Difficult Night sits at the intersection of a handful of disparate influences. There’s the Malkmus vibe in the lyrics, the vocals and the music, but not quite so wacky. It’s a bit more conversational, if you you imagine you’re having a conversation with a hyperliterate neurotic. It noodles, it jams, it bobs your head. Sometimes it may even rock a bit.
But guitarist/vocalist Shane Meyer is so out front the entire time crooning that he kinda reminds me of Van Morrison. Instead of singing about caravans and eyeballs and whatnot, though, he’s making puns, telling stories and twisting his words around.
The music itself is understated and effective, complementing the vocals and building a space for Meyers to talk. In that sense, it certainly feels like an intimate singer-songwriter project, but without all the overwrought emotions and emotional whispers that label often implies.
Check out Difficult Night and a few other excellent acts at our 5th Birthday Party this Saturday at Nietzsche’s beginning at 10pm with a cover of $7.
Below: watch Difficult Night perform in our Editor-in-Chief’s kitchen during last year’s rainy, ugly Fall Porch Fest.