An Horse & Telekinesis @ Kung Fu Necktie, June 16

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An Horse & Telekinesis @ Kung Fu Necktie, June 16

POSTED: Wednesday, June 17, 2009, 4:21 PM

It was an old-school indie rock kinda night at KFN. Seattle four-piece Telekinesis, playing second in a not-clearly denoted co-headlining gig with An Horse (I'd expected them to play last), evoked a very certain type of classic indie rock ' the kind with hard-hitting drums, understatedly dueling guitars, a shy and comely female bassist withdrawing behind bangs, and a stage presence that involved, well, a lot of pondering one's pedal rig. Granted, it's tough to be all that animated when the frontman, Michael Benjamin Lerner, is also the drummer. Of course, when your band's named Telekinesis, there's an expectation of mind over matter. And what the band ' rounded out by guitarists Chris Staples and David Broecker and bassist Jonie Broecker ' lacked in kinetics they made up for in charm. "We're thinking of changing our name to Phillykinesis," joked Lerner coyly from behind his kit before giving props to the South Philly Tap Room, the staff of which was well-represented in the crowd.

The band played energetic renditions of the tracks on its Telekinesis! (Merge, available in full-song streams for a limited time), closing with crowd-favorite "Coast of Carolina" and threw in a cover of The Kinks' "A House in the Country" for good measure.

An Horse, drums and guitar duo from Brisbane, Australia, played to a slightly thinner crowd but delivered a frenetic set that recalled '90s indie rock heroes The Spinanes. Kate Cooper on guitar and vocals and Damon Cox on drums and vocals filled the room and then some; their songs teeter on the verge of samey on record but are blistering and blustery live. The duo's set was punctuated with blasts of confetti which provided nice flourishes for a show that felt very much like a party.

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