Several months ago, NPR’s popular music-based podcast, All Songs Considered, aired an episode themed “Bands That Should Be Bigger.” The first artist featured on the episode was Telekinesis, whose music co-host Robin Hilton described as “perfect pop.”The man responsible for this “perfect pop” is Michael Benjamin Lerner, whose third album, Dormarion, displays percussion-driven tunes with nostalgic lyricism and explosive transitions. In support of Dormarion, Telekinesis has been on the road for the past month, and on Wednesday, Lerner and his band made an appearance at Lincoln Hall.
Telekinesis was supported by fellow Seattleites, Deep Sea Diver, the latest musical project from Jessica Dobson, known for her work as a member of The Shins ever since the band’s lineup rearrangement before 2012’s Port of Morrow. Although Dobson’s work with The Shins best exemplifies her talent as a guitarist, her role in Deep Sea Diver demonstrates her abilities as a songwriter and a frontwoman. While a number of Deep Sea Diver’s songs involved Dobson playing her usual Fender Jaguar, others featured appearances on the keyboards, creating a sound reminiscent of Beach House’s synthesizer and vocal pairings.
After a set of material from their debut album, History Speaks, Deep Sea Diver handed the stage over to Lerner and his band composed of Say Hi’s Eric Elbogen on bass, The Globes’ Erik Walters on guitar, and Wild Flag’s Rebecca Cole on the keyboards. The supergroup’s interpretation of Telekinesis’ material resulted in unique renditions of certain songs, most notably through Walters’ crafty guitar riffs on tracks like “Dirty Thing.”
Posts
