Review: EZTV at The Lincoln Theatre
Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins wrapped up their Rabbit Fur Coat commemorative tour Sunday night at the Lincoln Theater. The openers, a four piece band hailing from the concrete jungle up north brought a touch of modern words mixed with a classic sound. EZTV, based out of New York (though, the bassist gleefully gloated about being from DC) took the stage with punchy power pop-esque tunes about breakups and hardships with the majority of songs from their first album “Calling Out.” Don’t let the catchy tunes mask the emotion and weight that front man Ezra Tenebaum pours into his song writing. The songs host almost a “boy band” type, upbeat attitude, but when you get to the nitty-gritty of the lyrics, like those on “There Goes My Girl,” it’s the complete opposite. It was almost impossible to believe that I was at a concert in 2016, mainly because the band sounds like they stepped out of the 70’s, turtle neck suits, wispy hair and all. EZTV brought grooves to the Lincoln Theater and even teased the crowd with new music from an upcoming album. We were even treated to a cover of a track from Flamin’ Groovies. Somehow, this band has taken power pop, revived it and made it work for the millennials. Quick, punchy and full of dreamy guitar riffs it was hard to believe the set came to end after a solid 45 minutes of jams.
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Highlights from the show include witty stage banter between bassist Shane, the bassists and guitarist Christian. Constant jokes about how long it was taking to tune led to a friendly crowd reminder from Christian “always remember to tune, kids. There’s no room for mistakes, especially in a place like this.” The crowd was eating it up and though they spoke very little in-between transitions, whatever one liner came out managed to get a hearty laugh. Looking beyond the humor the group shared on stage, anyone in the crowd could tell sharing their music was the focal point for the night. No over the top performance, simple lighting, even a pretty empty stage: just bodies and instruments. One could not have asked for a more pure way of experiencing to someone’s craft coming to life.
Easy on the ears and one could even say easy on the eyes, EZTV brought a breath of fresh air to many acts that come trailing trough the District. Their new album, from the few songs they did debut to the crowd, does not shy away from their melodic sound.
The Breakdown:
The Crowd: Mid-twenties to even some grandparents.
Seen: Someone doing some light reading.
Thought: The turtle neck and suit combo needs to be revived.
Keep up with EZTV at the links below and be sure to check out their new album dropping on September 30th!