Terraplane Sun has a Monday residency at the Satellite in July, and every time I see one of these young bands entertaining my free-admission-Monday-nights, I am amazed by the confidence, the stage presence, and simply the talent of all of them. Last night, Terraplane Sun rocked the place out, no doubt about this, with a raw and earthy rock-bluesy sound and a lot of soul in the vocals.
Like a few bands I have seen lately, and this is refreshing in a way, the 5-piece band used real instruments, and a lot of them, some unusual for a rock band like a mandolin and a trombone, but managed to incorporate all this into vibrant and powerful songs. They are from Venice, California, and images of the famous beach were accompanying their performance on a screen, however I had more southern-rock than beach-surf-rock visions when listening to them. From Venice, they probably had that sort of free spirit and laid back attitude, while the singer had a touch of Jim Morrison’s presence – and I found later they actually played at Jim Morrison’s house on the Venice Beach Boardwalk last year, so that was almost too perfect.
Frontman Ben Rothbard thanked the crowd who was out on a Monday night ‘with a weekend attitude’, as he said, and effectively, everyone was having a good time, dancing and shaking their behind. Rothbard’s high-pitch nasal and bold vocals were actually bringing more personality to their foot-tapping and catchy music; while rolling back his eyes in a trance-like attitude, he was singing with a-tad-aloof-but-powerful voice, which was a strong addition to their mix of folk, swampy bluegrass and abrasive rock, even going devilishly country,… they did a cover of Wanda Jackson’s ‘Funnel of Love’, a song which did fit Rothbard’s range quite well, adding a wobbling organ, some clapping, a tambourine and ending in a gospel-ish-druggy-trance number. They also did a psychedelic-trombone-included cover of Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’, adding more soul to the famous tune in ways Jack White could only have hoped for.
So with that range, they are headed for success, many of their songs have already been featured in Showtime series, FX and A&E shows, they have released a second album ‘Coyote’ in January 2011, and have secured a spot at the upcoming Sunset Strip Music Festival. Leaving the club, I thought that this is the kind of band people would have followed on tour circa 1973, during the golden age rock’ n’ roll.