When Matt Brown '05 announced to last weekend's crowd at Friday Night Rock, Dartmouth's weekly free alternative rock show that might be the only redeeming factor of Fuel Rock Club in the Collis basement, that this coming weekend would be bringing the band Enon, some excited crowd-member shouted back, "The actual Enon!?"
Or so the story goes.
By this time most readers are probably asking just what is "the actual Enon?" Some of us might not know "the actual Enon" if they hit us in the face. Maybe you thought an Enon was a measure of time? No, that's Eon. Or a Middle English term for later? Nope -- anon. Or a carbonated beverage? Well, I don't know what you're thinking on that one.
It turns out that Enon is actually a big up-and-coming New York indie pop band. Featuring a mixed-gender trio, which has some impressive roots in the bands Brainiac and Blonde Redhead, Enon is currently attracting press for its second album, "Hocus Pocus."
The April 2003 issue of Rockpile categorized Enon with the likes of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Rapture, Radio 4 and Liars as some of the bands to listen for in the New York scene. The New York Times itself branded Enon one of the "leading New NYC bands," and described it as "slyly mercurial pop." Not to mention praise has come from everyone from Mojo to Rolling Stone.
And you never thought Fuel could ever be that cutting-edge, now did you?
Bringing Enon to campus is the first step for Friday Night Rock staff in bringing their organization to the next level. Don Stewart (one of FNR's founders along with Brown) e-mailed the staff recently with the group's new mantra: "to take Friday Night Rock from an organization that brings awesome unknown bands to an organization that brings awesome unknown bands anchored by awesome national acts."
Friday Night Rock has showcased student bands and lesser-known groups from the Northeast (primarily the New York and Boston scenes) who fit in well with the show's vibe. This term though, FNR is trying to bring in bands with a more national presence. Enon is their first step toward that goal. As Brown, who professes that this weekend's show will be FNR's biggest event yet, says, "Enon is our first band that's truly a household name among rocker kids."
According to Stewart, bringing Enon to Hanover was the idea of booking co-manager Eric Lindley. Stewart says that the band was quite willing to play the show, even proposing to bring an opening act and to DJ as well if it was wanted. The only issue that remained in booking FNR's first big national act was that of cash, as FNR is also widely known as the free beer and music option on campus other than the frats. But, according to Stewart, several people have helped fund the show, so the FNR crew is hoping all goes well.
So what exactly is Enon anyway? Well, that's not really an easy question to answer. On Hocus-Pocus, Enon genre-hops around the entire album. Although the whole album is sweet pop, the sound is always seemingly in flux-- although this is not necessarily a bad thing. Instead of inconsistency, it seems more a crazy and creative technique of individuality.
Perhaps the most captivating element of the album is the interplay between male and female lead vocals, which seems to work best in electro-pop and intelli-dance type groups like the I Am The World Trade Center. Toko Yasuda's slightly waifish high pitch is nicely counterbalanced by John Schmersal's solid delivery of lines, and it works to great effect. This balance is also present within the instrumentality of the songs, as some tracks are more classically guitar driven whilst other are closer to electronica, but they all work well together as a complete piece of work.
The show is set to be a success, with the regular FNR crew hyped to see the band, and Enon's relative national presence attracting even more curious campus members. Hopefully, for all involved what is being touted as the biggest FNR show yet will be a success. If Enon bring their savvy pop, it won't take magic -- maybe just a little "Hocus-Pocus."