When Tee of Afraid of Figs talked me into attending the show at The Belltower on Friday, he informed me that it would be "like nothing you've ever heard before."
I ran into Tee and his loyal merch boy on the way out of the Compton Union Building on Friday afternoon, while they were being accosted by a CUB employee for hanging up flyers on the doors and windows. I struck up a conversation with them after jumping to their defense (I try to back up my Belltower buddies as much as possible). One thing led to another, and before I knew it, I was on their list for press coverage that night.
He was only partially right--the music was not quite my style, so my bias is immediately going to show. When they started into their poster song, "I Ate a Vegan," the first two bands that came to mind should probably not be said in the same sentence: They Might be Giants and The Barenaked Ladies. I can't really tell if I was relieved or mortified to see the band bragging about this exact sound on their website (iateavegan.com, oddly enough).
The evening was a little bit of a blur, really; I hold the sensory overload responsible. There was an inflatable t-rex, a Ronald Regan sex doll, some old people in converse dancing provocatively, glow sticks, a singer in winged glasses and a "dyslexics untie" shirt--I'm not entirely sure what happened, but at some point I just really had to get up and leave.
Those who really love Barenaked Ladies--there have to be some of them out there--will love their songs. They never really go beyond the surface of the song; technically-constructed music with shoddy rhymes, promises the ability to make you dance as long as you're not paying attention to what anyone in the band is saying.
I really can't fault them for their energy. Tee was all over the stage, and had more costume changes than Lady Gaga must in a show. Saxophone player Crazy C really had mastery of his instruments--all three saxophones sounded absolutely superb (as a saxophone player, I'm revealing another bias; this one, however, allows me to appreciate skill). Every member of the band sang at least once, and everyone was technically proficient. And every member of the band spent the entire day before the show self-promoting.
"We've really never had a band put that much effort into promoting themselves," owner Andrew Forsman said. "The moment they got here, they grabbed some flyers and went out to put them up. No one's ever really done that much work."
A beacon of hope shined on the bass player, Arjay, when he stepped up for a tune. His voice far outshines Tee's, and has a real depth that actually put some emotion into their sound. I found myself intrigued--what would they sound like if they dropped the frantic, poorly-written silliness for actual music?
I don't think we'll ever know.
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
The Moondoggies, New Lagoon, put on a great show
Audience members resisting the urge to dance Sunday night did not stand a chance once The Moondoggies hit the Belltower stage.
Opening bands New Lagoon and Cody Beebe & the Crooks built up the energy to that perfect point where everyone in the room couldn’t help but move, rounding out the kind of lineup that makes for a good show. The energy of the show even inspired a local artist to set up in the corner to paint throughout the evening.
“Good music makes for really good art,” DeeDee, the artist, said. “I really like painting at live blues shows, and doing portraits of the bands and this was the perfect place to do it.”
The first night of the Birds on a Wire Mini-Fest had an impressive turnout — with half of the crowd just sitting and enjoying the music, and the other half consisted of showgoers who grabbed the first person they could find to dance with.
“The show was amazing. Overall, so many people showed up, and it would not have been the same without them,” said Madison Hayashi, the Belltower Street Team coordinator. “I could not have asked for a better night for the bands. They needed this crowd.”
New Lagoon started off the festival, debuting their music to Pullman with their first show ever as a band. The supergroup consists of Luke Taklo of Moss Campions on vocals and guitar, Sean Knox of Buffalo Death Beam on keyboard, vocals and guitar, Ted Powers of Yarn Owl on drums and Bart Budwig on bass. Though they were two members shy of the rest of the bands in the lineup for the night, their sound was just as strong.
“Everything went really well,” Taklo said. “It felt like it was a really good start for us.”
Cody Beebe & The Crooks attracted a strong local following — including a rather large pack of girls chanting Cody’s name before the songs. Despite their country-rock sound being a bit out of place among the other bands of the evening, they delivered strong technical ability and enough energy to really inspire excitement to keep the evening going.
By the time The Moondoggies made it to the stage, the crowd was incapable of containing excitement. The quartet appears to have expanded into a sextet, led by Kevin Murphy on vocals and guitar, and jumped right into utterly danceable blues-rock, however much of an oxymoron that description is. The band’s tight harmonies and stunning bass lines proved that The Moondoggies are a band that makes an already great sound even better in live performance.
