January 27, 2005 -

Headliner: The Soundtrack of Our Lives
Opening Act: Inouk
When: 9:00 P.M. Tuesday January 25th 2005
Where: The Independent, 628 Divisadero Street, San Francisco, CA
Ticket Prices: $16.50

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If you aren't familiar with The Soundtrack of Our Lives, then you should be somewhat ashamed of yourself. While the garage-styled theatrics of The Hives tends to dominate the world's perception of Swedish rock, TSOOL have quietly been building a rabid following since the domestic release of their third album Behind The Music back in 2002. Thanks to epic songwriting and a genuine arena rock presence, the 6-piece combo puts on a rather enthralling live show. I should know, I've seen 'em three times over the past three years.

Now I'll be frank and let you know that I've been operating on the DL for the past several months, completely abstaining from live shows, mostly because there haven't been that many acts swinging through town that have lit a fire under my belly. However, when I saw that TSOOL was coming to the fairly recently renovated venue within walking distance of my house and that one of my favorite new bands of 2004, Inouk, were opening, I decided to throw my concert going abstinence to the wind, shove some ear plugs into the old aural receptors, and enjoy some loud, rocking tunes and a cold beer or two.

After scoring a pair of tickets, I hollered at my neighbor Mark and enlisted him to tag along for the evening. Since I was providing the tix (thanks to the label) he was responsible for the beverages. Nice trade-off, huh? At any rate, we sauntered over to the club around 9 P.M., scoped out the scene, grabbed a couple of cold ones, and staked out our space. By 9:30 Inouk had taken the stage, unleashing their 3-guitar ambiance on a surprisingly packed house (usually clubs don't start filling up until the headliner is on, especially on a Tuesday, a rainy Tuesday night at that).

-Spence D. Inouk getting in tune.

I wish I could say that Inouk blew me away (their debut album certainly did), but for some strange reason the band live sounded way too crisp and clean, almost overproduced. Their album resonated with me so strongly because it had a nice underpinning of grit and raw, unfiltered umph! to it. Brothers Damon and Alexander McMahon provide the centerpiece of the quintet; one warbles, the other flaunts a hairdo straight out of the Flock of Seagulls salon. Add to that a bald bassist and a drummer who looked like Chuck Mangione and they were a sight to behold. They told humorous stories in-between performing the songs from their recent release. Said stories ranged from tales about how they had eaten tacos at one of the venerable Mexican joints in The Mission district of the city to getting stuck in the raging storm that has eclipsed the East Coast and Central parts of the U.S. And while the bulk of their set was just a tad to squeaky clean sounding, they did manage to deliver some haunting twang and vintage indie rock jangle, not to mention a few shifts of jam based skirl in their roughly 45-minute set.

TSOOL took the stage roughly 15 minutes later, with frontman Ebbot Lundberg decked out in his familiar shamanistic Viking robe. They started off with a new tune entitled "Believe I've Found," which unfolded with a craggy, dusted rock sound that seemed more in tune with the desert expanses of the Midwest than the frigid environs of Sweden. The augmentation of "doo-doo-doo-doo's" shifted the structure of the song, turning it into a strange windswept doo-wop configuration. Lundberg's voice sounded a bit thrashed on this first song, but he