Fledgling indie supergroup Divine Fits brought their catchy alt-rock act to the Royale on Wednesday night in support of their new album, A Thing Called Divine Fits.
The group, made up of Spoon’s Britt Daniel, Wolf Parade’s Dan Boeckner and the New Bomb Turks’ Sam Brown, seemed to thrive together as a unit, almost as though they had been playing together for years. The effects sounded unique yet clean, the classic “indie rock” sound that exploded onto the scene in the early 2000s. Daniel and Boeckner traded time on the microphone as they ran through their album as well as a few surprise covers, including Tom Petty’s “You Got Lucky” and an expertly crafted rendition of Frank Ocean’s “Lost.”
The act itself was flawless with technically sound, upbeat yet not poppy and entertaining all the way through despite the band only having one album from which to draw. However, many of the tracks played on Wednesday sounded, well, just like Spoon songs. While the songs hold up quite well on their own, they all resemble the style of Spoon rhythmically and lyrically, so much so that I wonder why Britt Daniel felt the need to start an entire new band.
The crowd didn’t seem to possess my consternation. However, indie fans who I could just tell were going home to vinyl collections and bass guitar lesson books knew the words to every single song (barring, of course, the Frank Ocean cover … I was alone on that one). It’s funny though, because when everyone was meandering towards the exit after the show’s conclusion, I heard at least three different people say something along the lines of, “But that’s what’s so great about Spoon!”
A Thing Called Divine Fits is a fun album, and the band puts on a fantastic show, but if they want to step up into the indie big leagues, they’re going to have to find a sound unmarred by their respective past efforts.
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