nothin One Show, Two Debuts At State House | New Haven Independent

One Show, Two Debuts At State House

Pasquale Liuzzi Photos

Fiction Kids.

The clock had not yet struck nine as familiar faces of New Haven’s music scene rambled into the State House. Karen Ponzio, one of the Independent’s arts reporters (off duty that evening) sat in the corner sipping a gin and tonic while Dani Capalbo occupied the merch booth and handed out slices of pizza from nearby Modern Apizza. In front of the bar, Alex Burnett, musician and frontman of Laundry Day, loudly explained to fellow bandmate Sam Carlson why the H” in Jesus H. Christ stands for Herman.

They were all there to celebrate the release of new music from two of the city’s musical acts, The Fiction Kids and Daniprobably, with Spit-Take opening.

It’s a special night tonight,” said Joe Katz just before his band Spit-Take took the stage Thursday night. This one’s off the record next to the pizza.”

Spit-Take.

The DIY punk trio’s energy vitalized the budding crowd. Spit-Take’s lyrics drifted between nonsensical accounts of a 20-something from the northeast (“It’s so cold / I ought to move to Alaska”) and ardent portraits of grief and heartbreak (“Look at all the people / look at all the water falling down / memorial, just a hole, just a hole in the ground.”)

They’re one of the most underrated bands in the scene, in my opinion,” said Alex Daniels, a fan of Connecticut indie rock. My favorite part of watching them is when Joe Katz points to the crowd like he’s Babe Ruth about to hit a home run.”

Daniprobably.

Daniprobably followed up with one of the tightest sets of the year, playing from the group’s latest EP, Conditional Things. The band’s full and balanced sound was produced by only two members. Songwriter Dani Capalbo sang and played guitar while bandmate Adam Benson played both drums and bass, operating as a one-man rhythm section.

I hope we have Adam’s fans in the crowd,” Capalbo said, acknowledging Benson’s double duties.

The drummer accomplished his double duties by singing the songs’ bass lines, which were then pitch-shifted by a vocoder and played through a bass amplifier. In the context of Daniprobably’s music, the result was nearly indistinguishable from the real instrument.

Benson said the idea came to him after he saw a video of Josh Dion, a drummer who plays keyboard and drums simultaneously.

Dani and I had been playing together, just guitar and drums, for a while,” Benson said. But I thought that we could use some low end. I found an old vocoder lying around, and I thought to myself, could this actually work?’ So I bought a bass amp, and eventually, I figured it out.”

Benson also played guitar and sang harmonies over Capalbo’s raspy and graceful voice for one song, Sweeter Than The Truth.” The tune was about salvaging a deteriorated relationship: Let me tell you something sweeter than the truth / I want to be with you / I want to call you up and take you back.”

Alright, back to rock n’ roll, everyone,” Capalbo said, even as the stripped-down acoustic number received thunderous applause.

When the backbeats and guitar solos returned, so did the shuffling feet and bobbing heads. At one point, Capalbo lost her beanie at the crescendo of Critic’s Favorite,” a half-time anthem and the final track on the EP.

They embody that indie ethos,” audience member Daniel McPaddon said. Their sound, the way they support the music scene by going to shows, it’s good to see.”

The Fiction Kids — Kuki Kooks, Alexa Ambrose, and J. Thompson — debuted its first-ever full-length album, Souvenir, with the final set of the night. While Fiction Kids are technically the new kids on the block, some of its members have played with various groups in the New Haven scene, most notably Laundry Day.

We have really good pizza, but we don’t have any CDs,” explained Kooks, smiling at Fiction Kids’ bassist before their first song. There was an error on the order by Jared.”

The trio’s post-punk sound took the baton from 90s alternative bands like Sonic Youth and Nirvana and sprinted with it into 2019. Kooks’s lyrics on Heaven Knows” even pay homage to their predecessors by giving a nod to Nirvana’s Lithium: I took my time I / I hurried up / You’re past your prime / Just don’t give up.”

The band admitted its wall-of-sound approach to songwriting may not be for pop-sensible critics. We don’t write Top 40 songs,” Kooks said. But this is our Top 40 song. It’s gonna be playing in Stop n’ Shop in five years.” Kooks’ stage banter riffed on everything from his ex-wife to LeBron James, drawing laughs that were almost as loud as the crowd’s cheers.

As patrons closed their tabs and bands carried out guitar cabs and stacks of empty pizza boxes, DJ Ross Menze played out the night to Italo-Disco hits.

Nights like this are why I love the New Haven music scene,” said local musician Jesse Newman. It’s so pleasantly non-competitive. Everyone wants everyone to succeed.”

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