Think About Life & Light Pollution played Mercury (pics)

by Andrew Frisciano

DOWNLOAD: Light Pollution - Good Feelings (MP3)

Think About Life made a tour stop at Mercury Lounge on Tuesday, April 27th. A few days before that they played an early set at WBAR-B-Q (they had to make a show in Philly later that night), which I missed, so I can't speak to the quality of their performance. But at Mercury Lounge, they were just as amazing as at at the BrooklynVegan/M For Montreal SXSW day party the month before (and at CMJ before that). The disco-inspired jams on last year's Family are catchy and iPod-worthy, but the band is a sumpremely energetic spectacle live. The songs also take a different sheen with new members (since the record) Caila Thompson-Hannant on bass and vocals and drummer Greg Napier, who adds a human touch to the 404-heavy beats. They did a new song, and frontman Martin Cesar dedicated one tune to all the pretty girls of Manhattan.

Light Pollution, from Chicago, opened with effects-driven, shoegazey rock. Their barefoot guitar player tapped away at an array of pedals that swirled under frontman James Cicero's emotive vocals. "Good Feelings" is a good starting point, but not totally representative of their sound, which changes a bit with every song. The onstage banter too was endearingly awkward. They have NYC shows Friday and Saturday too.

More pictures are below...