Of Monsters and Men | Lupo’s – Providence, RI 5/9/15Empty Bottle Evenings

May112015May 11, 2015May 11, 20152 Commentsby Bake

Of Monsters and Men | Lupo’s – Providence, RI 5/9/15

Posted in Music

It’s not often that guys are allowed to call things “cute”. Their own newborn son, an attractive girl, maybe a baby seal. That’s about it. But I’m going out on a limb here and saying the pair of lead singers (and guitarists) from Of Monsters and Men are a cute couple. I have no knowledge of them actually being romantically involved, but Nanna Bryndis Hilmarsdottir and Ragnar Þorhallson have an ability to make you feel all warm and tingly when you see them on stage performing together. They’re like two bunny rabbits hopping across your path. Two bunnies that can sing like Icelandic angels and play an extremely catchy version of indie-folk-pop.

So when I say that they came out on stage Saturday night and played some darker songs from their upcoming album Beneath the Skin (due to be released June 9^th), the term “darker” is relative. These nine new tracks that Of Monsters and Men performed were a little less catchy than expected, but not exactly death metal. As the slow build up of “Thousand Eyes” began the set, the presence of a bigger, moodier sound was apparent (mostly created by at least 3 band members drumming), but neither the style change nor the crowd’s unfamiliarity were deterrents for the clap-happy fans. After playing another new song , “Human” , the band dipped into their debut My Head is an Animal for the aptly named “Slow and Steady” and the more uptempo “King and Lionheart” which again demonstrated the crowd’s skills in synchronized clapping, not to mention the band’s musical talents. As they played their first single off their new album, “Crystals”, it seemed arguable that their sound wasn’t so much darker as it was just more expansive. Perhaps, the real change to black was Nanna ditching her silly hat and appearing a little more Stevie Nicks meets Elvira, and a little less Punky Brewster. Perhaps. (Idiot)

As the band continued to plow through more songs from Beneath the Skin, some of their trademarks were still there including Nanna’s haunting voice, their two-piece horn section, and a smattering of Oh Oh Ohhhhh choruses. They also seamlessly threw in the popular “Mountain Sound” that was nearly drowned out by the enthusiastic crowd (hey we’re all great singers after a few beers) in between the new offerings. Old or new, the mid-section of the show was highlighted by Nanna and Raggi’s alternating vocals within a song: they are adorable. Judge me all you want. After playing “Lakehouse” and their smash hit (yes I am old) “Little Talks” from their debut LP, they closed the set with a raucous version of “Six Weeks”. Alone, I fight these animals/Alone, until I get home.

But for those who didn’t go home Of Monsters and Men came back on stage to play “Dirty Paws”, the opening track to My Head is an Animal, “Silhouettes” from The Hunger Games Soundtrack (who knew?), and “We Sink”, the closer to their new album. The set was mostly a showcase for the pending Beneath the Skin disc, which is fair since the countdown is less than a month now. Normally I’d be upset when a band plays a set where I don’t know half of the songs, but when you’re only onto your sophomore effort, I understand the song fatigue from both band and audience hearing the same dozen songs over and over again. It was good to hear something new but pleasantly familiar and I would be surprised if the majority of the fans at the show over the weekend weren’t as excited as me to hear what the new songs sound like recorded in the studio. Hopefully it’s another cute album.