The Mynabirds - Sean Bones - Edie Sedgwick -- Black Cat - Jun 23 2012

Edie Sedgwick - What is it about this band that keeps working? I keep thinking that this is a band whose spirit would cause me to be polite (not that their sound invites that), but instead, by set's end I am thinking that this band really does have a handle on something dazzling going on. It may take a few times to see it, and I am not sure you want to overdose on their sound, but they have cooked up something gutsy and fairly original. Simply, this is punk music at its heart, and is far more punk than 75% of what you will see at Vans Warped or many other similarly sonically packaged tours. They remind me of the Angelic Upstarts trying to cover songs by the Gun Club, the Cramps, or some R&B standards. It's raw, ferocious with some effective vocal interchanges. The energy was great as they just did not stop for more than a few seconds all set, which included changing guitars (broken string I think), dropping guitars, and bouncing around with boundless energy. Fun fun fun. They have been doing this a while, hopefully it won't be stopping any time soon.


Sean Bones - From the beaches of Brooklyn comes this quartet of guitar, bass, keys, and drums. They cook up some reggae tunes more in the UB40 camp than that of Bob Marley. The are light, agreeable, but this is not exactly my cup of dishwater. The crowd was polite, but there was not much energy at work. Toward the end of the set, there were a couple of songs that were more standard indie fare which I thought were much better. I like the lighted palm tree on stage. There was that.

The Mynabirds - DC singer/keyboardist Laura Burhenn fronts this Omaha-based band com comprised of guitar, bass, drums, and another female vocalist/percussionist/trumpeter. They have a really nice approach to their pop rock songs. The vocals are clean and the two female voices contrast and combine quite well. Sometimes a male voice joins in and it is this vocal work that is solid and pushes the songs forward. The music has a key element as well, as it sits deep below the surface with a surprising dirge like style that does not drone or overpower as is often the case with this sort of playing. It reminded me a bit of Stacey Sutherland (13th Fl. Elev.) playing Wire's 'Chairs Missing' rhythm parts with something like the Indigo Girls singing on top. This is a good approach, although I would have like to have seen a few more dynamic shifts in the set. But they have not been at this for very long, so that may come in time. They are definitely worth a listen and a sizable crowd thought so as well.

Something I plucked outta Facebook...