Wild Nothing - Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

In the space of just forty-eight hours, the stage of the Circolo degli Artisti in Rome hosted two of the bands that over the past couple of years have energized the American indie scene, with a pop sensibility and a sound that draws heavily on British music of the 80s and 90s.

Given the near-identical timeframe and the significant conceptual affinities between the two, it makes sense to discuss together the shows headlined by Jack Tatum's Wild Nothing on Monday 22 November and by Pains Of Being Pure At Heart on Wednesday 24. These were two evenings that not only turned back the clock a couple of decades, but also marked the first-ever Rome live appearances for two deservedly buzzed-about bands, as shown by the large turnout that on both occasions packed the Circolo degli Artisti with young "indie" kids thrilled by their current idols, alongside older attendees who had lived through, first-hand, the sounds the two bands make no secret of drawing from.

Following a strict chronological order, on the evening of 22 November Wild Nothing translated Jack Tatum's home recordings into the dimension of a proper full band, recordings collected a few months ago on "Gemini", an album that filtered through a discreet melodic streak a concentrate of references ranging from Joy Division to shoegaze. Well, their live performance accentuates the darker traits of those sounds, while not straying from the somewhat homemade, vaguely lo-fi aesthetic that characterizes their debut album. On the visual side, it's rather surprising to see on stage a classic guitar-driven line-up, with two guitars, bass and drums, with the keyboards - which on record played a far more decisive role - bursting in on only a couple of occasions ("Confirmation", "Chinatown"). Sound-wise, on the other hand, the amp settings seem to have been deliberately tuned for an effect somewhere between murky and vintage, though overall it comes across as rather airless, lacking in openness and colourful reverb.

Telling, when it comes to the plurality of references reworked by Wild Nothing, is the murmuring of the audience in the room, at times trying to draw connections to Cure and Jesus & Mary Chain (fair enough, especially given certain bass lines and guitar tones), at other times even venturing into decidedly out-of-place references such as Cocteau Twins. In its own way, that's a decent testament to what the blond, lanky Tatum and his band put on show, even if over the course of their hour-plus set they failed to add any real value to what's already expressed on "Gemini". Even so, tracks like "Summer Holiday", "Chinatown" and the album's own title track, rendered here in an even more dark-wave version, remain a great listen.

A crowd similar in size, and most likely in composition, packed the Circolo again two days later, curious to see Pains Of Being Pure At Heart put to the test, a band that rose to wide popularity with their self-titled 2009 album after a brief apprenticeship built on a handful of excellent singles. Less shy in their stage presence, and evidently far more accustomed to performing live than their counterparts two days earlier, the New York kids led by the duo Kip Berman and Peggy Wang (he in a very British-looking horizontal-striped shirt, she with long hair and a likeable expression enhanced by her Asian features) deliver an intense set lasting barely an hour - encore included - during which they run through almost their entire, still-limited discography without pausing for breath. It kicks off in style with a rip-roaring "This Love Is Fucking Right!", which perfectly fuses jangly, feedback-drenched guitars, tight rhythms and pop melodies harking back to the golden age of Sarah Records and classic British pop songwriting, ante litteram brit-pop, but also to the refined songcraft of Scottish acts past and present: Teenage Fanclub, Pastels, Belle And Sebastian.

It's all wrapped in a full-bodied, upfront sound, brimming with energy but never overstepping its role of supporting songs that always remain, first and foremost, songs. Great songs, in fact, like the many potential singles from their debut album ("Come Saturday", "Stay Alive", "Everything With You"...) and the more recent "Say No To Love" and "Heart In Your Heartbeat". There's also room for an unreleased track, which leaves us with high hopes for the New Yorkers' second album, already announced for March 2011.

Here too, the show is one long string of 80s-90s British echoes, but the fine songwriting and the excellent ability to deliver it live with an energy that engages the audience - keeping their attention locked on the melodies and choruses, singing along and barely able to stand still while keeping the beat - set it apart.

The overall impression, then, is of a band well above the average of the many currently populating the vast indie landscape. Confirmation of the quality of their songs comes with the first song of the encore, when Kip Berman alone returns to the stage with his guitar to perform "Contender" in complete solitude, letting its melodic core shine through even in this stripped-down form. A truly excellent set from a band that rises above any risk of déjà vu with real character, and one that - you can bet on it - has not yet exhausted the upward arc of its trajectory.

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