Sunday, September 14, 2008

Our Best People Are Working On It


Yesterday was the I AM Festival in New London ("I AM" = Independent Artists and Musicians), meaning my plan was to get in early, watch a bunch of the local Connecticut indie bands that were appearing around the middle of the bill (Eula, Atrina, Brava Spectre, Hand Grenade Serenade) and then get out of town quickly before the high-profile menstrual cycle rock like Martha Wainwright and Jay Reatard hit the stage-- a plan that worked to a T. The only glitch all day came when the deli on Bank St. that I used to really like turned out to be a gift shop now or something, so we ended up eating at some awful open patio restaurant/tiki bar type place, which I'll never willingly eat at again.




Atrina's presentation still needs a bit of work-- to be fair, they've apparently got five years' worth of rust to contend with-- but their songs are really great; nice bottom-heavy rock stuff with some spacier passages in between, sorta like a more rugged Farewood. Like that's gonna help anyone, seeing as most of you haven't heard any of the newer Farewood stuff, but y'know, that's what the song down below is for.

Atrina -

"Beautiful Evidence"

(this file is now listen-only)




New London locals Brava Spectre are a bunch of fucked-up kids doing it 90's emo/jazzcore style, updated with some Lighting Bolt for good measure. Their set was amazing-- lots of noise and screaming going on, and things being thrown around; sometimes the guy who sings would put his guitar down, walk around while leading the whole crowd in a chant, and then pick up his guitar and start playing again without skipping a beat. Awesome shit.

Brava Spectre -

"The Lioness Eye Tamed My Open Palm"

(this file is now listen-only)




It's always a good idea to stay away from indie rock bands that the inept local music press describes as "danceable", and who write songs about punctuation. While Eula are one of those Advocate-described danceable bands, they have no songs about punctuation, so I guess we're safe for now. Luckily, "A Hold", from Eula's 2008 "Fill Your Heart" EP, is not particularly "bouncy" (though it is "energy-filled" when it gets really fuzzy towards the end), so I don't have to apologize for liking it so much.

Eula -

"A Hold"

(this file is now listen-only)


click for enlarged view

Everytime I see Hand Grenade Serenade live they blow their CD away, and now that they have their original drummer back they're pretty much unstoppable. "Bruchetta", the song they opened their set with, is the most rockingest thing they've ever done, like Leatherface and Motörhead and The Dukes of Hillsborough all thrown together. They're supposed to be recording some of their new stuff at the end of the month, and I seriously can't wait to hear it.

Hand Grenade Serenade -

"Orgy of The Dead"

(this file is now listen-only)



click for enlarged view


click for enlarged view

click for enlarged view





click for enlarged view





click for enlarged view

5 comments:

ib said...

Hey, brushback. I dislike festivals. I am too churlish and mildly agorophobic; a combination not remotely conducive to outdoor events.

But. That Eula track ? "A Hold" ?

Love it. Utterly fantastic guitar.

And Atrina's "Beautiful Evidence" is good and vaguely chilling, too. You're right the packaging is beautiful.

I kind of liked the Brava Spectre jam too.

I have a lot of catching up to do. The cold I've suffered this past two weeks has made me even more surly than usual.

ib said...

Did I mention the drumming on the Eula track ? Tight and beautiful.

The whole thing is just good.

Brushback said...

Eula are actually way sloppier and more "punk" than that track suggests, so it's pretty interesting (I think) that they were able to capture something different in that one song..

Brushback said...

Local Ct. band The Bridal Shower wrote about I AM Fest on their blog, if you wanna check out someone else's viewpoint (besides my own) on the whole thing.

I thought this was kinda funny:

"Jay Reatard had a short fuse, and walked off stage when a mic cable got lodged in his hair, ending the set. As my friend Dr. Drazen so eloquently put it, "all the kings horses are over there trying to get it out", and indeed, it seemed like Jay Reatard was surrounded by people trying to remove this mic cable from his hair."

Bridal Shower blog

Brushback said...

The mp3 files on this post are now listen-only (non-downloadable) files.