“One more ‘A Horse With No Name’ request and we’re outta here!”

Who You Callin’ Soft?
Genteel indie rockers Midlake show Chicago their tough side BY JOSH MODELL

America’s “Sister Golden Hair,” that cheesy slice of romantic AM Gold goodness from ¹⁹⁷⁵, breezed out of the PA at Chicago’s legendary Metro. (Your favorite band, whoever they are, have played this 25-year-old club.) It was just minutes before Midlake took the stage on September 12, and whether the Denton, Texas band was cheekily pleading guilty to the influence or simply enjoying the song’s sweet harmonies doesn’t matter: Just letting it play in this context proved that they’ve got a wonderful sense of humor, history, or both.

Though dogged by accurate but incomplete comparisons with ’⁷⁰s fogies—Fleetwood Mac, Eagles, and yes, America—last year’s terrific The Trials of Van Occupanther nonetheless captured

something intangibly current, thrusting itself into the hearts of young indie-rock fans, not aging soft-rock nostalgics. Onstage, the album’s songs grow a shade darker and twice as muscular, and it’s no leap to assume that Midlake, led by avowed Radiohead devotee Tim Smith, have repeatedly said to themselves since recording it, “We don’t sound like the fucking Eagles!” and adjusted accordingly.

Given the chance to lean into the songs or lie back, they mostly chose the former: “Roscoe,” a spooky stroll on record, was worked into a Blue Öyster Cultish lather, complete with a bath of red lights and smoke. Similarly, “In This Camp” embraced loud fuzz and mannered piano-tinkle with equal verve, and the band-defining “Head Home”

featured a full-on, nearly raucous guitar solo. That newfound volume didn’t just add a hefty dimension, it also boosted the quiet moments in contrast. Smith, who spent about a third of his time at an electric piano and the rest alternating between acoustic and electric guitars,

They’re riding a wave
of acceptance that could
lead to Wilco-like
slow-burn success.

picked up a flute for a beautifully reserved reworking of the band’s collaboration with the Chemical Brothers, “The Pills Won’t Help You Now,” and let “We Gathered in Spring” play out as mellow and golden as possible.

It may be the perfect moment to see Midlake, a band riding a wave of acceptance that could lead either back to obscurity or to Wilco-like slow-burn success. A solitary new song—the band entered the studio to record an album just prior to this tour—pointed toward further ascension. “Children of the Grounds” grasped both sides of Midlake’s personality—brooding atmospherics and guitar-face-rockin’— but it felt imbued with a concentrated confidence they’ve never nailed before. Then there was the song that hit the PA as the band walked off—Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne,” chosen perhaps to suggest that Midlake’s influences run deeper than the Super Sounds of the ’70s. Or maybe it’s simply a great tune, chosen by a band who’d just proved they have what it takes to write one themselves.