“We definitely take this whole thing seriously, where maybe we didn’t before,” keys player Caleb Quick said. “But we play music like we’re playing in a garage — when you’re in a garage, sometimes it comes out dirty, sometimes it comes out clean and you don’t know why. You just have to go with it.”
The Pullman show was the last night of their tour, and even Quick admitted that the whole band was exhausted, though you would never guess from watching them play. The tambourine player, who doubled for backup guitar for a few songs, made tambourine alone look like an art and definitely covered more of the stage than any other band member that evening. His energy was easily matched by the crowd, which eventually included dancing members of the opening bands.
“This has just been amazing,” Taklo said. “As far as the Moondoggies go, I have a story to tell my
grandchildren.”
Starfucker KILLS IT.
When asked if Portland band Starfucker (STRFKR) had anything they’d like to mention about their show, drummer Kiel Corcoran had one thing to say:
“I think Ian here would make a really good Vulcan.”
The newest member of the band, Ian Luxton, pulled back his hair to show off an unabashedly Vulcan face-shape. It was easy to see how the fun personalities of the band members translated into practically sold-out show.
“Yeah, my dad watches Star Trek, and they actually used the Star Trek font on the posters,” vocalist Josh Hodges added. “I thought that was pretty funny.”
The band performed to a packed house at the Bell Tower Monday night, with a little help from local bands Yarn Owl and Rythmmemory.
The line of excited fans trailed out the door and around the corner onto E Main St. at 8 p.m., catching the attention of many passing cars—several of which stopped to inquire what was happening at the venue that night.
“I had no idea this many people liked STRFKR,” one show-goer said to a friend. “There are so many people here.”
The turnout was a shock for all those involved. Several audience members drove from Moscow to see the show. Each band seemed to draw its own crowd.
“We were very pleasantly surprised with the show,” STRFKR bassist/keyboardist Shawn Glassford said. “We were actually taking bets on how many people were going to be here. I think the highest number was 41. I won.”
Over 300 people showed up for the show—making for a hot, crowded and ultimately ideal show experience. Moscow band, Rhythmmemory started off the evening with a short set of ambient electronic music that actively engaged the crowd. By the time Rhythmmemory members Mike Siemens and Ian Corrigan played their electro rework of Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” most of the audience was dancing.
“That’s the one I was really nervous about,” Siemens said of the track. “Everyone knows it, that could go any way, really.”
Yarn Owl followed suit, delivering strong, feel-good indie rock for a noticeably rowdier audience. It’s hard to not draw comparisons between vocalist Javier Suarez and Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend (though Koenig does not have Suarez’s smoothness). The band played such tunes as “Respite,” the tight harmonies came through pretty cleanly through the wobbly BellTower speakers. This show was particularly bittersweet for the members of Yarn Owl, as it was the last show they will play in Pullman before the members go their separate ways.
“As cheesy as it’s going to sound, I’m glad we played our last show here in Pullman,” drummer Theodore Powers said.
By the time STRFKR hit the stage, the room was absolutely packed with energy. Several audience members held onto the speakers—if for no other reason but to make sure they didn’t fall on any of the people dancing frantically in the front row. True to their word, STRFKR delivered a party atmosphere, complete with disco-esque strobe and laser lights.
The audience activity level bumped up to nearly crowdsurfing levels by the time they performed “Bury Us Alive,” which, as promised in the band’s interviews with other publications, was beyond the quality of the album.
“The whole thing went amazing, actually,” Glassford added. “I felt like we had some problems with sound and we showed up late and didn’t actually get to [sound] check or anything, but it just went great.”
“I think Ian here would make a really good Vulcan.”
The newest member of the band, Ian Luxton, pulled back his hair to show off an unabashedly Vulcan face-shape. It was easy to see how the fun personalities of the band members translated into practically sold-out show.
“Yeah, my dad watches Star Trek, and they actually used the Star Trek font on the posters,” vocalist Josh Hodges added. “I thought that was pretty funny.”
The band performed to a packed house at the Bell Tower Monday night, with a little help from local bands Yarn Owl and Rythmmemory.
The line of excited fans trailed out the door and around the corner onto E Main St. at 8 p.m., catching the attention of many passing cars—several of which stopped to inquire what was happening at the venue that night.
“I had no idea this many people liked STRFKR,” one show-goer said to a friend. “There are so many people here.”
The turnout was a shock for all those involved. Several audience members drove from Moscow to see the show. Each band seemed to draw its own crowd.
