Apollo Sunshine - Concert Review

1/3 JJ Jazz Band Roots

Apollo Sunshine, Martyr's, Chicago, March 10, 2006--

Trying to explain what’s so good about Apollo Sunshine is like trying to explain which part of the cow tasted best in your all-beef frank. (Vegetarians, substitute Ben & Jerry’s.) All that’s obvious is something somewhere went right. As intangible as Apollo Sunshine is, their recent performance at Martyr’s in Chicago hinted at why the current media scramble to define their sound will soon end, and they’ll simply be known as A Great Band.

Apollo Sunshine lives in a farmhouse in Western Mass and makes music like they’re a trio of Yankee Craftsmen. Their show mixed future favorites with originally executed classics. Complex layering was subtly visible. Their set gave off a gleam of effort and practice, but didn’t try to sell anything over-lacquered. They chose not to attempt the most challenging forms, because they know that simple, flawless and neatly joined is more than enough. They’re happy to let someone else cover Cliffs of Dover.

But what good is a cherry dining room set if you can’t bring people together around a complete meal? Even a host with a prize-winning garden knows that the dinner often requires something raised by someone else. And so it was only organic that Apollo Sunshine shared Mazarin’s New American Apathy after their own Flip!, then uncapped Jimi’s flaming hot sauce, Crosstown Traffic.

Ever gourmet, Apollo Sunshine also knows that any course too big can spoil dessert. They hit the brakes on Crosstown Traffic just before merging into a jam with no local exits, stood on a second of silence (hold your breath), then powered instead into I Was on the Moon. Maybe a few in the room with telepathic iPod shuffle functions had heard the transition before and weren’t surprised. Everyone else got blasted into orbit. The change tied a chain straight to Hendrix, who towed Apollo Sunshine another inch toward the planet where the Rock Gods live forever.

It’s one thing to deliver pure entertainment. It’s another to have a habit of catching people off-guard when pure entertainment is all they’ve been expecting. Jimi set his guitar on fire. Apollo Sunshine prefers to ignite a spot in the mind that’s usually lost in the shadow of ego. Without picturing pet immolation, think of this spot as a puppy that’s been beaten and kicked since humans got names. But no matter how much abuse it takes, this spot is a puppy that wags its tail when it finds a bone of The Truth.

Apollo Sunshine doesn’t call to this spot through a disregard for future gossip and the subsequent release of heartbreaking personal details (although they take this path occasionally). They just cover you with glee like silly string, take it or leave it. Any cynic used to the former will attack Apollo’s blatantly positive lyrics (even when the lyrics aren’t 100% positive, they still carry a sparkle), but really, who can argue with “Today’s the day to act like today’s your day and you will be surprised that it is, that it is” and the aural illusion of rhyme generated by its giddy delivery? Or try, “You can say there’s more to life than this, but there’s always more to life,” for a complete philosophical rendering of the pointlessness of bashing Apollo Sunshine, or anything else, for as long as your heart works.

At times the lyrics edge towards being defined as scripture—things we really should remember but tend to forget too fast. The only thing keeping Apollo Sunshine from full-blown prophet status is that their words are memorable. And it isn’t a painful nag, either, like a slice of Muzak cheese heard in the grocery store and picked up like the flu. It’s a recurring, intoxicating dose of knowing you’ve discovered another good thing in this world. An inner loop very similar to trying to fall asleep after your first tongue kiss. A conviction that things will work out fine after all. But catchy and cleansing as their show is, nothing lasts forever. So next time they shine your way, see them and get reminded.

G-Money'$ photo ganked by me.

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