Spirits Having Fun at Mercury Lounge

Katie McShane

Guitarist/vocalist Andrew Clinkman and bassist Jesse Heasly started playing music together in Cowboy Band when they were 18 years old and living in Boston, Massachusetts. Katie McShane moved to Boston in 2013 and began singing and playing guitar in multiple bands with Heasly, about the same time that Clinkman relocated and started playing in bands with drummer Phil Sudderberg in Chicago, Illinois. In 2016, McShane and Heasly toured America's Midwest in a band called Listening Woman, and Clinkman subbed on a few shows. Despite logistical challenges (McShane and Heasly are based in New York City, and Sudderberg and Clinkman are in Chicago), the four musicians started creating music together as Spirits Having Fun later that year. Spirits Having Fun recorded its debut album, Auto-Portrait, in one day and released it on June 28, 2019.

At Mercury Lounge tonight as part of the venue's 25th anniversary, Spirits Having Fun performed an avant garde set of original, quirky songs. These songs featured scattered vocal melodies floating over choppy rhythm patterns that then sometimes collapsed into dissonant chaos. The intricate song structures landed somewhere between math-rock and improvisational jazz, and somewhere between Captain Beefheart and Deerhoof, yet uniquely carved their own creative niche. The band breathed new life into the album's songs, as tempos were bent and interrupted, time signatures were manipulated, and jams were reinvented. McShane's vocals at moments grounded the very detailed music, but at other times added to the odd and elastic syncopations; when she found herself deep in the groove, she jumped and kicked her own butt with both heels. With this much in-the-moment improvisation happening, it is a sure bet to predict that no two Spirits Having Fun shows will ever be the same.