Houses at The Echo, Echo Park, CA

Houses

Houses at The Echo, Echo Park, CA, May 21st, 2011

May 27, 2011 By Laura Studarus

Born of an extended stay in Hawaii, and nurtured by Lefse Records, Houses (aka boyfriend/girlfriend Dexter Tortoriello and Megan Messina) recently hit the road on their maiden voyage. Touring in support of last year’s hushed gem, All Night, the shoeless pair stopped at The Echo, where they braved a decidedly unrock n’ roll start time (read: still light outside) to play their first show in Los Angeles.

An intimate affair, Houses’ stage show plays not unlike their debut, a series of uber-mellow, dreamy songs that feel like you’ve been let in on a particularly sweet secret. Opening with an upbeat DJ set featuring Tortoriello spinning some non-album sounds, the pair worked through their set with little to no fanfare. Despite sheepishly admitting they had forgotten the words to “Reds,” the song was met with boisterous applause, punctured with a few enthusiastic cheers. Is this unassuming duo traveling with their own hype man? (I’m okay with that.)

The band changed it up for the final two songs, first creating a near-My Bloody Valentine wall of sound for a Chemical Brothers cover, and then dialing it back to barely-there folk for a brief encore. While Tortoriello looks decidedly more comfortable behind the mixing boards than on guitar, the transition hinted at exciting things to come. We’ll be watching. (www.housesmusic.com)