The Audio Perv

By Laura McWhorter

I was expecting a stool. That sounds weird but I was. When I see an acoustic guitar…I always expect the singer to post up on a stool in the middle of the stage and play the night away. I’d been sent a few of the tracks from Breaking Laces before and apparently I was only being fed the softer side of the catalogue. The Breaking Laces I had in my mind was an acoustic band with a mild, coffee shop sound. The actual Breaking Laces are anything but. In fact…if there WAS a stool…I’d expect one of them to kick it over or stand on top of it or something.

Playing among a motley lineup of five other bands as part of All Asia’s Indie Rock Marathon (Naree, The Mirror Neurons, Ellina Graypel, Snow What and Miller’s English), Breaking Laces immediately stood out from the rest of the bunch. The trio from Brooklyn peddles a more mature and refined sound than their counterparts and it’s actually really interesting (vs. mind numbing) to watch. They’re really great about interacting with the crowd – not just engaging during songs but really chatting with us all throughout. They even took a request which is something I haven’t seen in quite some time.

They actually know their instruments and know them well. I was consistently surprised to see just HOW hard Willem Hartong rocks out on that acoustic guitar and more than once caught myself trying to get closer to see if there was an electric guitar I was missing. Bassist, Rob Chojnacki and drummer Seth Masarsky round out the larger than life sound and really set the tone for the shows. They’ve been touring together for a while now and it shows. This is a well put together performance and they deftly roll through the setlist like they’ve done it a million times (which they have).

Since it was all part of a larger lineup, it was a pretty short set but they definitely made it worth it. Rolling through the highlights of their extensive and varied catalogue they made sure we never knew what was next. One minute we’re jamming to the unexpectedly huge ‘What You Can’t Take Away’ and ‘Laser Beams’ and the next we’re swaying along to ‘What We Need’ and my absolute favorite ‘Meagan.’ If you listen to nothing else (which would be a mistake)…listen to this. It’s a beautiful and simple folksy track and the lyrical intimacy that one can always expect from these guys is at the forefront of this ballad.

These guys are real. Their songs are about things that they know. There is no abstract and the authenticity is refreshing. It’s a huge sound coupled with close-to-home lyrics which is, in my opinion, a double whammy of biblical proportions (appropriate given that this show occurred on the eve of the end of the world). If the world does end and this is the last concert I get to see…I can honestly say I’d be okay with that (probably not but you get the picture. A little hyperbole never hurt anyone).