I wish I didn’t already have plans for Sunday night because I would love see the New Hampshire band, Wild Light, that is opening for The Wallflowers at The Ridgefield Playhouse.
I’ve been hooked on the debut CD, “Adult Nights” (Star Time International/Columbia), for the past few weeks. These are songs of substance played with real spirit and some appealing subversive humor.
The harmonies and the hooks have earned the group comparisons with everyone from Death Cab for Cutie to The Shins and the Clash.
A critic in Rolling Stone made an amusing comparison: “U2 if they were fronted by Conor Oberst.”
I haven’t seen Wild Light live yet, but their summer tour has taken them to some of the best venues in the country, from the Highline Ballroom in Manhattan to the Troubador in L.A. As an opening act, they’ve been embraced by audiences who came to see The Killers, Arcade Fire and now The Wallflowers.
Guitarist Jordan Alexander teamed up with multi-instrumentalist Timothy Kyle in elementary school. They joined forces with drummer Seth Kasper and Seth Pitman (man of many instruments) in high school. Alexander went off to Philips Exeter Academy where his roommate was future Arcade Fire leader Win Butler.
Alexander spent a year working on the eventual formation of Butler’s band. After they split amicably four years ago, the real work on Wild Light began.
It’s hard to beat the combination of good musicianship and strong songwriting on “Adult Nights.” The group’s roots in New Hampshire are reflected in sad but pretty songs about the aftermath of an accidental death on a small-town family — “New Hampshire” — and youthful dreams of a more exciting place to live (“Future Towns”).
The reviewer for The Los Angeles Times put it well: “the band melds sunny folk-pop with a melancholic harmonic swirl and some brisk electronic atmospheres.”
Whichever way you slice it, “Adult Nights” is an auspicious debut album.
(For ticket info on the Sunday night show in Ridgefield, go to www.ridgefieldplayhouse.org)
