Wild Nothing and DIIV @ Union Transfer.

Text and images by Grace Dickinson.

A double dose of Brooklyn took the stage Monday night at Philadelphia’s Union Transfer. Jack Tatum of headliner Wild Nothing (above) remarked that UT was the “most beautiful venue stop on the tour so far.”

Though Tatum took the typical indie musician path to Williamsburg after the success of his first album, much of his latest, Nocturne, was written in Savannah, Georgia during what he calls a laid back period of his life. This warm Southern ease can be picked up in the dreamy pop guitar that defines the sound of Wild Nothing.

The live performance was filled with electric riffs capable of drawing your mind completely into the music. Yet each time Tatum opened his mouth, his love-filled lyrics would bring you back and make you ponder the story behind his words.

Tatum’s success actually started in the remote town of Blacksburg, Virginia during his college kid days at Virginia Tech. There, he released Gemini, which put him on the map as a lyrical mastermind.

Brooklyn band DIIV also began as a solo project, one from Beach Fossils guitarist Zachary Cole Smith. Smith later added three more members to form the grungy, long-stranded group that opened for Wild Nothing on Monday.

The quartet looked as though they could’ve walked straight out of Lord of the Rings, which almost complemented their extenuated electric, and at times, atmospheric, jams. Long stretches of few words, with the occasional unidentifiable wail into the mic by Smith, also made for a hazy, dream-like performance.

DIIV released their album, Oshin, back in June of this year. Both this album and Wild Nothing’s Nocturne were given the nod from Pitchfork as “Best New Music.”