The Antlers

The Antlers
@ Musica, Akron OH, January 30
by Andrew Clayman
Published in The Cleveland Scene, January 2010



In a rare coup for Akron’s struggling live music scene, one of indie rock’s most fawned-upon acts of 2009 will headline a special show at Musica, a week before embarking on a national tour with U.K. post-punkers Editors. The Antlers went from anonymity to adoration last year with the release of the dark, delicate and often moving Hospice. Much like Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon a year earlier, Antlers frontman Peter Silberman became a poster child for the creative use of isolation. But rather than holing up in a cabin in Wisconsin, Silberman recorded Hospice’s intimate tracks over a two-year period in his Brooklyn apartment. The album was self-released last spring, and after taking off via Internet buzz, it was re-released by an indie label in August.

While it seems the Antlers came out of nowhere, Silberman had previously released a pair of solo LPs as well as two EPs with the expanded Antlers lineup of drummer Michael Lerner and keyboardist Darby Cicci. The trio will perform tonight, and it’s a safe bet that it won’t be a show with a great deal of goofing around. After all, the songs on Hospice follow a rather heavy thematic thread of death, helplessness and loss. That’s not to say it’s entirely depressing; sometimes a good cry can leave you feeling better at the end of the day. Just bring tissues.