were low. I took a seat behind what turned out to be the band and waited about 20 minutes for them to go on. It was early, and not that cold out, but I had the dog in the car — she’s gotten pretty bad about being left alone; it’s a longer story than fits here — so time was a factor in my mind anyway. Still, an early show, a band I’d never seen before and Providence itself as a city I’ve come very much to enjoy being in, I felt like I was winning out. Before long, USA out of Vietnam took the stage, guitarist/vocalist/frontman Son of Fogman introducingusa out of vietnam 3 (Photo by JJ Koczan) them as some other band and citing a “radical style change” to illicit the first of several chuckles from the crowd.

A five-piece with made-up names — El Tigre, Rockhard, Fogman, Blankie, Son of Fogman — and four vocalists, they were a lot for the acoustics in that room to take, but it was easy enough to get a sense of what they were going for in bringing Crashing Diseases and Incurable Airplanes to life. In the heavier moments, a song like “Asphodel I/1322” bordered on crushing, and the wash in “Leg of Lamb” (please forgive me if I have the songs wrong) was suitably consuming. Son of Fogman proved more of a frontman usa out of vietnam 4 (Photo by JJ Koczan)presence live than on the album, belting out parts where the lead vocals are mixed further behind the guitar, bass, keys and/or synth, and while the dynamic felt nascent, it was also plain to see USA out of Vietnam‘s gelling process underway in both how they approached parts of the songs themselves and how they interacted with each other on stage.

What worked primarily was the smoothness with which the fivesome made the shifts between softer moments of contemplation and nod-inducing, pedal-stomped tonal weight. They’d hardly be the first to lull listeners into a false sense of security and then clobber them over the head with a heavy riff, but there was more of a decided shift live than on the album, where everything is coated in melody, and the crunch fit them well. Son of Fogman thanked the room profusely and noted how fortunate they were to play there, usa out of vietnam 5 (Photo by JJ Koczan)some good-natured ribbing of sound-guy Ryan ensued, and they closed out with more sprawl to make way for The Besnard Lakes. It was still pretty early.

Late enough for me, however. I probably could’ve stayed and enjoyed the headliner, but particularly with the dog in the car and it being January, I thought it better to roll out. Was good to be out and about, even if for just a little while, though, and satisfying to watch USA out of Vietnam present their material live. Something tells me it won’t be the last time I run into them.

No extra pics because I wasn’t really comfortable getting up in front of everyone else seated to go up front and take them, but thanks for reading anyway.

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