Kansas City Music Blog

REVIEW BY IAN HRABE

I distinctly remember seeing Pedro the Lion CDs at the Christian bookstore in Olathe when I was a kid. My grandma used to take us there. I thought it was a cool band name, though I had no interest in music at the time.

illustration by Ian Hrabe

​Ten or so years later, finding David Bazan's latest release, Curse Your Branches, at a Christian bookstore might constitute blasphemy. Though his music and style have remained quite similar, lyrically Bazan has gone from folding his faith and beliefs into his music to having a serious bone to pick with God. And Branches is his best, most vital sounding release since 2002's Control.

Despite this self-inflicted fall from grace, he hasn't lost any fans. If anything, he's gained some, given that Friday's show at the Jackpot was packed arm to arm: a sea of flannel and beards as far as the eye could see.

The opener, Seattle's Say Hi (née Say Hi To Your Mom), played some really decent, catchy indie-rock. Their songs ran on a little long and had a tendency to repeat choruses over and over again, but the hooks were good enough to keep the songs from getting too stale. The bassist and singer/guitarist also played in Bazan's band of hired hands, contributing to the overall beardiness of the backing band.

I bring up beards because Bazan plays what I like to call "beard rock." Though Bazan is one of the originators of this genre, it has recently gained more exposure with bands like Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, and Iron & Wine. The music typically has a folky tinge to it and is preferred among singer-songwriters. Their voices are warm like the whiskey they drink and there is a road-weary and weathered quality to the music. If a majority of the band has beards, it is beard rock. And tonight, every single person on stage had a beard. Hence, a night of beard rock was at hand!

Ian Hrabe

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When Bazan and his band took the stage and laid into Curse Your Branches' opening track, the excellent "Hard to Be," I wondered why he has decided to perform under his given name. A friend noted that he might as well have called it "Not-Pedro the Lion," as nothing about the music has really changed. There are more synthesizers -- no doubt carried over from his mostly electronic Headphones side project -- and they are seamlessly integrated into the songs, but other than that Bazan is still singing about the things he always has: God, family, alcohol, sex, and betrayal. Basically everything all good songs are about. Only this time God is painted with myth rather than faith.

I'd seen Bazan solo twice before, and even with a full band behind him, he still plays like a solo artist. He fielded questions from the audience during breaks, which is funny and awkward, and he managed to carry over the intimate vibe you get when it's just a guy with a guitar on stage. Despite being seemingly thrown together, the backing band had their shit together; on top of replicating the songs from Curse Your Branches to a tee, they also fleshed out tunes from the Pedro the Lion albums Control and Achilles Heel with precision.

The highpoint of the night was "Lost My Shape." It's the song where Bazan blatantly makes an effort to cut his ties from what he believes Pedro the Lion to be. You used to feel like the prodigal returning/ But now you hate what you've made and you want to watch it burn, he sang.

Listening to someone sing about their faith or lack thereof is always going to be less interesting than someone stuck in the middle, as Bazan appears to be. Curse Your Branches is effectively a Dear John letter to God, and watching someone who was a rather high-profile figure on the Christian music scene play some sort of anti-prophet on stage is...well, cool.

For someone who doesn't believe in anything, Bazan sure sings agnosticism with a lot of conviction.

Set List
Hard to Be
Please Baby Please
I Do (Pedro the Lion)
Bless This Mess
I Never Wanted You (Headphones)
Magazine (Pedro the Lion)
Heavy Breath
Cold Beer and Cigarettes
When We Fell
Lost My Shape
Curse Your Branches
Fewer Moving Parts
Bearing Witness
Keep Swinging (Pedro the Lion)
How I Remember
In Stitches