You and I are on the outside of almost everything

Tuesday morning a co-worker turns to me and says, “Do you like the Dears?”

“I love the Dears,” I say.

“‘Cuz my friend won tickets from the Edge but can’t go, and I can’t go, and we don’t know anyone else who’d want them.”

Gaaaahhhhhh.

So I had the remarkable good fortune to catch the Dears at an exclusive concert at the Mod Club last night. If you didn't know they were in town, don't worry; they'll be playing Lee’s Palace for two nights in November -- two nights when I’ll be in NYC. Needless to say, I was very, very happy to get these tickets, and happier still to not have to go to Lee’s Palace.

The Dears have such a rich, intense, powerful sound, and live they are a powerhouse. They wisely sandwiched favourites from No Cities Left with new material from Gang of Losers; the audience was less familiar with the latter, being new, but still got into it because compared to the brooding No Cities Left, Gang of Losers is practically gregarious. No Cities Left is the kind of album you listen to alone in a darkened room with a glass of single-malt scotch. Gang of Losers is the same, but this time you want to bring a friend and split the bottle between you. And maybe play air guitar and sing along to the “Doo doo doo” parts of “Ticket to Immortality”.

The rawk-brood ratio of No Cities Left was 30/70; now it’s reversed at 70/30. Depending on what you like best (rawking out or navel-gazing), you will either think Gang of Losers is an evolution, or not as good as its predecessors. Me, I prefer to rawk. But I like Murray Lightburn’s brooding, so I like the Dears’ earlier stuff more even though they’re still a really good band.

The Dears website
The Dears on MySpace
The Dears on NMC (You can hear a lot of No Cities Left here.)
"Ticket to Immortality" on YouTube