The Love Language

When we last saw The Love Language opening for Public Enemy and No Age at the inaugural Hopscotch, the hometown heroes were still riding high after releasing sophomore platter Libraries on the taste-making Triangle label Merge Records, opening a couple of regional shows for French superstars Phoenix and hitting the road with Scottish labelmates Camera Obscura. Since then, they’ve toured hard with Local Natives and Telekinesis, played Coachella and an one-off date with The Arcade Fire, and had a hand in the reunion of legendary Chapel Hill indie rockers Archers of Loaf, who opened for The Love Language in January as a surprise guest.

By the time it hits the Hopscotch stage again this year in a club setting, the Raleigh quintet—frontman/ guitarist Stuart McLamb, keyboardist Missy Thangs, guitarist/ producer BJ Burton, bassist Nick Sanborn and drummer Jordan McLamb—will be a live juggernaut, seasoned at transforming its lush, orchestrated wall of sound studio recordings into performances that capitalize upon the five-piece’s energy and precision. In the hands of his live band, McLamb’s measured, melancholic jangles become intoxicating anthems, whether on the summery, ’60s pop-influenced half of Libraries (“Brittany’s Back” and “Heart To Tell”) built for sing-alongs and dancing or the woozy waltzes and sweeping ballads (“This Blood Is Our Own” and “Blue Angel”) that find McLamb pining for love. In a year in which its labelmates stunned the music world by snagging Merge’s first Grammy for Best Album, the results of The Love Language’s renewed touring vigor should wow audiences. —Spencer Griffith