Review: Ceremony | The L-Shaped Man

In the beginning, "Ceremony" was a song. In fact, as this reviewer is wont to say, it was the best song. At least, it is the greatest of the original post-punk era. Written in the blinking twilight of the '70s or first glimmer of the '80s by the legendary Joy Division, the tune survived the tragic and infamous death of the band's fronter Ian Curtis and was eventually recorded by New Order; it became a live set and compilation staple for the remainder of that band's long-running career (not to mention bassist Peter Hook's present-day, competing enterprise). "Ceremony" has been reverently covered by countless acts including Galaxie 500, Xiu Xiu, The Chromatics and even Radiohead. It was used in an iconic scene of Sofia Coppola’s 2006 film "Marie Antoinette" and has been extensively analyzed by critical rags including The Onion AV Club. And so "Ceremony" has become a populist anthem of sorts for a certain alternative set. Using just minimal rock elements, the song unlocks a mystical alchemy that transcends a somewhat awkward performance and elevates the recording to something epic and monumental – a magnificent Doric marble column, wearily standing in the name of both the disappointment and optimism of youth.

Since then -- and underscoring the aforementioned song's alterna-populist appeal -- Ceremony has become the name of a bunch of bands, and likely the most punk among these operates out of Rohnert Park, Calif. The outfit emerged as a "brutal" hardcore unit that released three albums and several EPs on Bridge 9 Records. It began incorporating subtle garage and indie rock influences into its sound by the time of their 2012 Matador Records debut Zoo, and its latest and fifth album The L-Shaped Man continues to cleverly subvert Ceremony's punk foundation –- likely to the chagrin of some longtime fans -– while at the same time offering a fresh leaf and the fulfillment of a prophecy. Over the course of its 11 tracks, the band explores and inhabits the intricacies of its namesake and celebrates that tune's heavy emotional and historical grandeur. The music on The L-Shaped Man also deftly integrates elements of style from acts including Section 25, The Names and Siouxsie and The Banshees), while never seeming to directly rip off specific compositional touches.

Ceremony's approach -- clean and spindly guitar notes, thick and simple bass, steady, martial drums -- is tried and true within post-punk, but the group's economical, punk chops empower it to forge a collection of uncharacteristically honest songs. Brief opener "Hibernation" holds a steady pattern of four piano notes, which create an icy, barren atmosphere from which the ensuing, uptempo numbers are launched. The tune is a bold declaration that this is not the same band of even Zoo. Fourth track "Your Life In France" is the album's first true stunner; its back-and-forth guitar lines echo New Order guitarist Bernard Sumner's beautiful six-string showcase in the middle of "Ceremony," all quick simplicity and the occasional sour note that dance around the bass guitar.

More importantly, Ceremony wisely puts its best song square in the middle of the half-hour record, creating a wonderful centerpiece that ties myriad subtle ideas together. "The Separation" weds the catchy, double-tracked guitar lines of "Your Life In France" to anthemic piano and the band's best chorus -- bringing to mind that narrow, magical window where punk first transitioned into romantic New Wave melodicism. "Can you measure it? / Can you measure the loss?," fronter Ross Farrar -- whose desperate monotone sounds very much like that of Ian Curtis -- pleads again and again as the slow-burning intensity of the instruments figuratively huddle around him. Perhaps some credit should go to John Reis (of Drive Like Jehu, Rocket from the Crypt and Hot Snakes), whose production lends the collection a very present, live and upfront feel, in part through emphasis on the rougher edges of the vocals, which reveal the album as something a little more lived in. The L-Shaped Man arrived last week on CD, seafoam green vinyl and as a digital download courtesy of Matador, and you can order the striking set right here. Ceremony will be on the road for much of the summer, and the tour dates as we presently understand them are listed below the unnecessarily long Spotify embed below. -- Edward Charlton

