We always have tendencies to stick a label on bands, but what about a label for folk-punk? Both genres seem quite opposite in the mood and the direction but this is nevertheless how Saintseneca’s music is defined. The band from Columbus, Ohio was playing at Amoeba on Tuesday night, just on time for the release of their new album ‘Dark Arc’, and I don’t know how Amoeba always manages to have the bands playing the same day they release an album, but it happens quite often!
The quintet finds its origins in a small Appalachian town, and it shows through their delicate layered soundscapes populated by electric and acoustic instruments – in particular I noticed this tiny triangular guitar with a long neck which could have been a balalaika. But may be the most original element during their performance were these two large wood boxes, on which two of them were standing, as there was a lot of stomping during their songs, and these feet stomping were one of the best things of their performance.
Main singer Zac Little often opened the songs with a nasal voice and acoustic guitar, which reminded me bands such as Austin’s Okkervil River, then they were bringing their four-part-shouting harmonies into play, alternating with some unleashed punk energy, building moody tunes that could go from the most quiet moment to a joyous and out-of-control exuberance. Don’t be mistaken, Saintseneca is no Mumford and Sons, the songs are more complex and never predictable, they run wild all over the music spectrum and these ‘stompy folk songs’ are a genre by themselves. ‘Falling Off’ for example, was like several songs in one, starting like a tempest, then soothing with a twang in its chords, and suddenly exploding à la Win Butler, while having more bangs till the end.
They switched places several times during the show, showing their talents of multi-instrumentalists. They also have adopted the punk DIY ethic, while touring for the release of their album which is released on ANTI, home to Wilco, Tom Waits, and Neko Case, and obviously a great step for this young band. So were they more folk than punk or vice-versa? I can’t tell, all their songs had this boisterous side and this folk sensibility intertwined to their deepest fibers. They had dark, warm and super melodic moments during ‘Upper Cutter’, which managed to mix uplifting and authentic folk parts at once, and I would say that the lyrics would certainly deserve to be paid attention to: ‘If only the good ones die young/I pray for corruption come/swift like a thief in the night’, they sang during ‘Only The Young Die Good’,… ‘Swallow all your chewing gum/ Limp into the setting sun/ I for one will not be sung to sleep’ during ‘Upper Cutter’. Plus there were songs called ‘Blood Bath’ and ‘Happy Alone’, my sort of idealistic life vision or was it some wishful thinking? Saintseneca is definitively not your feel-good band of the day, but they may well be your sharp-creative band of the year, that I would not even dare to label.
Setlist
Acid Rain
Falling Off
Happy Alone
Visions
Upper Cutter
Only The Young Die Good
Blood Bath
For pictures of the show, go here
