In a multi-genre celebration of great local music, the Twin Cities’ StoLyette, Jacob Mullis
and Kiernan triple-headlined the Icehouse this Saturday. Mullis and StoLyette played
from their brand-new albums, while Kiernan, who were voted one of the city’s Best New
Bands this year, kicked off their set with a single they’ll release next month.
If you’re a fan of Kiernan’s music, be advised that the new songs are their best yet; they
opened the evening with a batch of chugging, light-touch folk reminiscent of The
Innocence Mission or Luna. Lead singer Laura Kiernan’s songwriting has never been so
intimate and emotionally generous, and the band’s chemistry with each other makes for
some beautiful moments of improvisation.
Next up was the raucous, hooky Jacob Mullis (formerly of psych-pop duo Fort Wilson
Riot) and his six-piece backing band, complete with a brass section and candy-coated
‘80s-style synths. Mullis’ new music alternates between indie R&B and a loud,
maximalist kind of jangle-pop, sometimes blending the two into something loud,
immersive and above all, super fun. If it can be tough to get people to really shake a leg
at a show in this town, you wouldn’t have known it from the looks of this crowd.
But ah, in the classic fashion of the all-locals bill — StoLyette transported the audience
to yet another galaxy of genre, one shared with no-wave experimentalists like Lizzy
Mercier Descloux and Operating Theatre, with a dose of Deerhoof’s fast-and-loose art
rock rhythm thrown in. The group’s deceptively minimal footprint onstage — two
members playing trigger pads, one guitarist with an unreal number of pedals, and a
frontperson supplying ethereal vocals, mostly sung in Russian — gave way to a dense
layering of effects and harmonies that, even in its most angular moments, never
sacrificed an access point of danceability. It was the kind of set that makes you feel
sorry for anyone who decided to leave early — or worse, anyone who hadn’t heard
about the show at all until it was too late. StoLyette’s vital, vigorous GHOST FOX 2020
album is out everywhere now.

Show Review: Isabel Zacharias