Ceremony: Facebook | Internerds



06.12 -- Cellar Door -- Visalia, CA
06.13 -- Legend Records -- San Diego, CA
06.14 -- The Rebel Lounge -- Phoenix, AZ
06.15 -- Club Congress -- Tucson, AZ
06.16 -- Tricky Falls -- El Paso, TX
06.17 -- Red 7 -- Austin, TX
06.18 -- Sons of Hermann -- Dallas, TX
06.19 -- Walters -- Houston, TX
06.20 -- One Eyed Jacks -- New Orleans, LA
06.21 -- The Atlantic -- Gainsville, FL
06.22 -- Epic Problem -- Tampa, FL
06.23 -- The Social -- Orlando, FL
06.24 -- Drunken Unicorn -- Atlanta, GA
06.25 -- Kings -- Raleigh, NC
06.26 -- Rock & Roll Hotel -- Washington, D.C.
06.27 -- Union Transfer -- Philadelphia, PA
06.28 -- Cuisine en Locale -- Somerville, MA
06.29 -- The Space -- Hamden, CT
07.01 -- Bowery Ballroom -- New York, NY
07.03 -- La Sala Rossa -- Montreal QC, Canada
07.04 -- The Garrison -- Toronto ON, Canada
07.05 -- Mohawk Place -- Buffalo, NY
07.06 -- Now That's Class -- Cleveland, OH
07.07 -- Marble -- Detroit, MI
07.08 -- Lincoln Hall -- Chicago, IL
07.09 -- The Frequency -- Madison, WI
07.10 -- 7th Street Entry -- Minneapolis, MN
07.11 -- Sweatshop Gallery -- Omaha, NE
07.12 -- Moon Room -- Denver, CO
07.13 -- Kilby Court -- Salt Lake City, UT
07.14 -- The Shredder -- Boise, ID
07.15 -- Neumo's -- Seattle, WA
07.16 -- Analog Café -- Portland, OR
08.08 -- Visions Festival -- London, UK

Today's Hotness: Hockey Night, The Cure, Mission Of Burma

>> Late word here this afternoon from More Cowbell is that Minneapolis-based indie rockers Hockey Night have broken up. Citing a post at Daytrotter, the blog reports that two members, guitar players Paul Sprangers and Scott Wells will continue working together on a new project that has already been signed to an imprint operated by those DFA Records/LCD Sound System fellows. There's more information at the link above. Hopefully, you've already heard Hockey Night's irresistable rocker "For Guys Eyes Only;" if not you can stream it over at the erstwhile band's MySpace hut here. The band also recorded a Daytrotter session including the song that you can check out right here.

>> We find it inconceivable that some may not read Boing Boing daily, nay, hourly, but in case you don't, or in case you didn't read today, the venerable web outlet posted here links to vintage videos of punk legends, including Boston-based luminaries, performing live. The quality of the clips we viewed is excellent. Definitely check out this clip of The Cure performing "Secrets" (as a quartet) at The Underground in 1980; Mission Of Burma performs "Peking Spring" at The Space in 1979 here. The Burma clip was included at least in part in the recent Burma documentary "Not A Photograph" (which we reviewed here in December). Anyway, click around, there's also a bunch of other videos not filmed in Boston by bands including Buzzcocks, Siouxsie And The Banshees, The Clash and The Specials. [UPDATE: we heard from KinoDV.net proprietor JC and it turns out that Buzzcocks clip was filmed in Boston, at the Bradford Hotel in 1980. La Peste opened the show and JC directed the shoot himself.]

>> Why don't we just turn this into a TV party tonight? Freakscene here today pointed to two vintage Dinosaur Jr. clips recorded in 1988 at Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ, "back before the 'jr' was tacked on," as the poster quips. Here's a link to "Kracked," and here's a link to "Does It Float?" The sound quality is great and Murph has tons of hair. So wild.

>> Some programming notes: we'll be at the Fields/Blonde Redhead show tomorrow, and then Thursday we see the documentary "Zidane," which is soundtracked by Scottish post-rock dynamos Mogwai. We'll be back early in the weekend with a review of the Fields/Blonde Redhead joint -- since we pleaded with them to come to Boston in our review of their 7 From The Village EP, we feel a bit duty bound to show up. And you can stream all of Fields' forthcoming record Everything Last Winter here -- we're hoping hearing its track performed live will get us more excited about the record than we are since streaming it yesterday ourselves. Incidentally, we did see Ted Leo And The Pharmacists last Friday, but we took the show off from a journalism perspective. We hit the show with KoomDogg, however, and he briefly runs down the wildly entertaining proceedings in this blog post.