I've never been to The Warehouse before and I'll hopefully never have to go back, as the place looks like a Pizzeria Uno that somebody stripped before abandoning it, and the parking lot has more broken glass than Porcell's liquor cabinet (that's a joke, son, get over it)... still, if Medication are playing anywhere within 5 miles of my house, I'm going, even if no one bothered to hire a soundman for the night, which was kinda weird. Medication were solid, as always, despite the sound issues-- any Medication set is going to be the best 6 or 7 songs you could possibly hear at that moment... I think I've lost track of how many "ex-Dustheads" bands there are out there, Byrds of Paradise being one of them. Using Black Market Baby/D.C punk rock as a template and then adding a bunch of indie pop touches seems to be what they're doing, and even though they've got a couple of good songs, their success ratio so far is kinda low... plus their drummer has lots of hair-wag, lookin' like Dave Grohl in the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video... from what I could tell the guitar player relies on effects pretty heavily, so not having proper sound in the building (plus the lead vocal mic ended up sounding like a dishwasher) didn't help Byrds of Paradise at all. I was taken back to the times when I'd go to the Anthrax and a band like Alice Donut, Shaved Pigs, or Porn Orchard would be on the bill, and instead of being enlightened by their "different approach", I'd just ended up getting annoyed... Circle Pit's new album is suitably all-over-the-place, sometimes sounding like a lazier No Age while still carrying plenty of thud, other times sounding laid-back and direct like Limes (not sure how I came up with that one). Their live set wasn't quite as hot-- the songs were still there, natch, but the duo had been turned into a Roxette-meets-Culture-Club five-piece, and the whole "we might be on heroin" gimmick gets boring anyway, making sleep seem like the better option, so by 1:00am I left... the best news of the night was finding out there's going to be at least one more show at Popeye's Garage (Tyvek, Terrible Twos, and Estrogen Highs on the 19th).
"Omega Man"
Circle Pit -
"Another Trick"
Medication -
"Don't Die"
6 comments:
A crap excuse for a review, if you ask me. Sorry that Byrds of Paradise don't look "punk" enough for you. And boo-hoo that the guitarist, who is one of the best musicians I've ever had the pleasure of working with, uses a lot of effects. You either don't play guitar or have been exposed to a very narrow range of sounds.
I don't mind you thinking the review was crap, but jeez, the two things you mentioned weren't even things I was complaining about.
they don't "act punk" enough for me, Dave. and I don't like his boots.
Yeah, I'm a bit confused at how anyone could read my crappy review and come away thinking that I said a band didn't look punk enough.
By the way, I would drive to see Byrds of Paradise again. I can't say the same for Circle Pit, and I actually like their record.
That Medication track has some pretty good Love (Arthur Lee) type rhythm guitar all over it. Pretty good. As is the Circle Pit trick. Very VU, which cannot be a bad thing.
In your defense - quite possibly - I must go on record as saying I preferred Omega Man, the movie. Cheap.
I think this "K" guy has been systematically leaving comments in various places on the internet, in support of Byrds of Paradise. Now that I know that, I think it's fair for me to say that if he wants better reviews, perhaps his buddies should be a better band.
Circle Pit "Another Trick" = VU, yes; since it's about streetwalking for heroin, it practically reads as a tribute to VU, if not an out-and-out rip.
Post a Comment