Ringo Deathstarr at DC9
I hope that Ringo Deathstarr were going for the discothèque look on purpose. This couldn't possibly have been an accident.
The disco look is not the least bit suited to the band's music. Okay, sometimes they get a little funky but just a smattering here and there. More of their songs are either in a dream-pop vein or a more vicious alt-hard rock style (seeing as how we're breaking out the foreign characters today, think Hüsker Dü?) All of it distorted and twisted a bit too far for comfort. Let me put it this way, one of their new songs is called "Chainsaw Morning". In the song they keep chanting that phrase, not in a harsh way, but it's dang unnerving. Can you think of a pleasant interpretation of that lyric? Me either.
So yeah, the disco look is all wrong for them. They need something more melancholy and seedy. Perhaps a horror-movie set?
Posted: 6/12/2014 at 2:00pm Tags: blue DC9 Ringo Deathstarr
Smoke Green at DC9
Smoke Green couldn't have come up with a blunter name. Like every third band I've seen since arriving in DC they are a psych band and if their name doesn't make that clear then their BandCamp sure will. That BandCamp has some of the fuzziest music I've heard in a while. Believe it or not they did have a vocalist at the time.
Their show, as it turns out, was surprisingly rockin'. "Beware of the Plastic Chair" has a lot more attitude when you can understand the lyrics. The cover of "Head On" they closed with was particularly telling. That song always rocks but they could have played it more laid back, like the original Jesus and Mary Chain song. Instead they played it harder and faster that the original (a la The Pixies?) and sounded awesome doing it. Of course there were mellow and sublime moments as well if not exactly "quiet" ones. I was just surprised at how much energy, and how much positive energy at that, was in their music.
Posted: 6/11/2014 at 11:00pm Tags: DC9 Smoke Green
Avers at Black Cat
Sometimes listening to a band's stuff on Bandcamp can be terribly misleading. If you listen to that one song by Avers and check their tags (psychedelic, shoegaze) then you would probably go to their show expecting to hear something like Dead Leaf Echo. Wrong-O!
Simply put, Avers are a rock band. Okay, they're a rock band which is informed by psych rock, which dips a toe or so into country and roots rock (I guess that would be two toes, maybe one from each foot?) But they didn't forget to bring the volume. Or the stage presence: some of these folks were bouncing around stage like rawk stars. It turns out they're more like Alberta Cross, or maybe the late-80s Mekons. This was a very pleasant surprise.
So, uh, oops! I guess I should have checked out their SoundCloud too.
The Ar-Kaics at DC9
I only got half a photo set of these folks, The Ar-Kaics, because my burger took half an hour to show up. I missed the first two songs, went upstairs and chowed down during the next few, and then got up and got these shots. Then I went back to my table and finished my dinner. "Will suffer indigestion for rock-n-roll", yeah, that's my motto.
Now as for The Ar-Kaics their motto seems to be "Never let 'em relax". All fuzzy guitars, all shouting, nary a ballad to be found. Good stuff if you're into that trash rock sound, which I am so fuck yeah!
Posted: 5/19/2014 at 10:00am Tags: DC9 The Ar-Kaics
Baked at Black Cat
Boy, talk about truth in advertising. I'm not sure that I would call this band psych rock. They're not quite as strictly psychedelic as some of the other bands I've covered recently. But boy, the ambience is just overwhelming, a real heavy dose of something which is actually kind of mild and mellow. So yeah, Baked, that's exactly it.
