At the end of what already seemed like a long night of standing and smalltalk and shaking hands, Alex Burnet rose to his feet once more, this time on Cafe Nine’s dimly lit, hops-scented stage. A whisper of glimmering, deep blue dipped over his face and guitar as he moved his head, catching on his light blue nails before he shifted and the light disappeared behind him. Sam Carlson and Kuki Kooks lifted their guitars, smiling just slightly. Alexa Ambrose got ready to go to town on the drums. Then they launched into a version of “Seven Seas” that touched a sleep-deprived kind of transcendent, and kept going.
At least, that’s how it felt last Thursday night after a long line up of up-and-coming local bands and New York based Infinity Girl, a solid headliner that ceded its coveted spot to Laundry Day for a chance to get home, performed to a dwindling crowd at Cafe Nine. Going on just past midnight, Laundry Day completely stole the show, well worth the wait as they captivated a small but mighty audience.
While other groups that performed — particularly Big Eater and Bilge Rat, an ensemble that local guitarist Jon Watanabe suggested was an “all-star” lineup — show great promise on the New Haven scene, Laundry Day is an example of what happens to a band that has gotten there. That has made it, as it were, and still has a ton of ambition to get better. Enlivened by Infinity Girl’s indy rock dream of a performance, Laundry Day played a set mostly from their most recent EP that could have kept audience members deliriously swaying to and fro through dawn.
This is owing largely to front man Burnet, whose casual and understated presence is the kind of thing that makes you feel at home and in love with everything. He — or rather, his homespun, treasure chest of a voice and increasingly witty lyrics — is comfort personified. Whether it is “Seven Seas” or the funny, upbeat quirk of “Jenny Says” or another track, you want to be there with the band, to listen to what’s coming.
And of course, what tricks they might pull out next.
