Caustic Casanova / Daddy Lion / Broken Buttons - Velvet Lounge - Jan 13 2010

Broken Buttons - This IS a new year, I show up a couple minutes late and find a Velvet Lounge show actually started on time? I did not miss much and quickly got into the spirit of this first of three trios this evening. Vocals were prominent and well sung as delivered by the bass player. The guitarist some times stopped playing his angular, jittery post-punk notes to move over to a Moog. The rhythm was rock-steady with a PiL like bass sound (but faster). I am hearing some Bauhaus and Joy Division in here, so we have a classic post-punk sound, well delivered. The songs vary to where I wondered whether the guitarist is closing in on Bernard Sumner (Joy Division) or Dick Dale? No matter, a set I enjoyed and I promise to be on time next show.

Daddy Lion - Both axemen were singing in front of solid pop songs that rocked out nicely when the desire was there to take it up a notch. The first song had some really nice oddball breaks that came out of left field but that is a compliment. I did sense some good song writing in this young band. They still did three covers of songs by the Sonics (yes!), Del Shannon (fine) and Modest Mouse (well, I can't win them all--although the song was fine). Good harmonies, nice grungey undercurrent and rock moves popped in and out in this enjoyable set. The band was having fun and did a nice job of promoting their music and future show and just hanging out after the set.
 
Caustic Casanova - This DC band has some records out and t-shirts, so they have been around a bit. They began with a slow building psyhe-fest that ended loud and faster in a Kohoutek manner. Ergo, the Velvet Lounge is the perfect venue for this sound. They varied things a bit between psyche and hard rock with arty vocal moves reminding me a bit of MX-80 Sound (yes, I've used this reference at least three times previously, but it explains things nicely even if they are obscure).  The bass sound fuzzed out a bit too loudly at times, but it settled. His playing was quite good which acted like an extra guitar at times. They also reminded me a bit of a really nice band I've seen many times, Entrance Band. Good show all the way around tonight.

Quote of the night: "You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares and go DOWNTOWN". Yes, that was Petula Clark bellowing out one of my favorite songs from my youth before I knew what rock'n'roll was. Good between band music, but it really got me thinking about forgetting about my cares? I understand the sentiment, but were it so easy, Petula.