Torres - Pree -- DC9 - Feb 25 2013

Pree - This local psyche-folk four-piece begins with two songs from their lead vocalist on acoustic guitar. She was a bit tentative at first and kind of messed the first song up, but it had an incredible amount of guitar work within. She can easily keep an audience enthralled for a whole set, but it was nice to see her move to electric while bringing on the guitar, bass, and drums portion of Pree. Now the spacier pop rock tones fly off in the many directions that this band likes to go. They don't keep their feet planted too long in one place, but it is a smooth ride on whatever journey they are on. There seems to be a bit more bounce in their step and maybe it is the energy from their new bass player. They have a bit of heaviness toward the end that revs up the people, but the sizable crowd was with them the whole way. They are off on some more touring and will hopefully be back for more high quality sets later this year.

Torres - This 'band' is actually Nashville singer/songwriter Mackenzie Scott who handles the vocals and guitar tonight, joined with  a guitarist, bassist/keyboardist, and drummer. After searching the web for information on them and avoiding the links to Fernando Torres (this band is in much better form), it seems that this artist is just starting to make a name for herself. And after seeing this hour long set, it will not take long before Torres becomes a familiar word on most music lovers' lips. Her vocal work is strong and vibrant with a real bluesy growl down low that can jump to ethereal highs instantly. She is not quite at Savage Rose's Anisette levels (not many are), but his voice has far more than you usually hear in the clubs. The guitars contrast nicely from grungey undertones to spacey realms while showing off intriguing patterns within. The songs even have intricate European prog moves somehow somewhere, even as they purport a simplicity. This is tricky material, but delivered straight, strong and with full confidence. There is some post-Radiohead moves and a full fledged shoegaze freakout at the end. Scott handles the encore solo and plays a long mesmerizing song that fittingly caps off this creative set. I almost said 'wildly creative', but there is a control and straight forward approach that is perplexing since so much is accomplished. Rather than keep scratching my head over this, I think I will go listen to some of their recorded music to try to keep this music with me a while longer.

Quote of the Night: Pree's bassist... "I'm shedding ravioli."