Spoon + Wolf Parade + New Bomb Turks = Divine Fits. That is a pretty impressive equation; so many rock and roll kids were simply dying to find out how it was going to sound. Britt Daniel of Spoon (who also produced the last White Rabbits record) tends to play a sexy brand of indie rock with clever lyrics, while Dan Boeckner of Wolf Parade is known for a more quirky style of pop that became prevalent on college radio in the ‘00s. Throw in Sam Brown of the New Bomb Turks, a group renowned for rowdy rock and roll, and nobody could really get a grip on what we would get. Divine Fits played a series of shows throughout Los Angeles in August, giving people a taste of their debut album, A Thing Called Divine Fits. The Bootleg set opened with Daniel’s “Flaggin’ A Ride,” groovy in just the way Spoon fans would expect and warming the audience up immediately. Keeping the pace, they did their runaway single, “Would That Not Be Nice,” still a fun and accessible tune, before they got a bit more progressive and jammy with other tracks. Boeckner also shared vocal time on stage, and his “My Love Is Real” definitely hints at the pop oddness that was Wolf Parade, but not in a way that gets too distracting. Think Modest Mouse on a non-aggressive day. The pairing with Daniel gives it a smoothness not heard before, while Daniel’s work gets a little more edge. Toss in the rawness of Brown and you get more punch, and even a rousing rendition of Tom Petty’s “You Got Lucky.” The band was obviously having a great time with their fans, and were sad to go, but, as Daniel put it, “I’m serious; that’s all we have.” Let’s hope they give us some more.
