Phillyist Reviews... Sea Wolf @ The Trocadero

See that thing? Over there to the left? That’s a Seawolf. The fish. It’s not Sea Wolf (myspace). The band. Oddly, it is the only one with a Wikipedia page. Perhaps the Seawolf has more adoring fans than Sea Wolf? Judging from the crowd at the Trocadero on Monday night, though, I beg to differ. The Troc was approximately two-thirds to three-fourths full by the time Sea Wolf finished plucking their various strings (and consistently half-full the entire show).

The show started the way I like a show to start: music was immediately played as soon as the band took the stage. Sea Wolf was not here to piss around. No introduction. No idle banter to take off the collective edge of performing live. Just tunes.

As they plowed through their set, I could barely hear Alex Church’s vocals over the lead guitar. It was like this for the entire show. The mix was just horrendous. I’m by no means a professional behind a sound board, but I do know that no one channel should dominate another channel on the mix. The lead guitar dominated the vocals the entire performance (and that’s a blunder by someone else – either the Troc’s sound guy or the one that Sea Wolf had traveling with them; I suspect the former). That is my only gripe with the entire show.

For eight songs, Sea Wolf had the subtle hum of the cello in the background, a faint whisper of bass, some scratching on the drums, a beautiful rhythmic acoustic guitar and an Ace Frehley-sounding lead guitar. Do you see the disparity in what I’ve just written? It would also be one thing if I could complain about the quality of the guitar playing (which I can’t).

Sea Wolf is a band that you should check out. Their Bright Eyes-meets-The Walkmen-meets-David Gray sound is not to be missed. It’s unique. It’s energetic. It’s subtle.

Unfortunately for me, the volume of the guitar went to 11 on Monday night. I think that’s just where an appropriately mixed Sea Wolf show can be, too.

Oh, and the Silversun Pickups (myspace) (label mates of Sea Wolf on Dangerbird Records) weren’t bad either. Their sound translated very well to the stage. The only glitch was an issue with the guitar cable. The only bad thing about that glitch was that it occurred right as "Lazy Eye," the band’s first single, was about to climax. This is all in spite of the lead singer bearing an alarmingly striking resemblance to Richard Kind, only with longer hair.