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Review: Shearwater at Mohawk
On their latest album, “Rook,” Austin’s Shearwater employs a variety of instruments in service of a sound that is at once comforting and unsettling. The various members of the band expressed this sonic diversity Friday night at the Mohawk, at times with a presence perhaps more appropriate for a concert hall than a chilly Red River patio. Frontman Jonathan Meiburg, bravely sporting short sleeves, rotated between guitar, keyboard and banjo, although his greatest asset was his voice, which, with its old-fashioned, folk-singer bravado, was as powerful an instrument as any on stage.
Complemented by a mostly seamless effort by other members of the band, including veteran drummer Thor Harris and Kimberley Burke on cello, bass and glockenspiel, Meiburg’s vocals ranged from quiet foreboding to driving force. On “Rooks,” from the new album, Meiburg sang of an end time foretold by the death of birds; his voice, with an accompanying trumpet, turned an otherwise disturbing song into a beautiful dirge. “Century Eyes,” also from “Rook,” was equal parts sea shanty and Springsteen’s “State Trooper,” with Meiburg offering up an animal yelp at the end of the song.
Harris’ drumming was notable for his attention to detail. Subtleties such as a miniature cymbal attached to a drumstick and tied to the back of his bass drum added another layer to already complex music. Similarly, Burke used the bow from her cello on the glockenspiel to create an underlying ambiance that many bands would probably acheive using a laptop.
Last year, Meiburg talked with Statesman music writer Joe Gross about the end of the world as it related to his writing; Shearwater is certainly dark music for dark times, but it’s a very appealing darkness.
author=Peter Mongillo
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