Despite still being a few days away from turning 20, it was hard not to feel like the oldest person in the room at the Twin Peaks show at the Frequency Friday night. But don’t discount Twin Peaks because of their age or fan base. They still put on a raucous, energized set driven by a complete disregard for the legal drinking age.
(Not that I was counting, but bassist Jack Dolan plowed through three PBR tall cans in a relatively short 45-minute set).
Considering the members of Twin Peaks, it’s no surprise they drew a young crowd. Composed of four 20-year-olds from the Chicago area, the band plays an infectious brand of pop-garage-rock that is prototypically youthful in nature.
When the band ambled on stage a little past 11:30 p.m., guitarist Clay Frankel nonchalantly proclaimed, “We’re gonna start with a fast one,” and they did just that. The band warmed themselves up with the incredibly fast-paced song “Out of Commission” from their 2013 studio debut Sunken.
Without stopping for much more than tuning, the band charged through three standout tracks from their newest album Wild Onion, “Strawberry Smoothie,” “Telephone” and “I Found a New Way.”
And that’s when the gates of hell broke loose.
The horde of high schoolers making up the first four or five rows heard the vaguely punk instrumentation and as if it were an automated response: MOSHED!!! This exposed my rather square tendency of being a part of the outer ring of the pit whose main concern is fending off the human projectiles.
But I had to take advantage of the situation. Standing in my spot in the back of the mosh pit, I surveyed the whirlwind of 15-17-year-old bodies, weighed the pros and cons, mapped out a path and eventually pulled the trigger. I deftly navigated to the center of the pit and miraculously wound up right in front of the stage.
There I stayed for the rest of the set. The whole thing wasn’t nearly that dramatic, but I’d like to think it was.
Regarding the show, the guys from Twin Peaks absolutely delivered. They played a tight, concise set drawing largely from Wild Onion. Tracks such as “Flavor” and “Making Breakfast” translated very well live and injected the crowd with a distinct energy.
The most theatrical member of the quartet is guitarist and vocalist Cadien Lake James. Last time I saw Twin Peaks at the Pitchfork Music Festival this summer, James was relegated to a wheelchair for an apparent foot injury. This didn’t prove to be a hindrance to him rocking out at that set, but seeing him Friday standing on his own made me realize all the power stances and general antics I missed out on this summer.
Near the end of the set, Frankel announced they had three songs left and then said they were all Coldplay songs. It’s this type of humor that can be used to characterize the nature of the band.
Overall, the best way to describe Twin Peaks and their live show is fun. Of course, they don’t have the most original material. Despite this, Twin Peaks brought a certain element of fun that may be lacking in other bands of the same vein.
As they were largely brought up and supported by acts from their hometown of Chicago, now that they’ve “made it,” they find it important to try to help other Chicago bands out in the same way. That’s why they brought three Chicago bands along for the tour, VARSITY, The Liqs and Ne-Hi. I only saw the latter two and neither were too noteworthy.
Overall, Twin Peaks played a show where it’s hard not to throw your hands up, thrash your head a few times, pound your feet and, most importantly, smile.
