Plants and Animals Bring 'La La Land' to Chicago

Montreal rock trio Plants and Animals performed most of the track list from their new record 'La La Land' at Chicago's Lincoln Hall Saturday night. The band zig-zagged between it and 2008's 'Parc Avenue,' but concentrated on the newer material.

The band reeled the audience in with their unadulterated rock 'n' roll riffs on opener 'New Kind of Love' from 'Parc.' Plumes of dry ice filled the venue as the band furiously strummed their electric guitars and got carried away with the ebb and flow of the song. The guys dug into 'Fake It,' from 'La La,' evoking tinges of bluesy riffs.

After playing 'Kon Tiki,' lead singer Warren Spicer mused that he wrote the song about a motel and how the subject matter just made sense to him. The guitars blared loudly on 'Undone Melody' and Spicer's vocals wailed on the sultry 'Celebration,' while 'Tom Cruz' talked about needles and bleeding. Multi-instrumentalist Nic Basque seamlessly shifted from playing his guitar to the bass on 'Faerie Dance' and also maneuvered to play the keys on other songs.

For such a small band, Plants and Animals generated a tremendous amount of sound, especially Spicer, who constantly exchanged one type of guitar for another. During the quick, precise pace of the math rocky 'Mercy,' from 'Parc,' Spicer challenged the audience to a call-and-response and got them to shout out "mercy."

After ending their regular set on poppy 'The Mama Papa,' Animals returned for a two-song encore comprised of 'Game Shows' and the electrifying 'Guru/Sinnerman,' taken from their 2007 EP 'With/Avec.' The first half of 'Guru' rambled with deft guitar instrumentals and crashing drums, while near the end, Spicer chimed in with his yearning vocals and transformed the song into a seven-minute epic finale.

The band continues their US tour through June.

Plants and Animals on AOL Music