“We were very pleasantly surprised with the show,” STRFKR bassist/keyboardist Shawn Glassford said. “We were actually taking bets on how many people were going to be here. I think the highest number was 41. I won.”
Over 300 people showed up for the show—making for a hot, crowded and ultimately ideal show experience. Moscow band, Rhythmmemory started off the evening with a short set of ambient electronic music that actively engaged the crowd. By the time Rhythmmemory members Mike Siemens and Ian Corrigan played their electro rework of Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” most of the audience was dancing.
“That’s the one I was really nervous about,” Siemens said of the track. “Everyone knows it, that could go any way, really.”
Yarn Owl followed suit, delivering strong, feel-good indie rock for a noticeably rowdier audience. It’s hard to not draw comparisons between vocalist Javier Suarez and Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend (though Koenig does not have Suarez’s smoothness). The band played such tunes as “Respite,” the tight harmonies came through pretty cleanly through the wobbly BellTower speakers. This show was particularly bittersweet for the members of Yarn Owl, as it was the last show they will play in Pullman before the members go their separate ways.
“As cheesy as it’s going to sound, I’m glad we played our last show here in Pullman,” drummer Theodore Powers said.
By the time STRFKR hit the stage, the room was absolutely packed with energy. Several audience members held onto the speakers—if for no other reason but to make sure they didn’t fall on any of the people dancing frantically in the front row. True to their word, STRFKR delivered a party atmosphere, complete with disco-esque strobe and laser lights.
The audience activity level bumped up to nearly crowdsurfing levels by the time they performed “Bury Us Alive,” which, as promised in the band’s interviews with other publications, was beyond the quality of the album.
“The whole thing went amazing, actually,” Glassford added. “I felt like we had some problems with sound and we showed up late and didn’t actually get to [sound] check or anything, but it just went great.”
Starfucker coming to Pullman
 |
| Photo by Sarah Cass |
STRFKR consists of vocalist Joshua Hodges, Ryan Biornstad on guitar and turntables, Shawn Glassford on bass, and Keil Corcoran on drums. Each band member also dabbles in a few other instruments.
The band released their sophomore album "Reptilians" on March 8, 2011. The album produces a solid blend of pop and electronic sound with plenty of synthesizers and beats to satisfy both the need to relax and to dance. The album found fast hits in “Julius” and “Bury Us Alive,” with the Pitchfork Review calling the latter, “the kind of rabbit hole that bands like 'Bear in Heaven' should think about heading down more often.” Their sound has garnered comparisons to the bands Passion Pit and MGMT with occasional similarities to Of Montreal peeking through on tracks like “Reptilians.” STRFKR has a history of memorable, high-energy performances—some occasionally involving stage diving and women’s clothing. They focus heavily on audience interaction and attempt to make every performance a party.
“It's weird that people even come to shows now that XBOX and the Internet exist," Hodges said to Seattle Weekly in 2009. "It's really easy to find entertainment without leaving your house. That's why we try to make our shows as fun as possible."
Reptilians was met with mixed reviews by critics, with the main complaint being the band’s choice of name. Pitchfork claims, “...it’s almost as if they picked the name to dare people to listen to their record.” Such blogs as Pretty Much Amazing and The AV Club can’t seem to get past STRFKR's moniker although AV Club managed to rate the album an “A,” stating that “really good bands can have stupid names.” Hodges insists that the name was unintentional.
“I didn’t think it was going to last more than a few shows,” Hodges said. "It was just a small project. I named it Starfucker because people always make up weird phrases and shit like that. Had I known I'd keep getting asked to play, I wouldn't have chosen such a stupid name."
They attempted to change their name several times, trying out PYRAMID and Pyramiddd, before settling on STRFKR again, not wanting to backpedal the recognition the band had already earned. Their self-titled first album received public attention when Target featured their song “Rawnald Gregory Erickson the Second,” in its 2009 “Pink Pepto” commercial.
The band has also undergone a lineup change, with Ian Luxton added to the band to play a variety of instruments including flute. When they sat down with the blog Buzzine for an interview last week, they made it clear that they aim to expand their sound, but that fun is still their number one priority.
“We like to let people forget about their mundane life for a minute,” Biornstad said. “Just let go for a second, and enjoy themselves and not think about work or Japan falling into the ocean, or all the BS that’s going on.”
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