Siren Music Fest 2009: The Raveonettes are all the rave, Grand Duchy models swimsuits, and Frightened Rabbit shows no fear on the main stage

July 18, 2009, at Coney Island

By Eleanor Whitney
Published: July 22nd, 2009 | 12:40am

In nine years, the Village Voice’s Siren Music Festival — a one-day indie rock celebration held at Coney Island — has earned the reputation of being one big swelter and shove fest. This year was no different, though the crowds were thinner and the lineup less star-studded than in years past. However, Siren Fest did not disappoint in providing hip Brooklynites with free summer rock at America’s most storied seaside playground. Despite New Yorkers’ fears of losing the Coney Island they know and love to looming redevelopment plans, Siren Festival proved the attraction is still alive and kicking — and that the salty, gritty environs are essential to the festival’s appeal.

Things got started on the Main Stage with Micachu & the Shapes who used a clangy, detuned toy guitar with angular stops, starts, bleeps, and yelps that recalled early ‘80s songstresses Y Pants. The groups’ percussion-heavy feel went well with the clatter of the Cyclone roller coaster in the background. Despite bringing up the groove a little for “Just In Case,” singer Mica Levi was reserved throughout the set to the point of lacking charisma. Though she drolly explained the song “Guts” with, “This is a slow, quiet one about being a gang which I have no experience with, really,” she was not endearing enough to bring higher energy to her music.

On the Stillwell Stage, Brooklyn’s Bear Hands brought enthusiasm as well as a large group of their friends onstage. “They’re gonna give you a gift. Put your hands out to receive it,” they said. The gift was the group wandering about the stage and shouting an inexplicable cover of Das Racist’s “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.” Fortunately, soon after, Bear Hands returned to quirky, mellow indie rock and closed their set with “Long Nails,” which drew enthusiastic head nodding from the surprisingly sparse crowd.

Thee Oh Sees quickly followed on the Stillwell Stage and blasted through a 20-minute set heavily influenced by psychadelia and psychobilly. While the band paid homage to a hippied-out past by shaking bells and tambourines, they went one hundred percent for the audience’s jugular veins.

John Dwyer, the lead singer and guitarist, was a parade of rock antics as he tried to ingest the microphone; stood with his back to the audience and flipped them off with both hands while holding up his guitar by its neck with his teeth; and taunted listeners with commentary such as “This one’s an oldie. You won’t know it, but dig it. Get a hot dog.” Inexplicably, he was also drooling the entire set, which detracted from Thee Oh Sees’ persistent, infectious groove and superbly reverb vocals.

It was then time to run back to the Main Stage, pausing on the way to fill up on abundant, greasy food. However, there was no time to linger on the boardwalk because Scotland’s Frightened Rabbit were about to come on. Less twee than their name suggests, the brothers hid their Scottishness behind dark glasses and treated listeners to one of Siren Fest’s most solid sets of good-old indie rock fun — not unlike the title of their song “Old, Old Fashioned,” to which lead singer Scott John Hutchinson remarked, “That’s kind of a code word for Coney Island, isn’t it?”

Throughout Frightened Rabbit’s set of punchy drumbeats and strummy guitars, Coney’s leisurely spinning Wonder Wheel attraction acted as a perfect backdrop. Songs like “I Feel Better” hinted at heartbreak, redemption, and rainy nights followed by sunny days. At the end of their set, the band casually dropped their instruments and headed offstage, perhaps to the beach.

Grand Duchy, which features Black Francis and his wife Violet Clark, took the stage next among a soundscape of sweeping, ambient noise. Despite the blazing afternoon heat, Violet was wearing a black blazer over a vintage-styled bathing suit. “How many of you are wearing your swimsuits today?” she asked.

While Francis brought his signature raspy voice and rocknroll swagger, the attention clearly was on Violet as she pranced around stage with a headless bass and sung with a power voice perfect for rocknroll. Despite their solid performance and songs such as “Fort Wayne,” which reportedly have lit up the Internet, the crowd displayed far less enthusiasm than they did for Frightened Rabbit before.

Instead of swimsuits the Raveonettes brought an aloof cool to the sweltering day. Sharin Foo wore a black, sculptural dress that set off her bleach blonde hair. In contrast, Sune Rose Wagner wore all white, which matched perfectly with their song “Black and White.” Though the Raveonettes may be done with limiting themselves to only writing songs in B flat, the duo continues to mine perfect pop territory and created an energetic, noisy, danceable wall of sound. By this time, the crowd at the Main Stage had finally grown and stretched back past the Cyclone ride towards Surf Avenue.

After giving my feet a rest on the beach and cooling them in the waves, I ran over to the Stillwell Stage to catch the temporary insanity of Monotonix. The highlight, and trademark, of their set was when the drummer, guitarist, and singer all ventured into the audience mid-song. The crowd held them and their instruments aloft while the trio managed to coherently bang out their loud, catchy rock.

By the time I made it back to the Main Stage for headliners Built to Spill, the sun was beginning to sink low and the lights on top of the Cyclone were illuminated. The band looked like scruffy mountain men from the Pacific Northwest and singer Doug Martsch particularly resembled how one’s Dad might look if he decided to casually play indie rock.

Indeed, Built to Spill showed that you don’t need to be a hipster to play Siren Fest and have people love you for it. It was clear that the crowd, most of whom were barely in the double digits when Build to Spill’s famous singles collection “The Normal Years” came out, were there for them and greeted each song and guitar solo enthusiastically. Built to Spill were refreshingly unpretentious after a lineup of bands that cater to a niche audience. Fans clapped and sang along while the band, known for their epic guitar solos, played a tight and satisfying set of treble-filled, crunchy indie rock at its best. Bathed in a salty evening breeze, it was the perfect end to a sonically satisfying day.

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For more photos from Siren Music Fest, visit Venus Zine’s Flickr page