If there was ever a band that struggled to overcome sounding cold and mannered, Karate was it. Guitarist/singer Geoff Farina's deeply considered Donald Fagan-meets-D. Boon noodling, aching yet oblique lyrics, and clean, almost skeletal guitars hardly made for sexy listening-- unless you somehow associate aural-hotness with post-structuralism or wet shoes. So it's a surprise that 595-- Karate's first live album-- is so warm and energetic.
In a sense a Karate live album is a strange proposition because, given the ideal circumstances, said live record should sound just like a regular Karate record. Some musicians use the studio as an instrument-- they alter sounds, toy with effects, and realize possibilities that don't exist in a live environment. But not Karate. The Boston band-- who disbanded in 2005-- may have been lead by a serious Tape-Op-contributing gear geek, but they tended to let their instruments be the instruments and to use the studio to simply record them. As a result, Karate's formal records sound like a solid recording of a trio of musicians playing jazzy, soft-rock influenced emo in a nice room-- which is ostensibly what they were.
595-- a recording of the band's 595th show, performed in Leuven, Belgium-- is also a solid recording of trio of musicians playing instruments in a nice room. The difference here is that that this time there's also an audience. But if it weren't for the presence of light applause and mild stage banter, 595 could easily be mistaken for a Karate studio record-- except that, more often than not, it's better.
Every member of Karate had some sort of formal musical training, and developing deeper musicianship was obviously a priority for Farina and his cohorts. And they got a lot tighter in the years between that Death Kit/Nerve 7" and Some Boots-- both individually and as an ensemble. 595's versions of earlier songs like The Bed Is in the Ocean's "There Are Ghosts" and Karate's "Caffeine or Me?" are superior to their studio counterparts. Farina has more control of his voice and "Caffeine" even ends with a five-minute improv that's sweatier than anything that the band ever put to tape in the studio. Later songs such as the Some Boots track "In Hundreds" also benefit from the energy of live performance-- coming off heavier with more frantic drumming and a slanted guitar solo worthy of any of Farina's idols.
Karate's studio albums may have suffered some frigid moments, but 595 proves that Farina and his cohorts weren't wet noodles. Beyond the tube amp obsession and the couplets about refrigerator noise, Karate was actually a dynamic and exciting band. And they were even better when somebody was watching.
