Sound Advice: Sexy-cheesy, cool

Barcelona, Seattle, Sacramento: You’d think a concert would be a safe haven from arena talk, but the members of Barcelona had other ideas.

The Seattle-based trio played at Assembly Music Hall on Friday night, and frontman Brian Fennell actually joked about his longing for the Seattle SuperSonics, a.k.a. the Sacramento Kings, if the NBA voted to move the team up north last year.

No one laughed.

Fennell would have been better off telling a story from the last time he was in Sacramento—pre-iPhone days. The band desperately wanted In-N-Out Burger, and someone’s BlackBerry directed them toward a bail-bond company with a similar name instead.

But it was hard not to like the guys in Barcelona, who seemed so earnest and happy playing their new, R&B-tinged electro. This is a band that was once dubbed Seattle’s Coldplay, as it was known for emotional, piano-driven indie rock.

Barcelona dropped three EPs earlier this year, Love Me, Love You and Know Love, which form a cohesive narrative about, you guessed it, love. The band moves from manic to smooth to a more balanced sound, modeled after the ebb and flow of a relationship. Soundscapes are equal parts sexy and cheesy.

“We wanted to do something more tongue-in-cheek, less serious and stop trying so hard,” Fennell said in an interview with SN&R.

That comment applies to Barcelona’s new direction in general. Fennell said the band got tired of its most recent full-length album, with its raw, live nature, before it even came out. They wanted to try out the sounds that they were actually listening to. Now, Fennell doesn’t play piano at all.

It was difficult to tell how many folks in the audience came out for the new Barcelona, compared to how many were hoping to catch the old version. But when the band played one of its synth-less hits, the whole front row swayed together, mouthing every word.

UC Davis nostalgia: Warehouse shows give off this unbeatable sense of cool. It feels like you’re in on a secret, even though you’re not. I certainly felt in on a secret Saturday night at Third Space, located among the warehouses on Olive Drive in Davis. With two hometown heroes on the bill, it created nostalgia for a Davis of just a few years ago.

One of those heroes was Poppet, the alter ego of Molly Raney. She used to frequent house shows presented by student-run radio station KDVS. But then she finished her degree in 2010, and zipped up to Washington before returning to the area last year. Her shows are true performances, with operatic singing complemented by dramatic costumes and interpretive dance. On this evening, she walked out in stiff, flashy, kimonoesque pants, a leotard and a black scarf covering her face. The room was captivated, and then she proceeded to create a full, futuristic electro-pop sound with a keyboard and live looping.

Pro tip: She’s currently scheduled to play a KDVS fundraiser at Witch Room (1815 19th Street) on Thursday, April 24. It’s hard to imagine a better venue for Poppet’s antics.

Be Calm Honcho closed the show with a set that walked the line between cute, lighthearted pop and bluesy rock ’n’ roll. It’s an impressive line to walk.

Frontwoman Shannon Harney lit up the room with her exuberant personality—and her neon-pink tights and shiny silver boots. In the middle of songs about the beach, sun, ocean and all things California lovin’—a bit of “West Coast masturbation,” as she called it—Harney spoke of her time at UC Davis as an undergrad and resident of the Domes, the on-campus, co-op community of dome structures. She waved to the familiar faces in the crowd and retold stories of way back when. Even though she lives in San Francisco now, she seems to keep finding excuses to come back to Davis.

Davis apparently has a strange, potent hold on its former students. Like me. Shit. How did I even end up in this warehouse?

Pro tip, part two: Picnic Day’s 100th anniversary takes place on Saturday, April 12, which means the region is going to receive hoards of alumni longing for the glory days. A few favorite local bands are scheduled to play on that lush, green quad, including the experimental indie stylings of Sunmonks and the high energy of Whiskey Business, along with all of UC Davis’ talented a cappella groups. Be safe, and cheers.