The Vandelles at Pianos
Yay, they added some lights in front! Between that and how good they sound these days I am out of things to complain about, unless you count the fact that I don't know when their next gig is.
Posted: 7/27/2013 at 6:30pm Tags: Pianos The Vandelles
Hector's Pets at Mercury Lounge
Hector's Pets have been around for a year or two but I never managed to catch 'em. My first impressions was that these guys are so casual, it's like they just walked in off the street. Is that a pack of cigarettes on that hat? Their music reminds me of 70s hard rock (which I'm sure you never would have guessed by looking at them) though they did do one song towards the end which was milder and more catchy, a bit closer to a pop song. So they have a little bit of variety, but they're mostly about the nice loud rawk music.
Posted: 7/27/2013 at 1:41pm Tags: Hector's Pets Mercury Lounge
Red Hook Ramblers at Brooklyn Bowl
Personally I'm still baffled by the rubber chicken. Everything else about the Red Hook Ramblers is pretty straightforward. They look like they play Hot Jazz, which is Jazz for people to dance to, and when they get going then sure enough both of those things happen. So they have the look, they have the chops, and they also have a dozen different instruments including a siren and a little tin piano. But why do they have a rubber chicken? Is it their mascot or something? So curious...
Posted: 7/18/2013 at 10:05pm Tags: Brooklyn Bowl Red Hook Ramblers
La Luz at Mercury Lounge
A surf rock band without a performance art angle? What is this world coming to? (Huff! Pout!)
La Luz are a Surf rock band from Seattle, but not really. Sure, their surf influences are right up front, with guitar chords drenched in reverb and tremolo which should be instantly familiar to anyone. In fact a few of their songs are instrumental tunes. Yet the vocals and lyrics come from a slightly different era, the era of the girl group. The four ladies of La Luz harmonize brilliantly on melancholy songs of longing and loss which could have come straight out of the 60s. That might make then sound like a drag, but not to worry. Plenty of their songs are peppier dance numbers with faster tempos and hints of Western and Doo Wop influences.
La Luz are not one of those the "how loud can we get" bands like certain modern girl group-influenced acts. They seem to be more interested in getting you to dance. When the New York audience didn't cooperate of their own accord (Shocking! Unprecedented! Not!) they actually got a Soul Train going. By God We Looked Like Fools (especially me) but we did dance...
Posted: 7/15/2013 at 2:22am Tags: La Luz Mercury Lounge
