For those familiar with Grouplove and Childish Gambino, NBN has a quick review guide to freshen up your musical knowledge. And if you have no clue who the acts are, treat this guide as a cheat sheet with everything you need to know. So you have no excuse for being the clueless doofus in the crowd.
Grouplove by Ryan Lammers:
Evanston will be feeling the love not once, but twice this week when Grouplove brings their Seesaw Tour supporting their latest album, Spreading Rumours, first to music venue SPACE and then to Northwestern the following day for Blowout. The group broke on to the scene in late 2010 with their single “Colours” from their debut Never Trust a Happy Song, which also featured hits such as “Tongue Tied” and “Itchin’ on a Photograph.”
Their sophomore effort, Spreading Rumours, was released last month and continues to display Grouplove’s musical prowess and ability to write glorious, sun-soaked hooks that will keep you humming for days. They have a very distinct sound with lead vocalists Christian Zucconi and Hannah Hooper layering their voices and playing off of each other, along with beats and melodies perfect for “cruising down the highway with [your] friends – top down,” as the band members themselves describe in “Naked Kids.” Their albums recall a more rocked up version of a few friends on a California beach playing some acoustic guitars, banging on a cooler and belting out some spontaneous harmonies.
So what can we expect from Grouplove as they bring their unique brand of sunny California, peace-and-love minded indie rock to Evanston? The night is going to be incredibly high energy, as Grouplove is one of the hardest working and best live acts out there today. They know how to work the stage and their palpable energy spreads like wildfire. With excellent audience rapport, they always play an incredibly connectable show. Their set will likely contain a good mix of material from their debut and the new record, so expect all your old jamz as well as the stuff that will soon become your new favorites.
Whereas Thursday’s show at SPACE will be very personal and intimate due to the venue’s 250 person capacity, Friday night’s performance at A&O’s annual Blowout concert will be an arena-sized California beach bonfire jam session. With an audience of several thousand people, Grouplove is sure to erupt with so much energy bouncing off the walls of Welsh-Ryan they might not even know what to do with it. Zucconi and Hooper will weave their voices in and around each other and wail on some incredible high notes, electric guitars will blare, synthesizers will buzz through the rafters, drums will pound and echo and bass will tightly keep the glorious cacophony together. Grouplove is a band with the power, stage presence and infectious musical joy to work an arena-sized crowd, so expect them to do just that Friday night.
Evanston is very lucky to play to host this incredible band twice in one week, and if you don’t take this advantage to see one of the best, most high energy, and downright fun live bands around today, you will be seriously missing out. Grouplove is not a band to miss.
Childish Gambino by Aliza Abarbanel:
Childish Gambino is a rapper for the Tumblr generation. He layers his self-produced beats with pithy one-liners that seem destined for GIFs of lyrics and microphones. He raps about social media, mentioning the art of maintaining a Tumblr and declaring, “I like it when you tweet me.” His words come fast, lines tumbling out through his microphone in a flow designed for a generation used to communication in 140 characters or less. As a comedy writer and actor on shows like 30 Rock and Community, he goes by Donald Glover, but onstage he's Childish Gambino and his musical talents are as diverse as his résumé.
The young musician presents himself as a nerdy cool rapper trying to fit in while simultaneously taking down imaginary critics. His music samples Grizzly Bear, Kanye West and the Streets of Rage 2 video game soundtrack. This diversity reflects his own tastes, because Childish Gambino often produces his own music. What’s more is this unique mix of eclectic references isn’t confined to his beats alone.
He raps about relationships gone wrong and his struggles with self-identity. Like most rap stars, Childish Gambino isn’t immune to the trope of boasting about sexual prowess and swag, but his metaphors include references to popular TV shows like Big Bang Theory, Eggo waffles and Gmail. And instead of producing an odd collection of music that doesn’t blend together, he uses his witty lyrics to effortlessly flit from topic to topic. His music can be both boastful and thoughtful, but who says those emotions are self-exclusive? Childish Gambino proves that you don’t have to be one kind of rapper, or even one kind of rap fan.
It can seem like Childish Gambino is trying to use his albums as a scrapbook for his own life, cataloging girls he missed out on and childhood insults. And while this self-deprecation can sometimes sound whiny, it’s always heartfelt.
Emotions shine through each track. Even if Childish Gambino is a self-created persona, he means every word. Sentiments and sentences are delivered with a timing and emphasis that clearly stems from his comedic background, but the words themselves originate from all his past experiences.
Sometimes however, Childish Gambino just wants to have a good time, and he’s back to his swaggering, pop culture fanboy self. And who can blame him? Even as stressed out Northwestern students, on Friday night we’re all going to want a good time, and that’s when the chanting for Childish Gambino starts.