Mercury Lounge bouncer Eric Payne offered a pretty solid credo for a night on New York City's Lower East Side: "Either you rock, you roll, or you go home." SPIN.com chose the rock and the roll, as did a packed house gathered to see local band Murder Mystery and the Anglo-Icelandic electro-folk-rock quintet Fields. A self-described "Buddy Holly meets Motown" quartet, Murder Mystery's set appeased the natives with the keyboard-driven pop tune, "Love Astronaut," off their upcoming self-titled release.
It was the genre-bending Fields, however, that carried the night, mixing delicate, melancholy lyrics with lead-heavy guitar riffs and washed-out, digital soundscapes on highlights like "Song for the Fields" and "If You Fail, We All Fail," for which the band recently released a video. Frontman Neil Peill introduced the stirring new track "To Death" with a ghost story: He claims to have seen an apparition while recording the song. "I think I'm probably cursed now, and will curse everyone," Peill teased, "so, apologies."
Sitting down with SPIN.com after the show, both Peill and vocalist/keyboardist Thorunn Antonia dished on their debut album, set for a March '07 release. "We actually put blood, sweat, and fucking tears into it," Peill said. And don't you dare pin this group down: "The last thing we want is to be lumped into a scene," Thorunn said. "We'll make our own fucking scene." KATIE HEATH
We asked: Who are you here to see and why? COMMENT
Name: Keith Madden
Age: 21
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
Occupation: Student
"Murder Mystery. My band Favors for Favors played with them at Rothko."
Name: Cara Ochsenreiter
Age: 21
Hometown: New York, NY
Occupation: Student
"Murder Mystery. My friend told me they were really good and I trust his opinion."
Name: Susannah Vila
Age: 21
Hometown: New York, NY
Occupation: Student
"Murder Mystery. I used to live with the drummer. Plus I like their music."
Name: Molly Nadler
Age: 22
Hometown: New York, NY
Occupation: Artist
"Murder Mystery. I really like their music and I'm friends with them."
Name: Mutsumi Saito
Age: 25
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
Occupation: Magazine intern
"Fields. They're very melodic and sensitive."
Name: Shelley Zhao
Age: 22
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
Occupation: Retail manager
"Fields. My friend told me that they have a good live show."
Name: Mark Depace
Age: 22
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
Occupation: Music video producer
"Fields. I've had 'If You Fail, We All Fail' stuck in my head for a week."
Name: Cheyenne Timperio
Age: 25
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
Occupation: Makeup artist
"Fields. I like them. I think they take their music seriously."
Fields' bassist Matty Derham not exiting anytime soon
Fields' Thorunn Antonia
Fields captivate the crowd at Mercury Lounge
