Crooked Fingers - New York, NY

Remember sad music? You know, before "Surreal Life" promos came accompanied by Belle and Sebastian songs? Before Jason Molina left Songs: Ohia to start a rollicking bar band? Those felt like olden times indeed last Saturday night at the Bowery Ballroom in New York, as mope-pop mainstays Crooked Fingers touched base with their inner Archers and decided to shred.

Consider the deep incongruity of performing "Rotting Strip" as a rousing sing along stomp, led by a toy xylophone no less. A significant portion of the audience simultaneously shouting "I can't take you sober" and "We could kick the booze and blow." Strange stuff indeed. Then there was "Under Sad Stars" -- sad's even in the title, see -- construed as a jaunty piano song, very much along the lines of Dr. John. Even the plinky instrumental "Islero" came with an innards-rattling bass line more appropriate to, say, a Built to Spill song.

Of course these reinterpretations are a big part of why we put up with live music, and for the most part Crooked Fingers worked just fine in a comparatively frantic key. Among other things, the more dynamic set left the occasional quiet numbers sounding quieter. On previous, gentler tours -- what with the band covering "Long Black Veil" and such -- it was easy to get lost amid all the lilt and tranquility. Not so here. Set closer "A Little Bleeding," for example, was especially spooky in its new context. Singer / guitarist Eric Bachmann played that one alone, until his bandmates joined him to sing a warbly, wordless coda. Sad, that. Almost takes you back.