Waking Up To Nothing

Last night's show in Wallingford started out like a total bust, as Dead Uncles were a last-minute scratch. Then, a bare overhead light bulb started giving me technical problems with my camera, and after messing around with the settings too much I was too lame to figure out how to get everything back to normal. Sometimes I'm such a nub. Luckily, Swear Jar kicked up the awesome, and then Jason Clackley (holy crap!) and Fischer came through with sets that were amazing for any number of reasons.




Fischer have a pretty thick sound for a two-piece pop/punk band, and what I heard last night reminded me a lot of early Moving Targets-- especially the thrashier Moving Targets songs that have tempo changes, like "Changing Your Mind". Throw in some "My War"-type riffage every so often and you'll get a clearer picture, because Fischer are definitely heavier than the Targets ever were. Of course, that's live-- on record, Fischer's sound is somewhat poppier, and I actually think they're pretty similar to Dead Uncles in a lot of ways, though that just might be my localism coming through.

Jason Clackley was flat-out awesome; holy shit, he's got some great songs. If you're at all into the stuff that Greg Cartwright does with Reigning Sound, or maybe Mark Sultan even, than you should check this guy out. At his rockingest, Jason Clackley is definitely more punk rock than either one of those guys, but he knows how to pull it back too, and his songs and his voice are just amazing. He did a cover of Sam Cooke's "You Send Me", also, which as it happens was pressed on a split 7" with Fischer... it's recommended that you go to greatplainsrecords.com for more info on all of this stuff.


Swear Jar -

"Synapses Fire"

Jason Clackley -

"Deafening Sound"

"Dearest One"

Fischer -

"Hey Hallways"

"Noises and Boredom"

(these files are now listen-only)